Page 2 - Uk Economy

Britain is in recession, Hunt makes it official; windfall tax hiked to 35%

The tax burden would hit 37.1 per cent of GDP, its highest sustained level since World War Two

UK govt increases windfall tax on profits of oil, natural gas companies

Britain's Treasury chief says he's increasing the windfall tax on the profits of oil and natural gas companies as he announced an emergency budget aimed at restoring the nation's economic credibility and patching up its battered finances. Jeremy Hunt said Thursday that the windfall tax will rise from 25% to 35% from January 2024 to March 2028 and that electricity generators will have to pay a new temporary levy of 45%. He said the taxes combined would raise 14 billion pounds next year. Energy companies such as London-based BP and Shell have reported huge profits in recent months as Russia's war in Ukraine pushes up energy prices worldwide. Britain's government has faced pressure to increase taxes on oil and gas companies to help fund support for millions of Britons struggling to cope with soaring energy prices. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a former Treasury chief, introduced a 25% energy profits levy earlier this year but that was limited to profits made from extracting U.K. oil an

UK unveils emergency budget statement amid big demands but little cash

So many demands. So little money. Just three weeks after taking office, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces the challenge of balancing the nation's budget while helping millions of people slammed by a cost-of-living crisis as Russia's war in Ukraine pushes up energy prices and slows economic growth. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt will deliver the government's plan for tackling a sputtering economy in a speech to the House of Commons on Thursday. The emergency budget statement aims to restore the government's financial and political credibility after former Prime Minister Liz Truss announced 45 billion pounds ($53 billion) in unfunded tax cuts that torpedoed investor confidence, sent the pound to record lows against the U.S. dollar and sparked emergency central bank intervention. Truss was forced to resign six weeks after taking office. Hunt is expected to announce 30 billion pounds in spending cuts and 24 billion in tax increases, the BBC and other British media reported. The ...

Britain's inflation rate rises to 41-year high at 11.1% in October

Britain's inflation rate rose to a 41-year high in October, fuelling demands for the government to do more to ease the nation's cost-of-living crisis when it releases new tax and spending plans on Thursday. Consumer prices rose 11.1% in the 12 months through October, compared with 10.1% in September, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday. The October figure exceeded economists expectations of 10.7%. Higher prices for food and energy drove October's inflation rate to the highest since October 1981, the ONS said. The new data comes a day before Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt is scheduled to unveil a new budget amid growing calls for higher wages, increased benefits and more spending on health and education as raging inflation erodes the spending power of people across the country. Those demands are complicating Hunt's efforts to close an estimated 50 billion-pound budget shortfall and restore the government's financial credibility after former Prime Minister Liz Truss's ...

UK economy shrinks, forecasters warn of many months of contraction to come

Britain's economy shrank in the three months to September, official statistics said on Friday, as forecasters warned of many months of contraction to come. The Office for National Statistics said gross domestic product fell by 0.2 per cent between July and September, a smaller-than-expected contraction that nevertheless is seen to signal the start of a long recession. GDP shrank by 0.6 per cent in September, and by 0.1 per cent in August, the statistics office said. It said a decline in manufacturing output and an extra holiday to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II, which contributed to a notable fall in retail, were behind the decline. It said the UK economy is now 0.2 per cent smaller than in February 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down big chunks of the economy for months. Britain's economy, like that of many other countries, is struggling as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has driven up food and energy costs, pushing consumer price inflation to 40-year highs. The

Britain and Rishi Sunak

The new PM faces unenviable challenges ahead, but he is a testament to the progress Britain has made towards becoming a multi-racial society

Bank of England warns of longest recession in 100 yrs after 3% rate hike

A 0.75 per cent increase, the latest in a series of eight interest rate rises since last year, would not be enough to guarantee victory in the war against double-digit inflation: Bank of England

Bank of England raises rates by most since 1989 even as recession looms

Central bank raises bank rate to 3% from 2.25%

'Inevitable' Britons will pay more tax for stability, say Sunak, Hunt

"They agreed on the principle that those with the broadest shoulders should be asked to bear the greatest burden," the Treasury said

New UK PM Sunak faces dose of reality as economic, political woes mount

The new premier, Sunak's economic policy is set to face scrutiny as the Bank of England delivers what could be its biggest interest-rate hike in more than 30 years

UK in recession? Feels pinch of biggest interest rate hikes in 33 years

Economists and investors expect the UK central bank to raise its benchmark lending rate by three-quarters of a percentage point to 3 per cent on November 3

UK PM Rishi Sunak eyes $58 billion of tax hikes, expenditure cuts

Britain's new premier is trying to restore calm to the financial markets after his predecessor, Liz Truss, sparked turmoil during her 7-week tenure with a massive package of unfunded tax cuts

Suella Braverman could wreck Rishi Sunak's Brexit immigration plans for UK

In her leadership campaign, Braverman pledged to cut taxes and restore efficiency to govt, suspend Britain's net-zero 2050 target, end jurisdiction of European Court of Human Rights

Rishi Sunak shows the growing influence of Indian talent in the West

With Rishi Sunak as prime minister of the UK, it is now impossible to deny what has been evident for some while: Indian talent is revolutionizing the Western world

Rishi Sunak's real challenge as PM is not economic or political but social

Sunak has to govern a fractious and self-indulgent mob, which has resulted from a near-total breakdown of authority of all sorts

Rishi Sunak to be UK's first Indian-origin PM as his rivals quit the race

Youngest to the post in 200 years + Warns UK faces 'profound economic challenge' + FTSE 100 rises .6%

UK crisis: The markets strike back

Liz Truss almost turned the UK into a distrusted emerging economy

Turmoil in Britain: Its political crisis is a self-inflicted wound

Govts should respect fiscal constraints as once confidence is lost in a country's institutions and political maturity, it cannot be easily regained

UK credit score outlook revised to negative by Moody's on political drama

The rating firm said the change in the outlook was driven by "heightened unpredictability in policymaking" in UK amid weaker growth prospects and high inflation

Explained: Why Liz Truss' tenure was so short as UK PM