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Britain faces a protracted recession and the worst squeeze on living standards in more than 60 years, the Bank of England warned on Thursday, as it raised interest rates to their highest level since the onset of the global financial crisis. Eight of the Monetary Policy Committee’s nine members voted to raise interest rates by

Bain & Co, the Boston-based global management consultant, was on Tuesday hit with a three-year ban from tendering for British government contracts because of its “grave professional misconduct” in a major corruption scandal in South Africa. Jacob Rees-Mogg, Cabinet Office minister, told Bain that the affair had rendered the company’s integrity “questionable” and that he

China is ratcheting up military activity around Taiwan ahead of a potential visit by Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, who is expected to land in Taipei on Tuesday night. Several Chinese fighter jets flew close to the median line that divides the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday morning, according to a

Deutsche Bank staff broke regulatory rules and company policy to enable clients to siphon off millions of euros in government revenues, according to an internal investigation on its role in one of Europe’s biggest tax scandals. More than 70 current and former employees are under investigation by public prosecutors in Cologne over the scandal, highlighting

Foreign investors have pulled funds out of emerging markets for five straight months in the longest streak of withdrawals on record, highlighting how recession fears and rising interest rates are shaking developing economies. Cross-border outflows by international investors in EM stocks and domestic bonds reached $10.5bn this month according to provisional data compiled by the

Thousands of British companies are cutting economic ties with China en masse, threatening to heap more pressure on the cost of living, the head of the CBI business group has warned. Tony Danker, the CBI director-general, said chief executives were increasingly switching business links from China to other countries in anticipation of a further deterioration

Global stocks were on track to post their best month since late 2020, bouncing back from a savage first half of 2022 as easing rate rise expectations and upbeat earnings from big tech groups fuelled a broad rally. The FTSE All-World index of developed and emerging market shares has jumped 5.8 per cent in July,

British Gas owner Centrica has called for the UK government to provide more support for households hammered during the energy crisis even as it reinstated its dividend for the first time since 2020 and profits surged fivefold. Chris O’Shea, chief executive, warned that the UK was “facing what is likely to be a difficult winter” with

European gas prices jumped further on Wednesday after Russia followed through on its threat to make further cuts in gas supplies to the region. Gas prices rose 12 per cent early on Wednesday and have risen by more than a third this week from already extremely elevated levels as Europe struggles to fill gas storage

Unilever increased prices for its products 11 per cent in the second quarter from a year earlier and raised its full-year sales guidance, as it battles to pass on more cost increases to consumers. The consumer goods maker said it had yet to pass on the full impact of input cost rises to shoppers in

Satellite operator Eutelsat has confirmed it is in discussions to acquire smaller participant OneWeb over an all-share deal that seeks to help the France and UK-based groups better compete with US rivals. Eutelsat’s share price fell by more than 17 per cent to €8.60 in early trading after the statement on Monday as investors balked

China is preparing a system to sort US-listed Chinese companies into groups based on the sensitivity of the data they hold, in a potential concession by Beijing to try to stop American regulators from delisting hundreds of groups. The system is designed to bring some Chinese companies into compliance with US rules that require public

Volkswagen’s chief executive Herbert Diess, the architect of the German carmaker’s multibillion-euro push into electric vehicles, will leave the company within weeks after being forced out by union leaders and shareholders. The 63-year-old, who took over in the years following the VW emissions scandal, will be replaced by Porsche chief executive and former VW manager

The owner of the UK’s largest steelworks, Tata Group, has threatened to shut down operations if the government does not agree in the next year to provide £1.5bn of subsidies to help it reduce carbon emissions. Tata Steel UK runs the Port Talbot plant and employs nearly 8,000 people across all its operations. As one

Italian prime minister Mario Draghi has resigned, ending a national unity government formed to tackle unpopular reforms and spelling trouble for Europe at a time of acute economic challenges. In a statement, President Sergio Mattarella’s office on Thursday said that Draghi would remain in charge of current affairs. Mattarella is now expected to dissolve parliament

The rate of UK inflation rose to a fresh 40-year high of 9.4 per cent in June as sharp rises in food and petrol prices drove the rate towards double digits for the first time since 1982. The UK’s rate was again the highest among the G7 group of large advanced economies even before recent

SoftBank has put on hold plans for a London initial public offering of Arm because of the political turmoil in the UK government, throwing doubt on Britain’s place as the future home of the Cambridge-based tech giant. UK prime minister Boris Johnson has personally lobbied SoftBank’s billionaire founder Masayoshi Son to secure at least a

A government plan to deregulate the City of London and foster a post-Brexit ‘Big Bang’ will trigger a battle this week with the Bank of England, which is seeking to defend high standards and its regulatory autonomy. A radical Financial Services bill, drawn up by former chancellor and Tory leadership contender Rishi Sunak, will be

A string of big rate rises by the Federal Reserve has put pressure on central banks around the world to follow suit to counter soaring inflation and the strong dollar. A Financial Times analysis found that central banks are now, more than at any other time this century, opting for large rate rises of 50

Boris Johnson will next week offer pay rises averaging about 5 per cent to millions of public sector workers, but ministers fear that below-inflation deals across the economy could trigger months of strikes. The pay offer will be higher than originally proposed by government; ministers will argue it will help nurses, teachers and others cope