Sunday, October 26th, 2008
The devastating 0.5% decline in Britain’s national output in the three months ending in September was far worse than anyone had forecast. These shocking figures indicate that we are already in recession, that the downturn is going to be deep and prolonged and that many businesses will close down and that hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost. Just to add to the pain caused by the spectacular plunge in the pound, which began when Bank of England Governor Mervyn King warned of recession early this week, has gathered momentum with sterling falling to a six-year low in latest trading.
Forecasters now expect the economy to shrink in size by at least 1% in the next year and by a further 0.5% in 2010. This would mean we must prepare for the worst couple of years in a generation.
Tags: Bank of England, Mervyn King, pound, recession, sterling
Posted in Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Government, Politics, inflation | No Comments »
Thursday, September 4th, 2008
The Bank of England left interest rates on hold at 5.0 percent for a fifth month running on Thursday. Given the speed and scale of the economic slowdown, however, most are convinced a rate cut is just a matter of time. Britain’s economy failed to grow in the second quarter of this year for the first time since the early 1990s and many analysts believe the country has already tipped into recession. With unemployment rising and real incomes falling, consumer confidence is at rock bottom and retailers are feeling the pinch.
Tags: Bank of England, base rate, Rate hunch, recession, unemployment
Posted in Bank of England, Credit crunch, Rate hunch | No Comments »
Sunday, August 17th, 2008
Britain’s economy may be one step away from recession, with City economists warning that figures due this week could show that growth in the second quarter of the year is already at zero. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King already warned last week that it was a real possibility this year. This week will see the updated figures for growth for the second quarter. The first estimate issued two months ago showed growth at 0.2%. But economists expect the official figure to be revised down this week, possibly to as low as zero, barely above the definition of true recession.
Tags: Bank of England, economists, economy, estimates, Mervyn King, recession
Posted in Credit crisis, inflation | No Comments »
Saturday, April 12th, 2008
The Bank of England cut its base rate by o.25% to 5% on Thursday to stop the economy’s slide towards recession. However, relief for home owners was instantly undermined by a new wave of mortgage rate increases from Britain’s biggest lenders. Many lenders are yet to pass on the recent base rate reductions - instead they are busy increasing rates, demanding larger deposits, tightening lending criteria and, in some cases, withdrawing deals from the market altogether. Most of the big lenders, including Halifax, Nationwide, the Woolwich, Cheltenham & Gloucester and First Direct also said within minutes of the Bank’s announcement that they will be cutting their standard variable mortgage rates by the full 0.25%. Both Nationwide and Alliance & Leicester are believed to have been overwhelmed by applications from borrowers coming off cheap fixed deals and want to choke off the demand with yet another big increase of upto 0.35% in less than two weeks. The increases followed similar moves from Woolwich, Halifax and Abbey.
Tags: Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, Bank of England, Cheltenham & Gloucester, First Direct, Halifax, mortages increases, Nationwide, Rate reduced, recession, the Woolwich
Posted in Abbey, Bank of England, Consumer, Credit crisis, Credit crunch, Finance, First-time buyers, HSBC, Halifax, Home loans, Mortgages, Nationwide, Rate reduced | No Comments »
