In today’s newspapers there is talk of more big cuts in UK spending and fears of another recession if the euro area doesn’t stabilise. Marks and Spencer gets its knickers in a twist and a Canadian banker may become the new governor of the Bank of England.
……..WORLD WOES…….
DAILY TELEGRAPH
BRITAIN FACES £50BN MORE SPENDING CUTS &TAX RISES TO COVER ELDERLY CARE, WARNS IMF
By Philip Aldrick, Economics Editor
A "second generation" of UK austerity measures, which the IMF suggested should be completed before 2030, would outstrip programmes in both Greece and Portugal. Only the US, Japan and Ireland are facing a larger adjustment among advanced economies. The UK will need "a fiscal adjustment strategy" over the next 18 years equivalent to 11.3pc of national output, or roughly £170bn, according to IMF estimates. By comparison, the existing £123bn austerity programme is equivalent to 7.5pc of GDP.
GUARDIAN
IMF: GLOBAL ECONOMIC RECOVERY FRAGILE AND RISK OF RELAPSE HIGH
By Larry Elliott
Disorderly default and exit by eurozone member could spark market panic and cause bigger crisis than after Lehman collapse, IMF says in World Economic Outlook report and send the global economy back into deep recession. Olivier Blanchard, the Fund's chief economist, said there was currently "an uneasy calm" following the tensions in financial markets at the end of 2011, with hopes of a gradual recovery dependent on keeping the single currency in one piece.
…. LATEST CAR NEWS ……
FINANCIAL TIMES
SUPPLY CHAIN BLOW TO CARMAKERS
By John Reed and Chris Bryant
Automakers are desperately trying to avert a shock to their supply chain caused by a shortage of a resin used in car parts. An explosion in March at Evonik Industries in Germany killed two people and took out one of the industry’s biggest producers of CDT. The material is used widely nylon found in coatings and connector applications in cars’ fuel injection and braking systems.
BBC.CO.UK
SALES OF LOW EMISSION CARS SOAR IN UK
UK drivers are increasingly choosing fuel efficient cars with historically low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to motor industry body SMMT. Demand for frugal, low emission cars has risen as a result of rising fuel prices, and technological advances have increased the supply of such cars.
……THE REST OF THE NEWS ……
THE SUN
SHORT OF THE MARK M&S SALES FALL AFTER STOCK BLUNDER
By Steve Hawkes, Business Editor
Marks & Spencer suffered a high street drubbing yesterday after admitting a humiliating clothing cock-up. It revealed that it had seen its worst clothing sales for nearly three years. Chief executive Marc Bolland admitted M&S had scored a spectacular own goal — by ordering too little stock.
DAILY MAIL
THE £58BN GAMBLE: HOW CAUTIOUS SAVERS ARE LURED TO INVEST IN RISKY PRODUCTS
By Sam Dunn
Cautious savers are being lured into gambling half-a-billion pounds every month on risky and complicated stock market investments promising returns of up to 10.5 per cent. More than £1.3billion was poured into complex investments in the first two months of the year. These investments often sport solid-sounding names such as Fixed Term Capital Secure Investment or Capital Protected Fund, and promise returns linked to any rise in the stock market.
FINANCIAL TIMES
CANADIAN APPROACHED FOR TOP BOE JOB
By Patrick Jenkins, Chris Giles and Brooke Masters
Mark Carney, the governor of Canada’s central bank, has been informally approached as a potential candidate to replace Sir Mervyn King as head of the Bank of England in June next year. Mr Carney was approached recently by a member of the BoE’s court, the largely non-executive body that oversees its activities, according to three people involved in the process.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
TIME TO REWARD ELDERLY, SAY MPS
By James Kirkup and Christopher Hope
Pensioners and savers who have been 'penalised' by quantitative easing should be compensated by the Government, MPs are to announce. The Treasury select committee warns that “quantitative easing” (QE), a policy that has led to the creation of £325 billion of new money, is “redistributing” money from savers to borrowers. George Osborne should therefore look at ways of helping cushion the blow in his Autumn Statement later this year, they say.
GUARDIAN
UK INFLATION PUSHED TO 3.5% BY FOOD AND CLOTHING PRICE RISES
By Phillip Inman, economics correspondent
A jump in the price of food and clothing compared with a year ago pushed up inflation to 3.5% in March, according to official figures. The rise was expected by City analysts who said it was likely to prove a blip in a long-term decline over the rest of the year to nearer the Bank of England target of 2%.
DAILY EXPRESS
PENSIONERS TO LOSE BENEFIT IN RBS CUTBACKS
By Andrew Johnson
Royal Bank of Scotland is to slash ¬benefits to hundreds of pensioners in a drive to cut costs after paying top ¬bankers millions of pounds in bonuses. The taxpayer-backed bank is looking to save £160,000 a year by scrapping ¬payments worth an average of £35 a week to subsidise medical insurance costs for 400 pensioners.
THE SCOTSMAN
SCOTLAND ‘FACES BILL OF £30BN’ AFTER NORTH SEA OIL RUNS OUT
By DAVID MADDOX
Taxpayers in an independent Scotland would have to pay the £30 billion cost of decommissioning North Sea rigs, the country’s leading oil economist warned earlier today. Professor Alex Kemp, of Aberdeen University, told a Westminster committee looking into the impact of independence on the UK’s energy market that the cost of the clean-up operation would take place primarily in Scottish waters, particularly around Shetland.
