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UK finance minister Osborne says G-7 to discuss what central banks can do to nurture recovery

The Canadian PressMay 12, 2013 08:16
LONDON - What more the world's top central banks can do to shore up the global economic recovery is expected to feature large at a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the seven leading industrial economies. In a statement Friday ahead of the Group of Seven meeting at a country house around 50 miles (80 kilometres) northwest of London, British finance minister George Osborne says the main task over the coming two days is how to nurture the recovery. He says participants will consider what "more monetary activism can do to support the recovery."

Labour calls for banker licences to fight scandals

April 15, 2013 19:30
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should issue licences to bankers to help stamp out the kind of scandals that have hit the City of London in recent years, the opposition Labour party proposed on Tuesday. Labour will seek to amend a banking reform bill in parliament to strengthen existing checks on people working in the financial services industry.

Osborne defends mortgage help scheme

March 26, 2013 12:45
LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne defended the government's new mortgage guarantee scheme on Tuesday, saying the primary aim was to get mortgage credit flowing, not to lift property prices. "The objective of the scheme is to increase the availability of mortgages," Osborne told a parliamentary committee. He refused to be drawn on whether the scheme would boost house prices, as many commentators - including Britain's independent budget watchdog - have suggested.

Osborne raises some cheer with beer duty cuts

March 20, 2013 14:45
By Neil Maidment LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne scrapped the country's above-inflation beer tax rises on Wednesday and cut 1 pence off a pint, cheering drinkers and providing some relief for a pub sector still enduring 18 closures a week. The much criticized beer duty escalator, put in place to push the levy up 2 percent on top of inflation every year until 2015, has seen the tax on beer increase 42 percent since the previous Labour government introduced it in 2008.

Osborne raises some cheer with beer duty cuts

March 20, 2013 12:00
By Neil Maidment LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor George Osborne scrapped the country's above-inflation beer tax rises on Wednesday and cut one pence off a pint, cheering drinkers and providing some relief for a pub sector still enduring 18 closures a week. The much criticised beer duty escalator, put in place to push the levy up by 2 percent on top of inflation every year until 2015, has seen the tax on beer grow 42 percent since the previous Labour government introduced it in 2008.

Newspaper leak of UK budget prompts uproar

March 20, 2013 11:15
By Rosalba O'Brien LONDON (Reuters) - Details of Britain's market moving budget were published on the Internet by a newspaper reporter 15 minutes before the Chancellor stood up to give his speech on Wednesday, prompting calls for an investigation. A copy of the front page of the London Evening Standard, containing details of economic forecasts, tax changes and borrowing, was published on Twitter well before George Osborne rose to his feet.

Osborne to raise UK personal tax allowance to 10,000 pounds

March 20, 2013 10:15
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will raise the personal tax allowance to 10,000 pounds in 2014-15, a year earlier than expected, Chancellor George Osborne said on Wednesday. The coalition government had previously pledged to raise the theshold before people starting paying tax on their income to 10,000 pounds before the end of this parliament in 2015. "Almost three million more of the lowest paid will pay no income tax at all," Osborne told parliament in his budget statement. "It is a historic achievement for this government."

Britain sticks to austerity path in budget

March 20, 2013 09:46
British finance minister George Osborne stuck firmly to the government's controversial austerity plan as he presented his annual budget to parliament Wednesday, despite a promise to spend on infrastructure to boost a weak economy. Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne, whose is facing calls from within his own Conservative party to change course, told MPs that Britain "must hold to the right track" as he outlined his tax and spending plans for 2013/14. "We are slowly but surely fixing our country's economic problems," Osborne told the nation.

Britain readies for fresh austerity budget

March 20, 2013 08:31
British finance minister George Osborne was Wednesday set to stick firmly to the government's controversial austerity plan when he presents his annual budget to parliament despite a promise to spend on infrastructure. Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne, whose Conservative party heads a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, presents his 2013-14 budget to parliament at 1230 GMT, as tens of thousands of state workers stage a strike and after official data revealed a first rise in British unemployment for a year.

Britain readies for fresh austerity budget

March 20, 2013 06:30
British finance minister George Osborne was Wednesday set to stick firmly to the government's controversial austerity plan when he presents his latest annual budget to parliament despite a promise to spend on infrastructure, as Britain sails close to another recession. Chancellor of the Exchequer Osborne, whose Conservative party heads a coalition government with the Liberal Democrats, will present his 2013-14 budget to parliament at 1230 GMT, as tens of thousands of state workers stage a strike.
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