Blog posts tagged "Bank of England"

March 14, 2012 9:58 pm 12 Comments

A second ratings agency has effectively lowered their assessment of Britain's creditworthiness, just days before an important Budget.

February 15, 2012 12:49 pm 3 Comments

The Governor of the Bank of England today predicted further quarters of negative GDP growth this year following the latest -0.2% slump recorded in the last quarter of last year. Britain’s economy is likely to “zig-zag” between positive and negative growth said the Governor, introducing the Bank’s quarterly economic healthcheck. Sir Mervyn said that the [...]

February 9, 2012 1:11 pm 26 Comments

It's not just savers who can no longer live off paltry savings income. The retirement annuity industry has been hit by a fall of 20-30% in the annual income that pensioners will be obliged to live off for the rest of their lives.

January 24, 2012 8:52 pm 4 Comments

It is the Bank of England governor's piercing assault on bankers that sticks in the mind from today's important speech in Brighton. He doesnt quite join Occupy the City, but he does suggest that British capitalism's very legitimacy is up for grabs if bankers go too far on pay.

December 1, 2011 8:36 pm 28 Comments

As the Bank of England Governor warns UK banks to build up their reserves the eurozone catastrophe talk is ratcheting up in the countdown to the European Council next Friday. Economics Editor Faisal Islam reports.

November 17, 2011 4:20 pm 4 Comments

When David Cameron travels to Berlin to meet Chancellor Merkel, top of the agenda will be coaxing the European Central Bank in Frankfurt to act as last resort lender to the Eurozone's troubled nations reports Economics Editor Faisal Islam.

October 11, 2011 5:57 pm 6 Comments

The poverty projections released by the IFS and the Joseph Rowntree Trust today are pretty shocking. They are well-covered elsewhere. I would point to two things. One in four children are set to be living in absolute poverty by 2020. The Coalition inherited about one in six children in absolute poverty. the Government’s target under [...]

October 6, 2011 11:14 pm 8 Comments

The phone call came in at 1230. An invitation to see Sir Mervyn that would have been unthinkable three or four months ago. He has only done a round of interviews like this once before, in March 2009, when QE was first launched. We only seem to get these audiences when the Governor has decided to create magic money to try to cure an ailing British economy. And I identify two tightropes he is walking.

October 3, 2011 2:37 pm 9 Comments

Chancellor George Osborne's announcement that he will use "credit easing" to get the British economy moving will involve risk of loss to the public purse, blogs Faisal Islam. But not yet.

September 21, 2011 3:01 pm 10 Comments

Cutting rates again to a new record was discussed but there are fears for the impact on banks, building societies and the normal functioning of money markets. No, all roads lead to more quantitative easing. But not just any old QE.