03/09/2010
The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised its forecast for eurozone growth for this year and next year.
ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said the upgrade reflected the "stronger-than-expected rebound" in the zone's economy.
He forecast GDP growth of between 1.4% and 1.8% for this year, and between 0.5% and 2.3% next year.
Earlier, the ECB kept eurozone interest rates on hold at 1%, as had been expected.
03/09/2010
The UK economy grew by more than initially thought in the second quarter of 2010, boosted by a strong performance by the construction sector.
The economy grew by 1.2% in the quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, revising up its initial estimate of 1.1% growth.
That was the fastest rate of quarterly expansion recorded since the first three months of 2001.
16/08/2010
Economic growth in Japan weakened significantly in the last financial quarter, official figures show.
Between April and June this year gross domestic product - the sum of the nation's goods and services - grew by 0.1%, much lower than expected.
Analysts say the country's export-led recovery appears to be faltering as the value of the yen appreciates.
28/06/2010
Leaders at the G20 summit in Canada have agreed to cut national budget deficits while endeavouring to promote economic growth.
Host Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister said short-term stimulus measures would be needed to get economies moving.
Correspondents note that every major G20 country had already committed to halve deficits within three years.
Proposals for a global levy on banks have been dropped, Mr Harper said.
28/06/2010
June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Consumer spending in the U.S. rose in May more than forecast, a sign households are gaining confidence in the recovery and the job market.
Purchases rose 0.2 percent after little change the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today. Incomes climbed 0.4 and the savings rate increased to the highest level in eight months.
25/06/2010
The pound has hit a 19-month high as debt concerns weigh down on the euro.
It touched 1.2222 euros on Thursday, its highest since the immediate aftermath of the financial crisis in November 2008.
24/06/2010
Mr Cameron said reform of public pensions was necessary as part of efforts to save billions in order reduce the record deficit
He warned that that the total bill for public sector pensions was becoming unaffordable and insisted that he wanted to start by limiting the pensions of those on highest salaries whose pensions, he said, could be worth £60-£70,000.
22/06/2010
VAT is to rise from 17.5% to 20% in January after George Osborne unveiled the biggest package of tax increases and spending cuts in a generation.
He said his "tough but fair" Budget was "unavoidable" although he told MPs in the Commons there would be no extra tax on alcohol, tobacco and fuel.
Child benefit will be frozen for three years and there would be cuts to family tax credits and housing benefits.
Labour said the Budget would "throw people out of work" and stifle growth.
But Mr Osborne laid the blame for the state of the nation's finances squarely at the door of the previous Labour government, saying: "The years of debt and spending make this unavoidable."
He promised to balance Britain's books within five years - faster than Labour was planning, with the bulk of the savings to come from cuts to benefits and public services rather than tax increases.
He said action was needed to prevent a "catastrophic collapse" in economic confidence but stressed it would be done in a "fair" way with the better-off shouldering most of the burden.
17/06/2010
Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that he will give the Bank of England the key role in regulating the UK financial sector.
In his first Mansion House speech, Mr Osborne said he would abolish the current system of financial regulation.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) will "cease to exist in its current form", he told the City of London.
16/06/2010
Annual house price inflation is back in double-digits, according to government figures.
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said prices in April were 10.1% higher than a year ago.
That was the highest rate of inflation since October 2007, when prices were on a downward trend.
UK house prices rose by another 0.4% in April, putting the cost of the average UK property at £207,516.
15/06/2010
UK inflation fell to 3.4% in May from 3.7% in April, but remains well ahead of the Bank of England's 2% target.
The fall is bigger than the 3.5% analysts' forecast, and could mean that April's 17-month high marks a peak.
The Office of National Statistics said the drop was helped by lower food prices, as well as slower rises in the price of petrol, alcohol and tobacco.
15/06/2010
Nick Clegg has criticised "unreformed gold plated" public sector pensions, as new figures show spending on them will more than double by 2014/15.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) report says the taxpayer cost is set to rise from £4bn to £9bn.
14/06/2010
The new UK fiscal watchdog is expected to downgrade the previous Labour government's growth estimates later.
Analysts say the Office for Budget Responsibility will say ex-Chancellor Alistair Darling's 2011 forecast of more than 3% was too optimistic.
