Violet Hudson

Money digest: Britain braced for ‘Super Thursday’ interest rate cut

Britain’s financial status could be downgraded this week amid reports the Bank of England will cut interest rates on Thursday. The Guardian says that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will examine the latest growth forecasts and inflation report, and then make a decision on whether to cut interest. If they do, it will be the first time the rate has changed since it was set at 0.5 per cent in March 2009. Mark Carney, the governor, warned that a vote for Brexit could tip the UK into recession and the figures seem to back up this pessimism, according to the paper. In May, growth was forecast at 2.3 per cent, but economists now believe that it could be as little as less than one per cent. It is expected that the bank will cut interest rates to 0.25 per cent.

RBS is still in trouble, says The Daily Mail. During the second quarter of the year the taxpayer-owned bank remained stuck in the red after a loss of £1bn in the first quarter. Since the financial crisis in 2008, the bank has had a full-year loss every year. What’s more, in the event of a new economic crisis, RBS would be the third-worst hit institution, according to a ‘stress test’ of banks carried out across Europe. The chief financial officer of RBS, Ewen Stevenson, promised to ‘transform RBS into a low risk, resilient bank.’

Sir Philip Green has hit back against the ‘kangaroo court’ investigating the failure of BHS. In a letter to Frank Field MP, chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Sir Philip insisted that he has not broken the law, and said Field had tried to create a ‘false narrative’. The Independent notes that Field said ‘why the hell doesn’t he [Sir Philip] just sign the cheque?’, in an interview with The Times on Saturday.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Keep reading with a free trial

Subscribe and get your first month of online and app access for free. After that it’s just £1 a week.

There’s no commitment, you can cancel any time.

Or

Unlock more articles

REGISTER

Comments

Don't miss out

Join the conversation with other Spectator readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.

Already a subscriber? Log in