UK Economics Update Recession to trigger larger rise in insolvencies than the GFC We think business insolvencies may rise to a record high of around 8,400 per quarter by Q2 2024 and take until at least early 2025 to return to a more “normal” level of just over 4,000 per quarter... 9th February 2023 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Update Rates close to their peak, but cuts are far away While raising rates by 50 basis points (bps) today, from 3.50% to 4.00%, the Bank of England implied that rates are very close to their peak. We still think that rates may rise to 4.50%, but perhaps... 2nd February 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update The next phases for interest rates and the BoE’s possible guidance With interest rates nearing a peak, the next two phases of monetary policy will most probably be rates being held at that peak and then being cut. The Bank of England may soon provide some guidance on... 1st February 2023 · 8 mins read
UK Economics Update Monetary policy has lost some of its potency The shift away from floating-rate to fixed-rate mortgages has meant that it was always going to take longer than in past tightening cycles for the rise in interest rates to feed through to the real... 1st February 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Employment has been resilient so far While we expect employment to weaken, it’s happening at a glacial pace. That feeds into our view that once interest rates peak (perhaps at 4.50% up from 3.50% now) they will stay high for all of this... 31st January 2023 · 2 mins read
UK Housing Market Update Fixed-rate loans delay and reduce effect of higher rates The shift away from floating-rate to fixed-rate mortgages presents risks as well as benefits. It will protect homeowners who are lucky enough to have a long time remaining on their fixed rate contract... 30th January 2023 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update Drag from higher interest rates will soon intensify The recent resilience of the economy to the dual drags of high inflation and higher interest rates doesn’t mean the pain has been avoided. Instead, our analysis suggests that higher interest rates... 16th January 2023 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Shift to a bigger state won’t curtail GDP growth While the shift towards higher taxes and spending after the pandemic appears to be here to stay, there is little to suggest an expanded state would curtail GDP growth. But without supply-side reforms... 10th January 2023 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Update Cooling wholesale gas price to aid the economy The recent plunge in wholesale gas prices means that utility prices for households may fall below the government’s price freeze in July. As a result, CPI inflation will be around 0.3 percentage points... 6th January 2023 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Update Bank eases off the brakes, but may not halt hikes until 4.50% The Bank of England followed the Fed by slowing the pace of interest rate hikes from 75 basis points (bps) in November to 50bps hike today as widely expected, which took rates from 3.00% to 3.50%. But... 15th December 2022 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Strikes won’t reduce activity in December by much The strikes in December won’t help the economy when it is probably already in recession. But we think real GDP may only be around 0.0-0.5% lower in December than otherwise. More important may be... 15th December 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update Have we hit peak inflation? There is a good chance that CPI inflation has peaked or will peak before the end of the year. There are even some signs that inflation is becoming less persistent. This may contribute to the Bank of... 2nd December 2022 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update BoE losses add pressure on the public finances The Treasury has started to make payments to the Bank of England’s Asset Purchase Facility (APF) to cover the losses it has racked up because of the Bank of England’s gilt purchases. While this won’t... 25th November 2022 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Update Revising down peak Bank Rate from 5.00% to 4.50% With fiscal policy no longer expected to be ultra-loose and some signs emerging that domestic price pressures will ease further ahead, we no longer expect the Bank of England to raise interest rates... 23rd November 2022 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Autumn Statement 2022 Checklist We are resending this checklist so clients can have it to hand ahead of today’s Autumn Statement at 11.30am GMT. This checklist helps clients keep track of the key economic and public finances... 16th November 2022 · 2 mins read
UK Economics Update Joining the 75bps club, but strong signal rates won’t rise to 5.25% Although the Monetary Policy Committee raised interest rates today by 75 basis points, from 2.25% to a 14-year high of 3.00%, it sent the strongest signal yet that it thinks rates won’t need to rise... 3rd November 2022 · 4 mins read
