U.K. citizens are likely to face another ten years of austerity as the government struggles to bring down the national debt level, said a leading economics think-tank on Tuesday, calling it “almost impossible” for Britain to maintain its AAA credit rating status despite government pledges to the contrary.
The U.K. will not oppose any oil and gas drilling that are currently underway in the Arctic region, said a government report published on Tuesday, rejecting a parliamentary committee call last September to impose an immediate exploration ban – until more robust measures were put in place to address spill risks.
UK financial regulation is currently the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority. However, from April, 2013, the Financial Services Bill will create two industry regulators: the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Provincial Regulatory Authority (PRA). The FCA will regulate market practice and consumer protection, while the PRA will regulate banks and insurance companies. While financial scandals have necessitated need for increased regulation, the proposed changes may not be effective in preventing future abuse.
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne may have little choice but to announce further spending cuts and tax rises during next week’s national budget statement, warned a leading economic think-tank on Sunday, as the nation’s net debt continues to climb amid weak economic forecasts.
British taxpayers are unlikely to ever recoup the £66 billion ($105 billion) spent on bailing out the Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group during the height of the credit crunch back in 2008, warned a group of lawmakers on Thursday, lambasting the U.K. Treasury for a “monumental collective failure” in understanding and reacting to the financial crisis.
Nearly one-fifth of all hired staff in the U.K. are paid less than the nation’s standard ‘Living Wage’, claimed a study by KPMG on Monday, with some 47 percent of those surveyed expecting their finances to worsen over the next year.
The UK has posted its strongest quarterly growth in five years, recovering from a recession in the third quarter thanks to the London Olympics spending boost.
The UK emerged from its longest double-dip recession since the World War II after the economy grew 1 percent between the second and third quarters, beating forecasts for a 0.6 percent gain, after shrinking by 0.4 percent between April and June.
The unexpected return to growth came as a relief for the coalition government who has come under fire for its austerity programme.
Those who manipulate the London Interbank Offered Rate could and should face criminal prosecution, said the Financial Services Authority today. The ‘broken’ Libor system will also get a ‘complete overhaul’ through tougher regulation.
Martin Wheatley, managing director of the FSA told the BBC’s Today programme on Friday morning that bankers guilty of fixing Libor could be imprisoned in the future.
China is already the world’s second largest economy but its currency, the renminbi, is barely traded internationally. Unlike reserve currencies such as the US dollar, and despite China’s emerging position as a global economic powerhouse, the Chinese currency is hardly used in international trade and scarcely held by foreigners. This is gradually changing but the City of London is probably being optimistic if it thinks it can grab a significant portion of that trade.
The head of the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) in the U.K., a non-departmental public body dedicated to promoting equitable access for undergraduate applicants, has called on the top universities across the country to reach out to more talented students from poor homes, after the latest data showed that the proportion of poor students at elite universities had fallen.
