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Let’s start with what we do know.

The economy is now almost certainly in recession. It will not be pleasant. This is a recession which will be felt in most households’ pockets – both through the rise in energy prices and shop prices and the rise in the cost of borrowing.

And when it comes to the cost of borrowing, things are certainly getting tougher. Today the Bank of England raised its official interest rates by 0.75 percentage points, meaning if you’re on a floating rate loan tied to Bank rate the increase will be immediately reflected in your monthly repayments.

In a sense, the Bank is merely doing what most people had expected and what markets had already priced in: in other words, the current fixed rate loans out there on the market already assumed something like this happening.

Remember that point: we’ll come back to it.

So we know the economy is in recession. We know prices are very high and times are looking tough – especially if you have a mortgage which needs to be re-fixed soon. But here’s where the certainty ends and the murkiness begins.

Normally the Bank of England produces one main forecast in its Monetary Policy Report – the quarterly document in which it gives its sense of the state of the economy. But this time around it did something unusual: it produced two, and gave quite a lot of prominence to both of them.

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A money market rollercoaster

Why? Well, it comes back to the fact that money markets have been on a rollercoaster recently. As you’ll recall if you’ve followed the ride, in the wake of the mini-budget, expectations for where the Bank’s interest rate was going next year leapt up to over 6%. Since Liz Truss‘s exit, those expected rates have begun to fall, to the extent that as of this week they were expecting a peak of 4.75%. That’s a big change.

And these numbers matter enormously: the higher the rates, the more households who will struggle to make their repayments and the tougher life will get for businesses, many of which will struggle to operate. So even a change of a few fractions of a percentage point will make a big difference.

Eight successive quarters of contraction

That brings us back to the Bank’s latest forecasts. It has to base those forecasts for the state of the economy off an assumption of what’s happening to those interest rates. So it typically takes a two week “snapshot” of what money markets expect for borrowing rates and then builds a forecast around it.

Normally that’s a pretty uncontroversial exercise, but not this time. Because as we all know, those rates were all over the place following the mini-budget and the ensuing gilt market meltdown.

The upshot is that the Bank’s central forecast – the one we usually look at – is particularly bad.

It involves eight successive quarters of contraction: that would be the single longest recession since comparable records began in the early 20th century – though it would be much less deep than nearly all of those downturns. It would see the economy shrink by nearly 3% and unemployment get up to 6.5%.

But here’s the thing: that forecast is based on market expectations that Bank rate would get up to 5.25% next year. And the Bank is unusually explicit today that it thinks that is very unlikely. So that recession forecast is a little bit of a chimera: it is based on a scenario which will probably not happen.

So here’s where that other forecast comes in.

The Bank produced a separate set of figures which ignore all that market mayhem and just imagine rates stay where they are, as of this afternoon, at 3% in perpetuity.

On the basis of that forecast, there is still a recession, but it is barely more than half the depth of its central forecast and doesn’t last half as long. Unemployment doesn’t peak as high. Household income isn’t quite as badly hit. It’s tough, but not awful.

More rate rises

So: is that forecast a more reliable picture of the impending months? Well, not necessarily, for two reasons.

First, the Bank said explicitly today that it thinks it will have to raise interest rates again, albeit not as high as markets were expecting a few weeks ago.

What that means is anyone’s guess, but the signal is that they might not even have to rise as high as the 4.75% markets are currently pricing in. But that does mean a slightly worse outlook.

Second, the Bank’s forecast doesn’t make any assumptions about what the government’s Autumn Statement is going to do to the economy. And given everyone expects the government to cut spending and/or raise taxes, it’s a fair assumption that that could also bear down on economic activity.

It’s complicated

So, as you can see: it’s complicated. I know that’s not especially helpful if you’re after a quick summary. But it’s a fairer reflection of where we are.

The UK is in recession, but it’s worth being a little wary of the more lurid headlines out there about how it’s the “longest in history”. The Bank is saying that’s a possibility if rates went higher (and it doesn’t currently think they will).

But there is another interesting thing going on here, which comes back to that point I made at the start – that when the Bank moves its rates it is, in a sense, reflecting what people out there in the market are expecting it to do. Those expectations matter – and the Bank can often influence them itself.

Today’s Monetary Policy Report contains some pretty heavy hints that the market has overshot its expectations about where Bank rate will go in the future. In other words, the report itself could plausibly persuade investors to notch down their expectations for where interest rates are heading next year.

If that happened, we would be left with an interesting paradox: that even as it raises interest rates even more than it has ever done since it became independent in 1997, the Bank could actually push down what markets expect that eventual peak to be.

In other words, this interest rate increase could be reducing the real-life cost of borrowing in the mortgage markets. Fixed rate loans could get cheaper as a result of today’s events, not more expensive.

Perhaps that sounds topsy-turvy, but then it’s no more weird than many of the other turns of this rollercoaster in recent weeks.

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M&S tells agency workers to stay at home after cyberattack

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M&S tells agency workers to stay at home after cyberattack

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has ordered hundreds of agency workers at its main distribution centre to stay at home as it grapples with the unfolding impact of a cyberattack on Britain’s best-known retailer.

Sky News has learnt that roughly 200 people who had been due to undertake shift work at M&S’s vast Castle Donington clothing and homewares logistics centre in the East Midlands have been told not to come in amid the escalating crisis.

