10:29
Full story: inflation reached 7% in March as the cost of living in the UK rises
Richard Partington
Households in the UK are under renewed pressure from rising living costs after official inflation reached 7% last month amid record increases in petrol and diesel prices.
Data from the National Statistics Service show that the last rise in the consumer price index is the fastest in three decades, a month after the barometer of rising living costs jumped 6.2% in February.
With a massive rise in prices in the economy, the biggest increase came in the cost of filling the pump after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought global oil prices close to record levels amid fears of supply disruptions and sanctions.
Inflation in the United Kingdom
Average petrol and diesel prices rose to a record 160.2 pence and 170.5 liters respectively, rising by more than 30% in the last year, the biggest annual increase since 1989.
Prices for restaurants and hotels also rose sharply in March, as they were not available last year during the blockade, while there were increases in a number of different foods as the price of the weekly store rose.
Here is the whole story:
Updated at 10.35 BST
1 minute ago 17:00 Jasper Jolie Photo: Piroschka Van De Wouw / Reuters
The Dutch bank ABN Amro apologized for the role of its predecessors in the slave trade after commissioning an investigation into the “unspoken suffering” it caused.
An investigation by academics at the International Institute of Social History (IISH), an archive in Amsterdam, found that two of ABN Amro’s predecessor companies were involved in either financing the slave business or taking over the trade in products made by do.
The Black Lives Matter global protests that followed the assassination of George Floyd in the United States in 2020 have prompted many historical institutions to reconsider their own links to slavery and the slave trade.
Here is the whole story:
11 minutes ago 16:50
World Bank, IMF, SBA and WTO call for urgent action on food crisis
Leaders of the World Bank, the IMF, the World Food Program and the World Trade Organization have called for urgent coordinated action on food security.
As the war in Ukraine threatens to push millions more into poverty, David Malpas, Kristalina Georgieva, David Beasley and Ngozi Okonjo-Iuela say soaring food prices and supply shortages are increasing pressure on households around the world.
They urge the international community to help vulnerable countries, including through emergency food supplies, financial support for households and countries and grants to cover urgent financial needs, as well as increasing agricultural production and ensuring open trade.
In a joint statement, Malpas, Georgieva, Beasley and Okonjo-Iuela said:
The threat is highest for the poorest countries, which account for a large share of food imports, but vulnerability is growing rapidly in middle-income countries, which host most of the world’s poor. World Bank estimates warn that for every one percentage point increase in food prices, 10 million people are thrown into extreme poverty around the world.
“Rising food prices are exacerbated by the dramatic rise in the price of natural gas, a key ingredient in nitrogen fertilizers. Rising fertilizer prices, together with significant cuts in global supplies, have important implications for food production in most countries, including large producers and exporters, who rely heavily on fertilizer imports. Rising food prices and supply shocks can fuel social tensions in many affected countries, especially those already fragile or affected by conflict.
42 minutes ago 16:19
Yellen: More worried about the prospects for a recession in Europe than in the United States
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also warned that global economic growth would be affected by Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Yellen noted that it has sharply raised the prices of food, energy and some metals, fueling the existing inflationary pressures (as we saw today in the United Kingdom).
Reuters has more details:
“This is likely to be a blow to global growth,” Yellen told an event hosted by the Atlantic Council’s think tank, adding that she was “more worried about the prospects for a recession” in Europe, which is most vulnerable to energy disruptions. from Russia.
The United States had “a very strong economy and a very strong labor market,” Yellen said, but also faced “strong, strong wage pressures,” inflation and the potential for further pressure in the supply chain due to the COVID blockade. 19 in China.
