Economy

Inflation in Great Britain: Britain has allowed for a national inflation rate of 18.6% in January 2023

Published

2 years ago

August 22, 2022

Inflation in Great Britain could reach a record for almost half a century, of 18.6% in January 2023, the Financial Times newspaper reported Monday, citing the forecast of a major international bank Citibank.

“We now expect consumer price inflation to exceed 18 percent in January,” the paper quoted the bank’s chief economist, Benjamin Nabarro, as saying.

That figure is higher than the inflation rate during the oil shock of 1979, when price increases estimated by Britain’s Bureau of National Statistics were 17.8 percent, the paper said.

The reason for this inflation is rising energy prices. The bank predicts that the average annual energy bill will be 4,567 pounds in January 2023 and 5,816 pounds in April, writes the Financial Times.

After the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the West increased sanctions pressure on Russia. The disruption of supply chains led to an increase in fuel and food prices in Europe and the United States. In the UK, the rising cost of living has hit millions of households.

Earlier, the Bank of England raised its benchmark interest rate by a record 50 basis points since 1995, to 1.75% from 1.25% per year. The rate is now at its highest level since December 2008, when it was 2 percent. According to forecasts from the Bank, the UK economy will enter a recession from the fourth quarter of this year.

Earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the annual inflation rate in the UK in July accelerated to a record since 1982 at 10.1% from 9.4% a month earlier.

Earlier, we reported that Chinese robotics raised $735 million in funding.

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

Published

1 year ago

December 26, 2023

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.

The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.

Economy

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

Published

1 year ago

December 25, 2023

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.

With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.

China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.

The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.

“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.

The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.

($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

Published

1 year ago

December 25, 2023

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.