11/06/2010
Shares in BP are trading 7% higher in London, recovering some of the losses suffered the previous day.
BP shares were trading at 390.6p. On Thursday, its shares fell 6.6% as it continued to struggle with the fallout from the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
The oil giant's share price has almost halved since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began on 20 April.
11/06/2010
Billionaire investor George Soros said “we have just entered Act II” of the crisis as Europe’s fiscal woes worsen and governments are pressured to curb budget deficits that may push the global economy back into recession.
“The collapse of the financial system as we know it is real, and the crisis is far from over,” Soros said today at a conference in Vienna. “Indeed, we have just entered Act II of the drama.”
11/06/2010
Japan is at "risk of collapse" under its huge debt mountain, the country's new prime minister has said.
Naoto Kan, in his first major speech since taking over, said Japan needed a financial restructuring to avert a Greece-style crisis.
"Our country's outstanding public debt is huge... our public finances have become the worst of any developed country," he said.
10/06/2010
UK interest rates have been kept on hold at a record low of 0.5% by the Bank of England for the 15th month in a row.
The Bank also decided not to inject any more money into the UK economy under its policy of quantitative easing (QE).
Interest rates have now been at 0.5% since March 2009.
09/06/2010
The collective deficit of the UK's private sector final-salary pension schemes worsened in May, the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) said.
At the end of the month, the deficit of the 7,300 schemes it monitored widened to £42bn from just £2bn in April.
07/06/2010
European stock markets have opened lower, amid renewed fears of a double-dip recession.
The FTSE 100 declined by 1.6% in its opening minutes, while Asian markets also tumbled, with Japan's Nikkei 225 closing down 3.8%.
Meanwhile, the euro dropped to its lowest level against the dollar in four years.
07/06/2010
Prime Minister David Cameron is set to deliver a stark warning about the action needed to tackle Britain's budget deficit and public debt.
He is expected to say the UK's economic problems are "even worse than we thought" as he sets out why he believes "painful" cuts are necessary.
In a speech he will say how the £156bn deficit is tackled will affect "our whole way of life".
04/06/2010
US factory orders increased 1.2% in April, said the Commerce Department, led by a big rise in orders for commercial aircraft.
The Institute of Supply Management said service industries grew in May for the fifth month in a row.
01/06/2010
The Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate from a record low today, the first Group of Seven central bank to do so since last year’s global recession, and said further moves will be “weighed carefully” against future growth in Canada and elsewhere.
01/06/2010
House prices in England and Wales are continuing to rise strongly, according to the latest figures issued by the Land Registry.
Prices in April rose by another 0.2%, pushing up the annual rate of increase to 8.5%.
This was the fastest rate of growth since September 2007.
Meanwhile, the number of mortgage deals on offer has risen again to more than 2,000 as lenders continue the modest relaxation of their lending criteria.
28/05/2010
27/05/2010
The coalition is considering raising the current 18% levy on certain windfalls like share and second home sales to the same level as income tax - up to 40% and 50%.
26/05/2010
The Libor rate, the interest rate at which banks lend to each other, has risen, causing concern to many in the financial community.
A sharp rise in the Libor signalled the liquidity problems banks had during the onset of the credit crunch.
26/05/2010
A network of national funds should be introduced so the cost of bank failures are not met by the taxpayer, the EU internal market commissioner has said.
Michel Barnier said such funds would provide part of a broader system aimed at preventing future financial crises.
Banks would be required to pay a levy into the funds which would not be used to bail out failing banks, but manage failures in "an orderly way".
25/05/2010
The UK economy grew slightly faster than initially estimated in the first three months of the year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.
The economy grew by a revised 0.3% between January and March, up from the original estimate of 0.2%.
25/05/2010
May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Speculators are buying gold faster than the world’s biggest producers can mine it as analysts forecast a 27 percent rally that may extend the longest run of annual gains since at least 1920.
25/05/2010
Restoring a link between the basic state pension and the rise in average earnings from 2012 will form part of the government's first changes.
The move should lead to a substantial long-term improvement in the value of the state pension.
24/05/2010
The total amount of money lent in new mortgages fell back in April.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said £10.2bn was lent, both to home buyers and other borrowers.
That was 12% less than in March and was the lowest figure for any April since the year 2000.
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