Agency staff make up about 20% of Castle Donington’s workforce, according to a source close to M&S.

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The retailer’s own employees who work at the site have been told to come in as usual, the source added.

“There is work for them to do,” they said.

M&S disclosed last week that it was suspending online orders as a result of the cyberattack, but has provided few other details about the nature and extent of the incident.

In its latest update to investors, the company said on Friday that its product range was “available to browse online, and our stores remain open and ready to welcome and serve customers”.

“We continue to manage the incident proactively and the M&S team – supported by leading experts – is working extremely hard to restore online operations and continue to serve customers well,” it added.

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It was unclear on Monday how long the disruption to M&S’s e-commerce operations would last, although retail executives said the cyberattack was “extensive” and that it could take the company some time to fully resolve its impact.

Shares in M&S slid a further 2.4% on Monday morning, following a sharp fall last week, as investors reacted to the absence of positive news about the incident.

M&S declined to comment further.

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Deliveroo shares surge 17% as £2.7bn takeover looms

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Deliveroo shares surge 17% as £2.7bn takeover looms

Shares in meal delivery platform Deliveroo have surged by 17% as investors react to news of a £2.7bn takeover proposal.

The company revealed after the market had closed on Friday that it had been in talks since 5 April with US rival DoorDash.

Deliveroo suggested then it was likely the 180p per share offer would be recommended, though full terms were yet to be agreed.

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At that price, the company’s founder and chief executive, Will Shu, would be in line for a windfall of more than £170m.

Deliveroo further announced, before trading on Monday, that it had suspended its £100m share buyback programme.

The opening share price reaction took the value to 171p per share – still shy of the 180p on the table – and well under the 390p per share flotation price seen in 2021.

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Deliveroo’s shares have weakened nearly 50% since their market debut.

The deal is not expected to face regulatory hurdles as it provides DoorDash access to 10 new markets where it currently has no presence.

But a takeover would likely represent a blow to the City of London given the anticipated loss of a tech-focused player.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “If the deal is done at that price, the company will fail to shake off the ‘Floperoo’ tag it was saddled with after its disastrous IPO debut in 2021.

“Even though Deliveroo has finally broken through into profitable territory, the prolonged bout of indigestion around its share price has continued.

“The surge in demand for home deliveries during the pandemic waned just as competition heated up. Deliveroo’s foray into grocery deliveries has helped it turn a profit but it’s still facing fierce rivals.”

She added: “The DoorDash Deliveroo deal will be unappetising for the government which has been trying to boost the number of tech companies listed in London.

“If Deliveroo is purchased it would join a stream of companies leaving the London Stock Exchange, with too few IPOs [initial public offerings] in the pipeline to make up the numbers.”

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US trade deal ‘possible’ but not ‘certain’, says senior minister

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US trade deal 'possible' but not 'certain', says senior minister

A trade deal with the US is “possible” but not “certain”, a senior minister has said as he struck a cautious tone about negotiations with the White House.

Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips there was “a serious level of engagement going on at high levels” to secure a UK-US trade deal.

However, Mr McFadden, a key ally of Sir Keir Starmer, struck a more cautious tone than Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the prospect of a US trade deal, saying: “I think an agreement is possible – I don’t think it’s certain, and I don’t want to say it’s certain, but I think it’s possible.”

He went on to say the government wanted an “agreement in the UK’s interests” and not a “hasty deal”, amid fears from critics that Number 10 could acquiesce a deal that lowers food standards, for example, or changes certain taxes in a bid to persuade Donald Trump to lower some of the tariffs that have been placed on British goods.

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And asked about the timing of the deal – following recent reports an agreement was imminent – Mr McFadden said: “We’ll keep working with the United States and keep trying to get to an agreement in the coming weeks.”

As well as talks with the US, the UK has also ramped up its efforts with the EU, with suggestions it could include a new EU youth mobility scheme that would allow under-30s from the bloc to live, work and study in the UK and vice versa.

Mr McFadden said he believed the government could “improve upon” the Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson, saying it had caused “an awful lot of bureaucracy and costs here in the UK”.

He said “first and foremost” on the government’s agenda was securing a food and agriculture and a veterinary agreement, saying it was “such an important area for the UK and an area where we’ve had so much extra cost and bureaucracy because of Brexit”.

He added: “But again, as with the United States, there’s no point in calling the game before it’s done. We’ve still got work to do, and we’re doing that work with our partners in the EU.”

The Cabinet Office minister also rejected suggestions the UK would have to choose between pursuing a trade deal with the US and one with the EU – the latter of which has banned chlorinated chicken in its markets – as has the UK – but which the US has historically wanted.

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On the issue of chlorinated chicken, Mr McFadden said the government had “made clear we will not water down animal welfare standards with either party”.

“But I don’t agree that it’s some fundamental choice beyond where we have to pick one trading partner rather than another. I think that’s to misunderstand the nature of the UK economy, and I don’t think would be in our interests to put all our eggs in one basket.”

Also speaking to Trevor Phillips was Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who said the government should be close to closing the deal with the US “because we got very close last time President Trump was in office”.

She also insisted food standards should not be watered down in order to get a deal, saying she did not reach an agreement with Canada when she was in government for that reason.

“What Labour needs to do now is show that they can get a deal that isn’t making concessions, so we can have what we had last month before the trade tariffs, and we need serious people doing this,” she said.

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