Category

Finance

The latest published reporting in this category.

Finance

Debt of poorest countries at record $9.4tn high, World Bank data shows

Cost of servicing external debt is preventing developing countries from investing for future Debt owed by developing countries rose to a record $9.4tn (£7tn) last year, with the poorest paying the highest interest rates since the late 1980s, World Bank data shows. The UK government is preparing to champion a “new drive on debt” as part of its presidency of the G20 next year – a move the prime minister, Andy Burnham, has linked to confronting the legacy of slavery. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

What does the UK interest rate rise mean for homeowners and savers?

First rate rise for more than three years leaves millions facing rise in mortgage payments Bank of England raises interest rates to 4% Business live – latest updates The Bank of England has hiked interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, taking the base rate to 4%. It is the first rate rise for more than three years, leaving millions of households facing a sharp rise in mortgage payments. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

South West Water’s failure to fix leaks ‘putting customer supplies at risk’

With parts of region served by company in severe drought still, regulators give it six weeks to come up with action plan Repeated failures by South West Water to tackle leaks are putting customers at higher risks of losing water supplies as parts of the region remain in severe drought, regulators have said. In a warning to the privatised company that serves 1.8 million people across the south-west of England, the regulators said it had been failing to meet targets to reduce leaks and repair burst pipes for seven years. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

‘I never understood wind’: midterms spark hope for renewables after Trump’s hostility

Future brightens for US developers in particular after election when voters rejected Trump’s war on clean energy After years as collateral damage in Donald Trump’s war on climate action, the Democrats’ sweeping triumph in the US midterm elections has emerged as a victory for the global renewable energy industry, too. Across the world’s financial centres the market value of renewable energy developers climbed as the election results confirmed the Republicans had lost control of the Senate and House of Representatives. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

Tech barons cozied up to Trump. What will they do in newly blue America?

Democrats’ success was helped by popular anger over tech, AI and the super rich – life for billionaires could become much more difficult The photo of Silicon Valley centibillionaires at Donald Trump’s inauguration – Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg, front row and side by side – now looks like a hitlist for a blue Congress hellbent on making life difficult for billionaires. The picture symbolized at the time the bending of the knee by the richest men in the world to its most powerful, a symbiosis of the ultra-rich. Already unfathomably wealthy, Silicon Valley tycoons believed a Maga-sized public shif

The Guardian
Read more
Finance

Poundland’s US owner says retailer remains ‘vulnerable’, after talks with ministers

Gordon Brothers still in ‘active discussions’ with interested parties and seeking to ‘protect as many jobs as possible’ The US owner of Poundland has said the high street chain remains “challenged and vulnerable” after holding talks with ministers amid government criticism of its handling of the retailer. Gordon Brothers said on Thursday morning that it was still in “active discussions” with interested suitors and had been seeking to “protect as many jobs as possible”. Continue reading...

The Guardian
Read more