UK Business News





U.K. Interest Rate Cut

August 2024
The bank of England, BOE, cut on August 1, 2024 the interest rate by 0.25% from 5.25% to 5.0% the first cut in the last four years since March 2020.
The cut is due to the cut in the inflation rate to 2% in July and June, within the goal of 2%.
By cutting the interest rate the U.K. joins other countries in the European union which cut the interest rate in June.

U.K. Economy 2024

July 2024
The international monetary fund, IMF, raised on July 16, 2024 the growth forecast for the U.K. from 0.5% to 0.7%.
The forecast follows the rise estimate from two banks earlier this month.
The IMF left the 2025 forecast growth on 1.5%, unchanged.
The rise forecast is based on the new election results in the U.K.
In May 2024 the economy growth was 0.4%, higher than the preliminary forecasts.

U.K. Inflation

June 2024
According to data released on June 19, 2024 the inflation in May on annual basis dropped to only 2%, compared to 2.3% in April 2024.
The inflation rate is within the range of the British central bank.
The present inflation is a huge recovery compared to the 11% inflation rate 18 months ago.

U.K. GDP Growth

July 2023
According to data released on July 13, 2023 by the office for national statistics, ONS, the gross national product, GDP, is estimated to fall in May 2023 by 0.1% following a growth of 0.2% in April 2023.
The preliminary forecast was a fall of 0.3% in May.
The annual GDP in 2023 is expected to fall by 0.4% compared to previous forecast of a fall of 0.7%.

U.K. Interest Rise

June 2023
The bank of England ,BOE, raised on June 22, 2023 the basic interest rate on deposits from 4.5% to 5%.
The new interest rate is the highest in the last 15 years.
The rise is aimed to slow the U.K. inflation, currently 8.7% till it reaches the goal of annual 2% inflation.
The financial market expects a further rise of up to 6%.
The present rise surprised the preliminary forecasts of a lower rise of only 0.25%.

U.K. Interest Rate Rise

May 2023
The bank of England, BOC, raised on May 11, 2023 the basic interest rate on deposits by 0.25%, from previous 4.25% to 4.5%.
The rise is the 12th rise in a row leading to the highest interest rate since October 2008.
The rise is aimed to slow the rising two digit U.K. inflation.

U.K. Interest Rate Rise

December 2022
The bank of England, BOE, raised on December 15, 2022 the interest rate by 0.5% to an annual 3.5% rate, the ninth rise in a row and the highest interest rate in the last 14 years.
The rise is aimed to slow the rising inflation in the U.K. which is now 11.1%.
The 0.5% rise follows the same rise in the U.S. a day before.

U.K. 10.1% Inflation

August 2022
The British office of statistics reported on August 17, 2022 that the inflation in July 2022 jumped to 10.1% from previous year, the first double digits inflation for four decades.
The inflation in June 2022 was 9.4%.
Now the inflation in Britain is higher than in the U.S. ,8.5% and also higher than the largest countries in the eurozone.

U.K. Interest Rise

May 2022
The bank of England, BOE, raised on May 5, 2022 the interest rate by 0.25%, from previous 0.75% to 1%, the highest interest rate in the last 13 years and the fourth increase since December 2021.
The rise is due to the rising inflation rate, following the Ukraine war, which is expected to reach 10% by the autumn.

U.K Interest Rise

December 2021
The bank of England ,BOE, raised on December 16, 2021 the interest rate from 0.1% to 0.25%, the first rise in the western countries since the start of the corona virus crisis.
The rise follows the high inflation rate of 5.1% in Britain.

U.K. Economy Shrink

February 2021
The U.K. economy dropped by 9.9% in 2020, the biggest registered slump since the "great frost" in 1709.
The GDP in the U.K. grew by 1% in the last quarter of 2020 compared to the previous quarter.

Moody's downgraded U.K.'s credit rating

October 2020
The credit rating agency Moody's downgraded on October 17, 2020 U.K.'s credit rating by one notch, from previous Aa2 to Aa3 with a stable outlook for the British economy.
The downgrade results from the effects of the corona pandemic and the problems with the Brexit.

U.K. Economy Shrink

June 2020
The British statistics office reported on June 12, 2020 that the British GDP shrank in April 2020 by 20.4%, compared to a previous forecast of a 18.4% shrink.
In the three months ending in April 2020 the GDP shrank by 10.4%.

