Closing post
Time for a recap….
The Bank of England governor has said that Britain is showing signs of recovery from its mild recession and will receive a boost when interest rates start coming down later this year,
Andrew Bailey rejected accusations that Threadneedle Street’s reluctance to cut borrowing costs despite falling inflation meant it was “behind the curve” and made it clear rate cuts were coming.
“We don’t need inflation to come back to target before we cut interest rates,” Bailey said as he came under pressure from Conservative members of the Treasury committee to respond to news that the UK fell into recession in the second half of 2023.
"We don't need, obviously, inflation to come back to target before we cut interest rates"
— Bloomberg UK (@BloombergUK) February 20, 2024
Governor Andrew Bailey tells MPs what the Bank of England wants to see before rates come down https://t.co/jwjNVDeq5w pic.twitter.com/Z7maGC0XxL
“The economy seems to be at full employment and that’s a very good story,” the governor said.
In comparison to previous downturns, the UK was suffering from a “very small recession” and was now showing “distinct signs of recovery”, he added.
The Bank was also told that its 14 interest rate rises had tipped the UK into recession; Bailey, though, pointed out that the weak supply side of the UK was also a factor.
City economists predict the Bank will make its first cut in August.
In other news…
Barclays has announced plans to cut £2bn in costs as part of a strategic shake-up that will see its investment bank shrink.
It is also planning to increase shareholder payouts by £10bn within three years, which has helped to send Barclays’ share up over 9% today.
Britain’s insecure jobs market and high housing costs are creating a precarious middle class struggling to maintain a decent living standard on household incomes as high as £60,000 a year, a report has found.
People living in Notting Hill, west London, received more in capital gains from 2015 to 2019 than the combined population of Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle according to an analysis of capital gains tax.
Union leaders have warned business groups against pushing Keir Starmer to dilute plans for sweeping reforms of workers’ rights and for a ban on zero-hours contracts.
Administrators running The Body Shop have announced 300 job cuts at its head office, and are planning to close dozens of its 198 stores in the UK.
The cost of infant milk remains at “historically high” levels despite some price falls in recent months, Britain’s competition watchdog has said, as it launched a full-scale investigation into baby and toddler formula.
And…Britain’s flying taxi pioneer, Vertical Aerospace, has been handed another £8m grant from the government, taking its total taxpayer backing to £37m as it tries to get its electric aircraft off the ground.
The Body Shop to cut 300 jobs at head office and dozens of stores could close
Newsflash: The Body Shop is to cut 300 jobs at head office while dozens of its 198 stores in the UK could close with the likely loss of hundreds more jobs as the business battles for survival.
Administrators told staff today that seven stores would close immediately but promised no more than half of its total would close over time, while numbers at its offices in London and Littlehampton in Sussex were being cut by 40% to 400.
It is not clear if jobs at the group’s warehouse, also in Littlehampton, will be affected.
The retailer, which employs more than 2,200 people in the UK, called in administrators last week, less than two months after being taken over by restructuring specialist Aurelius.
