The pandemic threw cold water on the inflation rate in the US, but the price level is beginning to heat up. The country is bursting at the seams with pent-up consumer demand, but much will depend on the rate-setting actions taken by the Federal Reserve. How hot will the central bank let it get before raising rates to turn down the heat?
Spring is in the air, and so is price inflation in the UK, which saw its inflation rate rise sharply in April. Leading the way were prices for energy, utilities and clothing, primarily due to the lifting of COVID-related restrictions. As the rate closes in on the BoC’s target of 2 percent, will this upward trend be permanent or transitory?
Gains in Europe’s annual inflation rates during the first month of 2021, raising the euro area’s rate to 0.9 percent and the European Union’s to 1.2 percent—due primarily to price increases for industrial goods and services, are encouraging and bring promise for further increases. However, not all EU countries experienced the same success, with Greece at the low end (-2.4 percent) and Poland at the high end (3.6 percent).
The Digital Age has transformed every corner of the financial world, including investments. Once the exclusive domain of the wealthy, investing is now open to anyone, thanks to micro-investing platforms. Equities have demonstrated comparatively strong returns in our low-interest-rate environment and are well worth the attention of even those with only some change to spare. What are the most promising avenues available to the small investor keen on breaking in?
The Bank of England (BoE) announced on Thursday, September 17, that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) had voted unanimously to leave its benchmark bank rate at 0.1 percent whilst also maintaining the target for the total stock of asset purchases under its quantitative-easing (QE) programme at £745 billion.
During its policy meeting on Thursday, September 10, the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to keep its main refinancing benchmark rate unchanged at 0 percent, along with leaving its rates on the marginal lending facility and deposit facility the same at 0.25 percent and -0.50 percent, respectively.
At its most recent monetary-policy meeting in late July, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) discussed implementing a number of monetary-policy tools to allay concerns regarding the economic outlook for the United States. And while the FOMC had already taken numerous emergency measures
The warning not to put all your eggs in one basket may apply to policymakers’ exclusive focus on boosting the demand side of economies. Monetary policies, in particular, are fixated on promoting growth in demand. But is the supply side of the equation being ignored in the process? Is this one-sided approach most likely to prosper the economies that are subjected to it, or is a change of focus needed?
Taking on the mantle of governorship of a central bank is challenging, but for Andrew Bailey, the new governor of the Bank of England, the role couldn’t be more formidable. With the United Kingdom’s long-awaited divorce from the European Union around the corner, the country’s financial system will need all the help it can get to survive the inevitable turbulence. Bailey’s new job won’t be a walk in the park!
In mid-June, Cambria Africa announced that its Zimbabwe-based subsidiary—the payment-services provider Payserv—had suspended its service to its bank customers in Zimbabwe. According to Cambria, the suspension was due to a “collective refusal to pay historical and contracted pricing to Payserv Africa in US dollars