Closing post
Time for a recap….
The Bank of England has rejected claims that its QE bond-buying programme is to blame for inflation soaring over 10%.
In a session with the Treasury Committee, policymakers explained to MPs that it was the supply chain problems caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and then the surge in food and energy prices after the Ukraine invasion, that drove inflation to its highest in decades.
The BoE also pushed back against criticism that the unwinding of QE, called quantitative tightening or QT, could be destabilising markets.
Deputy governor Sir Dave Ramsden liked QT to ‘descending a mountain’, rather than decommissioning a nuclear sub, arguing that the Bank wanted to be able to climb future peaks by doing more QE if necessary.
There are also signs today that higher interest rates are hitting the housing market.
The number of homes being repossessed and homeowners in arrears jumped in the first quarter of this year.
That included a 50% increase in the number of homeowner mortgaged properties being repossessed in the first quarter of 2023, compared with the previous three months, UK Finance said.
In other news:
Take note, younger readers. Children’s income in the UK has risen by 11% in the last year, ahead of inflation and rather faster than average wages.
The figures on children’s pocket money and earnings – part of what was claimed to be the most in-depth study of the UK’s “youth economy” – also found that six-year-olds had enjoyed the biggest “pay rise”, in the form of a 34% annual increase.
Meanwhile, average earnings from babysitting leapt 24% in a year to top £20, while some savvy children were able to prise cash out of their parents for “jobs” such as making someone a coffee or smiling for a family photo.
The data was based on the finances of more than 125,000 children and was collected from user activity on the NatWest Rooster Money pocket money app and prepaid debit card.
Whether it was down to parents deciding to shield their children’s finances from the worst of the cost of living crisis, or an improvement in youngsters’ ability to negotiate a better financial deal and monetise small tasks, the study – based on data collected between 1 March 2022 and 28 February this year – suggested that British kids have fared a lot better financially than many adults.
More here….
