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November 30, 2008
by Kay Murchie
Theo Paphitis, one of the Dragons on the BBC2 show Dragons' Den, is reported to be working on a rescue plan for Woolworths.
According to Deloitte, Woolworths' administrator, over a dozen inquiries have been received from retailers, private equity firms and individuals.
High Street chain, Woolworths, entered administration last week after 99 years of trading.
The chain has been struggling ...
November 28, 2008
by Peter Charalambous
Across the third quarter Malaysia’s economic growths has stunted to its slowest growth for over three years as the global recession has hurt the export trade, and has resulted in gross domestic product falling to 4.7 percent from 6.7 in the second quarter.
The Malaysian central bank has announced that it would consider lowering interest rates further as and when needed. Interest ...
by Peter Charalambous
Inflation in Japan has fallen further in October by 1.9 percent, as official reports have indicated that due to the reduction in oil prices and energy prices, it is hoped that the economy will soon pick up.
The problem is that October has been the continued fall of consumer spending which has been on the decline for eight consecutive months, coupled with the fact that ...
by Peter Charalambous
According to the Nationwide’s latest figures, although the average house price has fallen by £430 in November to £158,442 the drop is less than expected.
Nationwide's chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, warned that the UK housing market is not on the way to complete recovery as the average house is still worth £25,000 less than it was last year.
On a positive note, there ...
by Peter Charalambous
In the third quarter, Sweden’s economy officially slipped into recession and follows a number of its neighbouring countries succumbing to economic downturn.
The Swedish central bank is expected to reduce interest rates drastically with economists indicating at least a 1 percent drop, in order to reduce the cost of borrowing in order to reignite the economy.
GDP has fallen across both the second and third ...
by Peter Charalambous
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, US retailers are doing all they can to avert the economic downturn, although it does mean a heavy advertising budget might be needed over Christmas.
Retailers are spending big at the moment and even though Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) is not the biggest selling day of the season, it is ...
by Kay Murchie
John Lewis, owner of the Waitrose supermarket chain as well as the renowned employee-owned department store, is under pressure due to heavy discounting by its competitors.
Five of its stores experienced a fall in sales by over 20% last week with the Nottingham store reporting the worst fall of 23%, while stores at Peterborough, Reading and Bristol's Cribbs Causeway were all ...
November 27, 2008
by Peter Charalambous
During October, Germany’s import price inflation fell as a result of falling energy prices, as figures from the Federal Statistics Office revealed a 2.9 percent fall and represents the lowest year-on-year rate since 2007.
With falls in commodity prices being as a result of the fall in global world growth, inflationary pressures have fallen which has meant that the European Central Bank ...
by Peter Charalambous
The European Union (EU) has united in pulling together a 200 billion euro (170 billion pounds) rescue package that accounts for 1.5 percent of the gross domestic product, which Commission President Jose Barroso has labelled an exceptional response to the euro zone economic problems.
The measure can been coordinated across the member states so that it can help boost economies and stave off ...
by Peter Charalambous
The Chinese economy, which is much publicised as being the greatest contributor to global economic growth, has received scrupulous attention to change and so the decision by the People's Bank of China to reduce interest rates, has received rapturous applause.
The rate cut of 1.08 percent, to 5.58 percent, follows on from the decision to pump 4 trillion yuan (385 billion pounds) into ...
by Peter Charalambous
UK consumer spending has fallen further as households continue to tighten their budgets.
Both package holidays and clothing sales have taken a bigger hit than expected as it is 0.2 percent down from the previous quarter.
Consumer spending in the UK is at is lowest ebb since 1995 as investment has fallen more than estimated during the third quarter as recession hit.
From the second quarter, ...
by Peter Charalambous
India’s inflation has now halted as a result of a fall in the cost of oil prices, as well as exports not suffering as much as economists had predicted.
Inflation is currently running at a five-month low at 8.84 percent and it has given the central bank leeway to reduce borrowing costs in order to sustain economic growth, as the finance minister has vociferously quoted ...
by Kay Murchie
B&Q, Currys and PC World are the latest retailers to suffer as consumers rein in their spending.
Kingfisher said sales at its DIY store chain B&Q were down 9.2%, as demand for items such as new kitchens and bathrooms have dwindled amid the housing market downturn.
According to Ian Cheshire, chief executive, consumer confidence has been knocked over ...
by Kay Murchie
Renowned High Street chain, Woolworths, entered administration yesterday after 99 years of trading.
Today, attempts are being made to rescue the retailer and administrators Deloitte said it had received ‘expressions of interest’ from a number of parties.
Dan Butters of Deloitte said they are working hard to ensure that any sale of the business, in whole or part, will preserve jobs.
It has emerged ...
November 26, 2008
by Kay Murchie
Well-known retailer Woolworths and furniture giant, MFI have collapsed into administration today.
This morning, Woolworths had its shares suspended after the group has been in crisis talks over the last few days.
The company, which is one of the UK’s oldest chains having been established for 99 years, has more than 800 high street shops and a workforce of 30,000.
Deloitte is to ...
by Peter Charalambous
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released their assessment of the British economy indicating that the Bank of England must take the drastic action of rapidly cutting interest rates, as there is little room for any further tax cuts or pump priming that can be done meaningfully by the Treasury.
As part of its six month review on ...
by Peter Charalambous
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, has revealed his fear that inflation may fall below its target of 2 percent, due to the fact that the price of oil has fallen so suddenly, alongside commodity prices in a period of reducing domestic demand.
UK inflation has so far fallen from 5.2 percent to 4.5 percent in the last month, even though ...
by Peter Charalambous
Mexico's inflation has surged and is currently running at a seven-year high at 6.2 percent.
The Mexican central bank has announced that it is the rising cost of both food and energy prices that has caused inflation to rise too quickly in the first two weeks of November.
Consumer prices for the period are expected to increase more than estimated so that annual inflation is ...
by Peter Charalambous
Hungarian interest rates have been lowered by 50 basis points in order to protect the currency, and at 11 percent, the Hungarian central bank announced that the measure has been made in order to satisfy the recent plan that has been brought into action thanks to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
It is hoped that the pressures on the economy will be brought back ...
by Peter Charalambous
The key measure for interest rate cuts, as per future prediction, is the three month interbank lending rate, also known as the Libor rate.
The main rates in both euros and sterling have experienced steady falls, although the spread between the lending rates for banks and policy rates did increase, as it is becoming clearer that banks are no longer ...
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