UK Economics Autumn Budget 2021 Checklist This checklist helps clients keep track of the key economic and public finances forecasts announced during the Chancellor’s Budget speech at 12.30pm on Wednesday 27 th October and to provide some... 25th October 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Fiscal policy back in focus The upward shift in investors’ interest rate expectations over the past month has been remarkable. While it is impossible to predict the timing of the first rate hike with any certainty, we have more... 22nd October 2021 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Retail Sales (Sep.) & Flash PMIs (Oct.) The fifth consecutive fall in retail sales in September, together with signs that non-retail spending was also weak, supports our view that the economic recovery slowed to a crawl last month. But... 22nd October 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Budget Preview – Restraint now, largesse later Despite the improving outlook for the public finances, the rumours that the Chancellor will set himself some fairly stringent fiscal rules suggest that there’s not going to be a net giveaway in the... 21st October 2021 · 9 mins read
UK Economics Consumer Prices (Sep.) The dip in CPI inflation in September feels a bit like the lull before the storm as we expect inflation to jump to close to 4.0% in October and to between 4.5% and 5.0% by April next year. As such... 20th October 2021 · 2 mins read
UK Economics How would the economy cope with electricity shortages? There is an outside risk that the UK could face some limited short-term rationing of electricity this winter if weather conditions were to be unfavourable. This risk isn’t yet significant enough to... 18th October 2021 · 5 mins read
UK Economics GDP & International Trade (Aug.) The 0.4% m/m rise in GDP in August confirms that the rapid gains in output, which in just 16 months lifted GDP from being 25.1% below its February 2020 pre-pandemic peak to 0.8% below, are now behind... 13th October 2021 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Labour Market (Aug./Sep.) The further strengthening of the labour market in August may prompt some members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to put more weight on the upside risks to inflation rather than the downside... 12th October 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Good politics on wages meets bad economics The government’s plan to decrease the UK’s reliance on migrant labour in order to boost wages may be good politics, but it is not good economics. While labour shortages may push up wages in some... 8th October 2021 · 8 mins read
UK Economics MPC to keep feeling the heat from inflation expectations The recent sharp rise in public and market-based measures of inflation expectations has worried the Bank of England. Inflation expectations will probably rise further as actual inflation continues to... 5th October 2021 · 5 mins read
UK Economics Farewell furlough The impact on the labour market of the end of the furlough scheme could ultimately determine whether an interest rate hike comes in the next few months, or not until mid-2022. Our view remains that... 30th September 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Economics GDP (Q2 Final) Today’s release suggests the economy is closer to its pre-pandemic level than we had previously thought and raises the risk that the Bank of England hikes interest rates sooner than our forecast of... 30th September 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Economics Money & Credit (Aug.) The tepid increase in consumer credit in August provides more evidence that the economy didn’t regain much momentum after stagnating in July. And with the current fuel crisis restraining activity... 29th September 2021 · 3 mins read
UK Economics High utility prices and tax rises a heavy hit to households The double whammy of higher utility prices and the government’s new “health and social care levy” will reduce real household disposable incomes over the next year or so by £16.5bn, or 0.6% of GDP... 28th September 2021 · 4 mins read
UK Economics Why we changed our mind on the BoE There were two key reasons behind our decision to forecast that the Bank of England will first raise interest rates in 2022 rather than in 2023. First, there is more evidence that the rise in... 24th September 2021 · 6 mins read
UK Economics MPC getting closer to tightening policy While rates were left at +0.10% in an 9-0 vote and the Bank of England’s target stock of purchased assets at £895bn, today’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) policy statement suggests that the Bank is... 23rd September 2021 · 3 mins read