US Department of the Treasury Yellen:
– I am more worried about the prospects for a recession in Europe
– We are at a very critical time for the world economy
– DailyFX Live Team (@DailyFXTeam) April 13, 2022
US Department of the Treasury Yellen:
– I am more worried about the prospects for a recession in Europe
– We are at a very critical time for the world economy
– DailyFX Live Team (@DailyFXTeam) April 13, 2022 46 minutes ago 16:15
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will convene a meeting of senior international financial officials next week to tackle the global food security crisis following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Yellen says she is deeply concerned about the impact of the Russian war in Ukraine on world food prices and supplies, as rising prices threaten many millions of people with severe hunger.
Yellen said she would convene other leaders during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank next week to discuss possible solutions to help the poorest, who spend more of their income on food.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to convene a meeting of senior international financial officials next week to tackle the global food security crisis https://t.co/PdErRmD4R9
– Bloomberg (@business) April 13, 2022
Yellen also warned countries that have not severed financial ties with Russia or are seeking to undermine sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.
In prepared notes at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, she said:
“While many countries have taken a united stand against Russia’s actions and many companies have quickly and voluntarily severed business with Russia, some countries and companies have not.
“Let me now say a few words to those countries that are currently sitting on the fence, perhaps seeing an opportunity to win by maintaining relations with Russia and filling the void left by others. Such motivations are short-sighted. “
And in a call to China to help end the war in Ukraine, she said:
“The world’s attitude towards China and its readiness to accept further economic integration may be influenced by China’s response to our call for decisive action against Russia.
Updated at 16.24 BST
1 hour ago 15:50
The IMF is concerned about the risks posed by decentralized financing (DeFi), crypto-based financial networks that operate without a central intermediary.
In a new blog post, IMF officials warn that the fast-growing fintech sector poses challenges for effective regulation and oversight.
He cites decentralized financing, which uses secure distributed registers to process transactions. Such networks have been targeted by cybercriminals, and the lack of deposit protection means that customers are often quick to withdraw their money when a cyber attack occurs.
The IMF says:
Also known as DeFi, it offers the potential to provide more innovative, inclusive and transparent financial services through greater efficiency and affordability.
However, DeFi also involves the accumulation of leverage and is particularly vulnerable to market, liquidity and cyber risks. Cyberattacks, which can be severe for traditional banks, are often deadly to these platforms, stealing financial assets and undermining consumer confidence.
DeFi’s lack of deposit insurance contributes to the feeling that all deposits are at risk. Historically, large customer withdrawals often follow news of cyberattacks against vendors.
IMG also points out that FinTech can encourage banks to innovate to stay relevant to customers by disrupting basic financial services.
For consumers, this means potentially wider access to better services. Such changes also increase the stakes for regulators and supervisors – while most individual fintech companies are still small, they can expand very quickly for both riskier customers and business segments than traditional lenders.
Fintech can be small. But they can expand really fast, serving more risky customers than traditional lenders, for example through consumer loans and mortgages. They did develop during the pandemic and do not expect to be delayed
– Bjarke Smith-Meyer (@bsmithmey) April 13, 2022
They also offer more people access to financial markets. This is good. But regulators have not conducted stress tests on fintech companies – so it is unclear how they will cope with the next financial crisis
– Bjarke Smith-Meyer (@bsmithmey) April 13, 2022 2 hours ago 15: 292 hours before 15:28
Sky News’s Ed Conway analyzes why the energy price shock has brought inflation faster than economists predict:
Part of the reason economists are so surprised (and still are so surprised) by rising inflation is that they pay little attention to the importance of energy for the 21st century economy. And yet the energy is not accidental. She is EVERYTHING. See GDP by energy (chart: @amcafee) pic.twitter.com/MqrWynDjpK
– Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) April 13, 2022
Despite efforts to improve efficiency, the reality is that a huge amount of economic activity depends, often directly, on energy. And it will be for decades. So higher energy prices flow into almost every category of inflation. Just take a look at this from @samueltombs pic.twitter.com/r88Aqc0oBg
– Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) April 13, 2022
The result is that the models of most economists, which extrapolate the impact of higher household accounts on the CPI and add a component to the price of goods, turn out to be sorely lacking in that price …
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