Category archives: News in Review

“Monetary policy must… navigate a narrow path” Interest rate rises were big news last week on home shores, across the pond and in Australia, as central banks acted in an effort to curb inflation. The Monetary Policy Committee voted by a 6-3 majority to increase Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1%, with further […]

“The American economy – powered by working families – continues to be resilient in the face of historic challenges” The US economy contracted in Q1 as surging inflation and supply disruptions weighed on output. A slower pace of inventory investment by businesses also weighed on the growth of the world’s largest economy, as did fading […]

“Online sales were hit particularly hard due to lower levels of discretionary spending” As expected, the latest data set from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlighted that consumer spending, impacted by rising costs, led to a reduction in UK retail sales throughout March. As people tightened up on non-essential spending, retail sales volumes fell […]

“We are facing a crisis on top of a crisis” Speaking in Washington DC prior to the release of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) biannual World Economic Outlook this week, Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva previewed her thoughts on the global economy. Opening her speech, she declared, “To put it simply: we are facing a crisis […]

“This will reduce our dependence on power sources exposed to volatile international prices we cannot control” During a week when the news agenda was again dominated by harrowing scenes from Ukraine, the government unveiled its long-awaited Energy Security Strategy. The new plan places renewed emphasis on nuclear power along with an increase in wind, hydrogen […]

“This is a moment of consequence and peril for the world” Last Thursday, major news broke as Joe Biden ordered an unprecedented release of crude oil from America’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves to tame rising energy costs. In an attempt to combat what the US President branded “Putin’s price hike,” he issued the release of one […]

“The government will support the British people” Rishi Sunak opened the Spring Statement on 23 March by speaking about his admiration for the Ukrainian people, commending the strength of the UK economy to help fund their army and impose sanctions on Putin’s regime. The Chancellor warned that actions against Russia are costly and present a […]

‘The economy has recently been subject to a succession of very large shocks’ Last Thursday, as highly anticipated, the Bank of England (BoE) announced the third increase in Bank Rate in four months, placing more pressure on household finances. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members voted by an eight to one majority in favour of […]

“At the Spring Statement, Rishi Sunak has to make a huge judgment call” With a week to go until the next fiscal event in the government’s calendar – the Spring Forecast Statement on 23 March – new research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has highlighted its belief that the Chancellor has some big […]

‘The situation remains highly fluid and the outlook is subject to extraordinary uncertainty’ Last week, as the invasion of Ukraine entered a second week, the President of the World Bank declared the situation “a catastrophe” for the world. Although David Malpass stressed his biggest concern is “about the pure human loss of lives” he also […]