Closing post
Time to wrap up.... with a quick summary.
The move increases the risk that Russia defaults on its loans, and could also restrict Moscow’s ability to fund the Ukraine war, experts say.
The EU has proposed a fresh package of sanctions on Russia, including a ban on Russian coal and on Russian ships entering EU ports, following the horrific scenes from Bucha of dead civilians.
EC president Ursula von der Leyen also said the EU was “working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports”.
Inflationary worries have continued to mount today, with the head of the BIS group saying the world may be on the brink of a new inflationary era that would demand action from central banks.
The OECD reported that inflation among its rich nations had reached a 30-year high, as energy and food prices rise across the board.
The latest PMI surveys showed that firms in the UK, US and eurozone were raising prices sharply as they passed on higher energy costs, commodity prices and wage bills to consumers -- even as activity continued to rise.
Russia’s economy, though, shrank sharply last month as sanctions hit companies, with new orders and employment levels down.
The cost of living crisis, and problems sourcing computer chips, both hit UK car sales last month. But with fossil fuels at record prices, more motorists turned to electric cars:
Elon Musk is joining the board of Twitter, just a day after surprisingly becoming its largest shareholders.
Musk said he was looking forward to making “significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”, suggesting this story has a long way to run....
Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
Several UK housebuilders have signed a pledge to fix fire safety problems at blocks of flats, with some setting aside millions of pounds more to cover cladding costs.
Stocks have fallen in Paris, as investors react to the possibility that Marine Le Pen wins the French presidential election.
In other news, the managing director of Manchester airport has quit following weeks of chaos in which thousands of passengers have missed their flights because of queues lasting up to seven hours.
Gambling and betting companies will be banned from using advertising featuring top-flight footballers and other sports personalities, as well as reality TV and social media stars, under new rules designed to protect under-18s and other vulnerable groups.
The total wealth of the world’s billionaires has dipped from a record high last year amid a drop in global stock markets since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite the planet’s richest people still holding a combined $12.7tn (£9.7tn) in assets.
A cyber-attack targeting The Works has caused the closure of some of the retailer’s stores, delayed the resupply of stock and online order deliveries to customers.
Sunflower oil is running low in the UK, as the Ukraine war drive up the price of cooking oil.
The World Bank warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has further dampened the economic prospects for developing countries in east Asia and the Pacific, meaning lower economic growth and higher poverty in the region this year.
Travel disruption continues for lorry drivers and holidaymakers on the Easter getaway, after the ferry company Stena Line was forced to suspend all sailings between Fishguard in south Wales and Rosslare in Ireland to fill the gaps left by the continued suspension of P&O Ferries services.
Amazon will compete directly with SpaceX and the UK government-owned OneWeb to set up a constellation of broadband-providing satellites, the company has announced.
And a Kent woman who has invited a Ukrainian family of refugees into her home has been told to pay an extra £41 a year by John Lewis Home Insurance:
Goodnight. GW
Updated
World may be on cusp of new inflationary era, BIS central bank group says
The world economy may be on the cusp of a new inflationary era with persistently higher growth in consumer prices due to the retreat of globalisation, a leading central bank chief has warned tonight.
Agustín Carstens, the head of the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements – which is known as the central bank of central banks – said there was a strong risk that prices would rise uncontrollably without a sharp rise in interest rates above existing plans.
In a speech setting out risks for persistently higher rates of inflation, Carstens said higher borrowing costs could be required for several years to curb the risk of spiralling prices wreaking long-term damage on the economies of the industrialised world.
Carstens warned that higher inflation may prove persistent, causing long-term problems for central banks:
“A key message is that we may be on the cusp of a new inflationary era
“We need to be open to the possibility that the inflationary environment is changing fundamentally.
“If my thesis is correct, central banks will need to adjust”.
However, other experts have warned that high inflation will probably choke consumer spending and economic growth – reducing the urgency for significantly higher interest rates.
Here’s the full story:
