UK Economics Update Wage growth slump or wage-price spiral? Wage growth is a possible source of the “more persistent inflationary pressures” that the Bank of England has said would prompt it to act “forcefully” when raising interest rates. This Update... 29th June 2022 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Jubilee bank holiday makes life hard for the Bank of England By cutting GDP growth by about 0.3-0.4 percentage points (ppts) in Q2 and raising GDP growth by a similar amount in Q3, the impact of the extra bank holiday to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will... 21st June 2022 · 4 mins read
UK Economics BoE falling behind the Fed, but hints it may speed up By raising interest rates by 25bps (basis points) today, from 1.00% to 1.25%, rather than by 50bps or the 75bps the Fed announced last night, we think the Bank of England is putting too much weight on... 16th June 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Update Vote of confidence in the UK Prime Minister After winning tonight’s confidence vote, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, may double down on Brexit and loosen fiscal policy further to try to boost his political standing. That may result in a... 6th June 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Chancellor supports household incomes, but boosts inflation The extra financial support for households announced by the Chancellor today will help millions of households cope better with the cost of living crisis. But it won’t relieve all the pain and may mean... 26th May 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Weak confidence doesn’t make spending crash inevitable The recent collapse in consumer confidence to a near-record low has added to the probability that the UK experiences a recession this year. But households’ large stock of savings and the tightness in... 19th May 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Can the economy handle interest rates of 3%? We estimate that a rise in Bank Rate from 0.10% last November to a peak of 3.00% would mean that GDP is around 2.0% lower than if Bank Rate had stayed at 0.10%. That is a smaller drag than the Bank of... 17th May 2022 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Next Brexit bust-up risks adding to inflation The UK government’s plan to use domestic legislation to overwrite parts of the Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol risks creating another headwind for the economy and exacerbating price pressures at a... 16th May 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Dovish sounding MPC may still raise rates to 3.00% The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) struck a more dovish tone today while raising interest rates from 0.75% to a 13-year high of 1.00% and saying that it won’t make a decision until after August on... 5th May 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics 3% is the magic number for interest rates Our new forecast that interest rates will be raised from 0.75% now to a peak of 3.00% next year is more hawkish than the peak priced into the financial markets (2.50%) and the peak expected by the... 27th April 2022 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Spring Fiscal Statement 2022 Checklist We are resending this checklist so clients can have it to hand ahead of today’s Spring Statement. It is designed to help clients keep track of the key economic and public finances forecasts announced... 23rd March 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics MPC becomes less hawkish, but rates may still rise to 2.00% Today’s 25bps hike takes interest rates up to the pre-pandemic and post-Global Financial Crisis high of 0.75% and, although the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sounded a bit less hawkish than it did... 17th March 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics New higher inflation forecasts and lower GDP forecasts In response to the news that the US is considering banning imports of Russian oil, which means that commodity prices will probably be higher for longer, we have raised our CPI inflation forecast and... 7th March 2022 · 6 mins read
UK Economics Flattening gilt yield curve another signal of weaker growth The 10-year/2-year gilt yield curve is closer to inverting than at any point since March 2020, supporting our view that GDP growth will slow this year. And while a yield curve inversion isn’t a good... 7th March 2022 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Recent falls in gilt yields likely to prove short-lived While gilt yields could drop further if the war in Ukraine escalates much further and/or it becomes clear that it is significantly reducing economic activity in the UK, at the moment we think gilt... 2nd March 2022 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Update Russia-Ukraine: Some scenarios for the UK economy As it stands at the moment, we still think that the Russian/Ukraine conflict is more likely to boost inflation in the UK by more than it reduces GDP growth and that the Bank of England will continue... 28th February 2022 · 7 mins read
