DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ UK's next government will find tax rises hard to avoid
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

But tax rises will be very hard to avoid for whichever party forms the next government, says James Smith, a former Bank of England economist who is research director at the Resolution Foundation, which focuses on issues affecting low and middle earners. For earlier governments, the main way to increase tax levels has been to raise the rate of national insurance - a payroll tax paid by employers and employees - and, in the Conservatives' case, higher value-added tax. Annual GDP growth averaged 2.0% from 2010-2019, compared with 3.0% from 1997-2007. Asked on Sunday about widespread reports of looming tax cuts, Hunt told Sky News: "Everything is on the table ... Higher-than-expected inflation has boosted tax revenue and overall GDP in cash terms, giving more leeway against fiscal targets as most public services' spending budgets are fixed.

Persons: Susannah Ireland, Jeremy Hunt, Rishi Sunak's, James Smith, Smith, Britain's, It's, Carl Emmerson, Hunt, Foundation's Smith, David Milliken, Mike Harrison Organizations: REUTERS, Labour Party, Bank of England, Organisation for Economic Co, Development, Britain, Conservatives, Fiscal Studies, Foundation, Reuters, Monetary Fund, Institute for Government, Sky News, British, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: City, London, Britain, Ukraine

Hunt, reminding lawmakers of his own past as an entrepreneur in marketing and publishing, made accelerating economic growth a priority in his budget speech to parliament on Thursday. Britain is badly in need of a growth fillip. It also cut its growth forecast for 2024 to 1.3% before a better couple of years thereafter with growth at 2.6% and 2.7%. It said Hunt's plan to cut public investment from 2024 would probably weigh on productivity growth - key to an economy's long-term prospects - beyond its five-year forecasts. "I have tried to avoid anything that damages long-term growth," Hunt told the BBC.

☆ Pound holds ground as Rishi Sunak leads race to become UK prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

London CNN Business —Britain’s third prime minister in seven weeks will face the huge challenge of projecting stability after a period of historic political and financial market chaos. Rishi Sunak emerged over the weekend as the clear front-runner in the dramatic race to replace Liz Truss, who’s set to be the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history. “A key focus for the next Prime Minister and their chosen Chancellor needs to be fiscal responsibility,” Carl Emmerson, deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said in a statement. An economy in recessionThe Bank of England forecast last month that the UK economy was already in recession. 10 Downing Street, investors and economists expect the revamped economic plan outlined by current finance minister Jeremy Hunt to remain intact.

Separate official data showed Britain's borrowing grew by more than expected, underscoring the challenge facing new finance minister Jeremy Hunt and whoever succeeds Liz Truss as prime minister next week. Sales volumes fell by 1.4% from August - almost three times the 0.5% fall in a Reuters poll of economists. Separate data published by the ONS showed Britain borrowed 20.01 billion pounds ($22.37 billion) in September, more than the 17.1 billion pounds expected in the Reuters poll of economists. So far in the 2022/23 financial year, which began in April, borrowing stands at 72.5 billion pounds, down about 26% from the same period last year but almost 36 billion pounds more than in the April-September period of 2019, before the pandemic. He said borrowing this year could be almost 200 billion pounds, double the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.

☆ Lurking behind Britain’s political mess is an economy on the edge
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

London CNN Business —The spectacle surrounding Liz Truss, who on Thursday secured her fate as the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history, has quickly given way to a frenetic race to determine who will replace her. 10 Downing Street next will inherit an economic mess with no easy fixes. “A key focus for the next Prime Minister and their chosen Chancellor needs to be fiscal responsibility,” Carl Emmerson, deputy director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said in a statement on Friday. An economy in recessionEconomists agree that if the United Kingdom isn’t already in recession, one is likely to arrive soon. The cost of uncertaintyTruss has said the Conservative Party will install a new prime minister within a week.

Search resuls for: "Carl Emmerson"

5 mentions found