Economic News

COMPANIES in the north west are experiencing mixed fortunes with rising interest rates, inflation and competition topping their list of concerns. Borrowing costs are at a six-year high and a further increase in interest rates is on the cards, while the strong pound is squeezing margins for exporters, according to the latest quarterly economic survey by Chambers of Commerce North West. More than  ...

LONDON (AFX) - European government bonds started slightly higher ahead of a string of data to be published today, including euro zone inflation, unemployment and industrial sentiment. Inflation is expected to accelerate to a provisional 2.1 pct in January from 1.9 pct in December, and just above the European Central Bank's 2.0 pct target. However, some economists noted that inflation data out of ...

LONDON (AFX) - The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, has not improved the public finances as much as most other industrial nations during his decade in charge of the UK's economy, a leading economic think-tank said today. Though he will likely leave the public finances in better shape than when he took the helm at the Treasury in 1997, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) also noted Br ...

LONDON (AFX) - The next Chancellor of the Exchequer has a golden chance to restore credibility to the government's bruised fiscal regime, a leading think-tank said today. The Institute for Fiscal Studies reckons that Gordon Brown's successor at the Treasury -- candidates are thought to include Trade Secretary Alistair Darling and Ed Balls, Brown's closest economic advisor -- should seek to restor ...

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China's economy is likely to expand by around 9.7 pct in 2007, a year when reforms by the central government will help boost consumption and shift emphasis away from export-led growth, said Rob Subbaraman, Lehman Brothers' senior economist for Asia. "We have a positive outlook on China...there will be a modest slowdown in growth this year to about 9.7 pct versus 10.7 pct ...

LONDON (AFX) - The dollar remained steady as investors awaited the latest interest-rate decision from the US Federal Reserve, and in particular the accompanying statement. Though the Fed is expected to keep its key Fed funds rate unchanged at 5.25 pct, investors will be interested to see if the accompanying statement makes much of the recent pick-up in the economic newsflow out of the US. " ...

Lucy Farndon, Daily Mail31 January 2007 House price predictions are as varied as estate agents' property valuations. So it is hardly surprising that the clutch of surveys are often taken with a pinch of salt. FOR SALE: What will happen to house prices? WANT TO KNOW MORE? DATA: The latest house price information POLL: What will happen to house prices in 2007? OTHER STORIES Get your mortgage fees back £8m homes left empty for years New on the market Rush for  ...

WASHINGTON (AFX) - 0130dv--bush--economy President Bush chose Wall Street as the stage to bring his economic message out from the shadows of the Iraq war. In a speech Wednesday in New York City, Bush was expected to tout optimistic economic trends, part of a strategy this week to put pocketbook issues in the forefront of attention -- if only briefly. Bush is also likely to cha ...

BOMBAY (XFN-ASIA) - The Reserve Bank of India raised its key short-term borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point to 7.50 pct, after inflation hit a two-year high of 6.12 pct earlier this month. The central bank, however, kept other rates unchanged including its overnight deposit rate at 6.0 pct. "The objective will be to bring inflation as close as possible to the 5.0-5.5 percent rate a ...

LONDON (AFX) - The dollar remained little changed against the euro as investors awaited tomorrow's latest interest rate decision from the US Federal Reserve, and in particular the accompanying statement. Though the Fed is expected to keep its key Fed funds rate unchanged at 5.25 pct, investors will be interested to see if the accompanying statement makes much of the recent pick-up in the economic ...