Welcome to our Weekly Digest – stay in the know with some recent news updates relevant to business and the economy.
UK consumers show increased financial optimism while reducing spending
As signs suggest significantly improved economic fundamentals, consumers are reporting more positive sentiment. Overall, 37% of UK consumers are feeling optimistic about their household finances, up from just 28% in Q4 2022.
Use of physical cash on the up for first time in at least a decade
The use of physical cash has increased for the first time in at least a decade, as households return to using coins and banknotes to manage their finances in the cost-of-living crisis.
Are UK stocks still worth buying?
Overseas investors continue to back UK shares but the asset class remains unloved closer to home. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows the proportion of UK shares held by overseas investors at the end of 2022 hit a record high of 57.7% of the value of the UK stock market
Low growth and high inequality leave Britain in ‘relative decline’
There’s more to life than GDP (gross domestic product) but, goodness, economic growth matters.
Business groups slam government’s ‘politics over economics’ migration plans
Business groups have slammed the government’s plans to cut the levels of legal migration into the UK as “politics over economics”. But some have already warned against the plan, suggesting it risks damaging the UK economy’s growth prospects and could make it harder to attract top global talent into the nation’s firms.
Clock ticking for UK enterprises as one in ten fear their business may not survive the next 12 months
One in ten fear their organisation is hanging by a thread, according to a survey by Veritas Technologies. With 2024 just around the corner, the research paints a bleak picture with 13% of those questioned doubting their company will survive the next 12 months.
Bank of England to hold its line against rate cut talk
The Bank of England looks set to stick to its tough line against talk of interest rate cuts in Britain, even as other leading central banks signal that they might be approaching a turning point in their fight against inflation.
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