MPs on the Treasury Select Committee said it was “far from certain” that Mr Osborne would raise a scheduled £8.5bn over the next two years to pay for a push for growth, and that the decision to abandon his golden rule on the national debt “raises the question of the continuing credibility of that target”.
UK lawmakers criticize handling of Bank of England profit shift
The Treasury Select Committee said the government and the Bank of England botched the announcement of a plan to claim billions of pounds of interest gained from quantitative easing from the central bank, reports the Wall Street Journal.
Osborne ‘only needs one Budget a year’
George Osborne should stop making major tax and spending announcements in the Autumn Statement, the Treasury Select Committee will argue in a new report today, reports the Independent.
Mario Draghi confronts Berlin over contagion from Cyprus default
Leading EU officials have warned Germany it would be a grave mistake to let Cyprus default or to impose losses on private creditors, fearing a repeat of errors made when Greece first flew out of control, reports the Daily Telegraph.
Carney cautious on failing banks
Regulators around the world are still some way from solving the problem of how to deal with the failure of a giant global bank in spite of making progress on the issue, Mark Carney, the head of the Financial Stability Board, has said, reports the Financial Times.
India’s central bank cuts interest rates
The Reserve Bank of India has cut the country’s benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, a move that will bring relief to the government as it struggles to return the economy to higher growth, reports the Financial Times.
The central bank also said in a statement that it would cut the cash reserve ratio – the share of their deposits that banks must hold at the RBI – by 25bp to 4 per cent, a surprise move that will release 180bn rupees (£2.1bn) of extra liquidity into the banking system.
Amazon ‘lays waste’ to the high street with record £14bn in Christmas sales
Amazon is set to announce record Christmas trading as it continues to ‘lay waste’ to the beleaguered high street, reports the Daily Mail.
In just three months the internet store made £14bn in worldwide sales – with 10 per cent of that from UK shoppers. But Amazon has been under attack for avoiding millions of pounds in taxes. Critics say this enables the company to slash prices and undercut rivals.
Demand for retail premises falls as high street struggles
Fears over the high street have been fuelled after it emerged that demand for space was falling even before the collapse of three major players, reports the Guardian.
Royal Bank of Scotland could hand £4m in bonuses to investment chief
A row could be brewing at Royal Bank of Scotland, which is due to hand bonuses worth around £4m to the head of its investment bank, John Hourican, whose departure is expected in the coming weeks, reports the Guardian.
Draghi meets minister over MPS problems
Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, made an unannounced visit to Milan on Monday to discuss the growing problems at Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena with Italy’s finance minister, reports the Financial Times.