U.K. Interest Rate Cut

March 2020
The bank of England, BOE, cut on March 19, 2020 the interest rate from 0.25% to 0.1%, the lowest interest rate in the last 400 years.
The new cut follows the interest cut just eight days ago from 0.75% to 0.25% is aimed to face the effects of the coronavirus epidemic.



U.K. GDP Drop

August 2019
The U.K. GDP contracted by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2019, the first drop since 2012.
The data is worse than the preliminary forecasts by economists. In the first quarter of 2019 the GDP grew by 0.5%.

U.K. Economic Forecast

February 2019
The bank of England warned on February 7, 2019 that the expected growth of the economy in 2019 will be 1.2%, compared to previous forecast 0f 1.7%, the lowest growth for decade.
The expected growth rate for 2020 is 1.5% compared to the previous forecast of 1.7%.

U.K. November Job Report

January 2019
The U.K. office for national statistics reported on January 22, 2019 that 32.53 million people were at work in November 2018, 328,000 more than a year earlier.
The unemployment rate in November was 4.0%, the lowest rate since December 1974.

U.K. Interest Rise

August 2018
The Bank of England, BOE, raised on August 2nd, 2018 the U.K. interest rate from 0.5% to 0.75%, the highest rate for nine years.
The rise is aimed to keep inflation on track.

U.K. Inflation

February 2017
The British office for national statistics reported on February 14, 2017 that the consumer prices index, CPI, in Britain rose by 1.8% in the year to January 2017 compared to a rise of 1.6% in the year to December 2016.
The rate of 1.8% in January 2017 was the highest registered since June 2014.



U.K. Interest Rate Cut

August 2016
The bank of England cut on August 4, 2016 the interest rate from previous 0.5% to 0.25%, the first cut since 2009.
The bank also introduced a package of new measures to provide additional monetary stimulus.

U.K. Credit Rating Downgrade

June 2016
The credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded on June 27, 2016 Britain's sovereign credit rating by two notches from the previous perfect AAA rating to AA.
The rating agency outlook is negative due to the exit from the European Union.

UK Unemployment Rate

October 2015
The British office for national statistics, NSO, reported on October 14, 2015 that the unemployment rate for the three months June to August fell to 5.4%, the lowest unemployment rate for seven years since the second quarter of 2008.
The number of unemployed in this quarter fell by 79,000 compared to the previous quarter.

UK GDP Growth

July 2015
The British office of statistics, ONS, announced on July 28 that the British economy grew in the second quarter of 2015 by 0.7% similar to the top growth rates of 2008.
The growth was mainly due to the performance of the services sector.
The growth forecast for 2015 is 2.6%.

UK GDP Growth

March 2013
The office for national statistics, ONS, announced on March 28, 2014 that the British economy grew in 2013 by 1.7% compared to 2012.
The growth rate is lower than the previous estimate of 1.8% and the initial estimate of 1.9.
The British economy grew in the fourth quarter of 2013 by 0.7%, same as the previous estimate.

U.K. Unemployment Rate

December 2013
According to a release on December 18, 2013 by the ONS, office for national statistics, the unemployment rate in the U.K. fell to 7.4%, the lowest level since 2009.
The number of people claiming jobseekers' allowance in November 2013 reached 1.27 million, a decline of 36,700 people.



U.K. Credit Rating Downgrade

February 2013
The credit rating agency Moody's downgraded on February 22, 2013 the U.K. credit rating by one notch from the perfect AAA down to AA1.
The downgrade which is the first since the 1970s is due to continued economic pressure and expectations for a sluggish growth in the second half of the decade.

U.K. Interest Rate Unchanged

February 2012
The bank of England, BOE, decided on February 9 to maintain the official interest rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%.
BOE also decided to increase the size of its assets purchase program by GBP 50 billion to a total of GBP 325 billion.
The decisions are in light of the the weak near term growth outlook.

U.K. April Inflation Rate

May 2011
According to the British office for national statistics, ONS, the annual consumer price index, CPI, for April was 4.5% up from 4% in March, The highest hike since October 2008. The annual retail price index for April was 5.2% down from 5.3% in March.

U.K. Mobile Phones Taping Rules

November 2010
The British Financial Services Authority, FSA, published a policy statement regarding taping of mobile phones in investment firms, banks, stockbrokers and other financial firms.
The taping of mobile phones is aimed to fight market abuse .The relevant firms should record and keep copies of relevant conversations made on mobile phones provided to individuals by their firms for a period of six months.
Firms must comply with the new taping rules by November 11, 2011.
Source: www.fsa.gov.uk



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