Japan’s £22bn plan to escape the doldrums

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:45:00 GMT

Analysis: Cheap loans will not make up for lack of gumption

Inflation eases as food prices begin to fall

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:51:00 GMT

Inflation eased in May to 3.4 per cent from a 17-month high the previous month, helped by weaker rises in food and petrol prices.

China primes house tax to halt runaway prices

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

China is considering a wealth tax on homeowners as it grasps at new weapons to halt a frantic rise in property prices that many fear poses the biggest threat to the Chinese economy.

Same economists who work out Budget figures are producing OBR data

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

Two men had the job of signing off Alistair Darling’s growth and borrowing forecasts, which have now been revised by the independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility: Sir Nick Macpherson, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, and Dave Ramsden, Chief Economic Adviser.

Economy may never recover from banking crisis, warns OBR

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

The economy, more damaged by the banking crisis than previously admitted, will grow more weakly and may never fully recover, the new Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said yesterday.

OBR slashes economic growth forecasts

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 10:19:00 GMT

Q&A: what is the Office for Budgetary Responsibility? LIVE: question to the experts on inflation

Q&A: Office for Budgetary Responsibility

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:44:17 GMT

What is the Office for Budgetary Responsibility?

Forget what we said – things are going to get worse, not better

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

The Japanese Government will rip up the promises it used to win last summer’s general election in an attempt to impose austerity and discipline on the most strained public finances in the developed world.

Osborne must heed Japan’s mistakes

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

George Osborne is praying today for the worst possible news. This morning the Office for Budget Responsibility will deliver its first independent assessment of the outlook for the British economy and the budget deficit. A shock-horror fiscal forecast from the OBR would delight the Chancellor, helping him to justify the spending cuts he plans to announce in next week’s Budget — and also his accusations about the scorched-earth legacy supposedly left behind by Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown.

The week ahead

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

Monday

Soaring public sector pensions bill threatens attempts to cut deficit

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 00:00:33 GMT

The first independent audit of the nation’s finances sounds a grim warning about Britain’s public sector pensions bill as Nick Clegg steps up efforts to prepare voters for deep cuts to public spending.

We must force the inflation genie back into its bottle

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

ON TUESDAY, inflation figures for May will be released. The last data, for April, showed consumer price inflation at 3.7% — significantly above the 2% target that guides the decisions of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

As if by magic, Sir Alan reveals the real deficit

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

Tomorrow, at 10am to be precise, something rather special will happen. For the first time the official forecast for Britain’s economy will be produced by an independent body, the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR).

American Account: Bernanke builds up a cushion as we dance on pins

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

We are all of us balloons dancing in a world of pins, noted Sir Anthony Montague Browne, one of Winston Churchill’s private secretaries. That seems to describe our economic condition. Share prices drop like stones in response to action by Greek civil servants, or an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, or an Israeli attempt to enforce its blockade against Hamas, or rumours that the Chinese regime is attempting to slow its economy. And then soar when Spain manages to borrow a few billion from unwary investors. Uncertainty is the order of the day.

Sarkozy gets twitchy as French rise up against austerity

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

THE Germans are battening down the hatches and the British are reefing their sails. Politicians from Portugal to Italy have announced a wave of austerity measures to weather the worst economic and political storms in the history of the European Union.

Inflation may force Bank to raise rates

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

THE Bank of England could be forced to abandon its “highly expansionary” monetary policy — and raise interest rates — in the second half of the year, according to a member of its monetary policy committee.

Britons do not believe Bank of England inflation figure

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

The Bank of England admitted yesterday that most people simply did not believe that its target of 2 per cent inflation over the next year was credible.

Industrial production dipped in April

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:39:00 GMT

Industrial production fell unexpectedly in April and growth in factory output prices slowed last month as the recent rebound began to lose momentum, according to official figures published this morning.

New Japanese leader cautions about debt

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 09:58:25 GMT

The new Prime Minister of Japan sounded an alarm today over the country’s public borrowing, citing the Greek debt crisis and warning that Japan’s finances could collapse without urgent attention.

Not a penny more for EU, says Treasury minister Justine Greening

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:01:00 GMT

The new Economic Secretary to the Treasury vowed last night to battle the EU over subsidies and budget.