Closing post
Time to wrap up…
The head of the IMF has revealed that worries about a crisis in the private credit market keeps her awake at night, and called for more vigilance of the sector.
UK chancellor Rachel Reeves has told reporters that “those with the broadest shoulders should pay their fair share of taxes,” in a new hint that some taxes will rise in next month’s budget.
Reeves also said she would like more headroom to keep within her fiscal rules, but pointed out that “that comes with trade-offs.”
The UK economy has returned to growth, with a 0.1% rise in GDP in August.
Unimpressed economists said the increase was ‘meagre’, and showed the economy was stumbling ahead of the budget.
Reeves: UK seeks pharma investment as part of US deal
Chancellor Rachel Reeves also told reporters today that the UK wants to see more investment in the country by pharmaceutical companies if it agrees to pay higher drug prices as part of tariff talks with the United States.
Reeves explained that the government was working “very closely” with the pharmaceutical industry and the United States in relation to talks to secure lower tariffs for the sector, but acknowledged their businesses’ concerns about the low prices paid for drugs by Britain’s public health service and other issues.
She said:
“We do need to make sure that we are an attractive place for pharmaceuticals, and that includes on pricing, but in return for that, we want to see more investment flow to Britain.
“We’ve been very successful with the U.S. in terms of negotiating lower tariffs ... and of course, we want that to be the case with pharmaceuticals as well. But we are in the middle of those negotiations at the moment.”
Drug pricing has become a hot topic in recent weeks as major pharmaceutical companies ditched or paused almost £2bn in planned UK investments, amid claims that the British government was not spending enough on new medicines.
