Author: Blake Anderson

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.British Steel is preparing to idle one of its two blast furnaces as early as next week to preserve critical raw materials as crunch talks with UK ministers to stave off a collapse are set to continue for a second day.The move would allow the Chinese-owned steelmaker to prolong production at the remaining furnace at its main site at Scunthorpe in Lincolnshire until the middle of next month, people familiar with the matter said.Executives from British Steel’s owner Jingye Group met business…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Tens of thousands of people could face fines if they fail to tell HM Revenue & Customs they owe tax on savings interest — with higher interest rates meaning many more people may be caught out, experts have warned.The personal savings allowance lets basic-rate taxpayers earn up to £1,000 in interest tax-free per financial year. For higher-rate taxpayers, the allowance falls to £500, while additional-rate taxpayers are not eligible for the allowance at all. Saving interest rates on banks and building society…

Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what the 2024 US election means for Washington and the worldSir Keir Starmer has shifted his focus in US trade talks to cutting the 25 per cent tariff on British cars, admitting he did not know if he could persuade Donald Trump to axe his new 10 per cent tariff on all British imports.Starmer’s trade strategy was thrown into the air by Trump’s 10 per cent “baseline” tariff, leaving him exposed to claims from political opponents that his attempt to “appease” the US president has failed.The prime minister, who claims…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The writer, a trade economist, is chief executive of the Centre for Economic Security Credit markets are flashing red and capital is retreating from risk. If this continues, global credit conditions could deteriorate fast. Defence industries, which rely heavily on high-yield debt and specialised financing, will be among the first to feel the pain. Supply chains will seize up. Strategic programmes will slow and sovereign borrowing costs rise. In short: the financial foundations of deterrence are exposed, just as the world becomes…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK’s long-term borrowing costs soared to their highest level in 27 years on Wednesday, as gilts were swept up in a global bond sell-off sparked by Donald Trump’s trade war.Yields on 30-year gilts climbed 0.28 percentage points to just over 5.63 per cent on Wednesday early afternoon, exceeding an earlier multi-decade high set in January to trade at levels last seen in 1998.The yield on the 10-year gilt, which moves inversely to prices, surged 0.16 percentage points to 4.76 per cent,…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.The US is learning a lesson in market maleficence as post-‘Liberation Day’ shockwaves continue to ripple through global markets. Today’s pain point is US Treasuries, and if they go, nothing’s safe. Not even Games Workshop.So, is the surge in UST yields and dollar dip the arrival of America’s very own “moron risk premium” — the double discount on bonds and currencies that Britain incurred following Liz Truss’s infamous mini-budget?No, says the guy who coined the term.In a note just published, TS Lombard’s…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that Donald Trump’s global trade war has made it even more “imperative” for the UK to improve post-Brexit trading relations with the EU, ahead of a key summit next month.Reeves is pushing for Britain to pursue an ambitious economic agenda in EU/UK “reset” talks, although the government continues to rule out any move to rejoin the EU customs union.The chancellor, in an interview with the Financial Times, also said that Britain could exploit the chaos unleashed by…

Here comes RTO5. Half a decade on from the Covid lockdowns and, to quote JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon last month, “We’re going back to the office.” Many of the world’s big corporations are issuing the “return to office five days a week” mandate — Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Amazon, Dell, and law firm Sullivan & Cromwell among them. For those employees who raced for space and relocated to the suburbs or further afield during the pandemic, it spells upheaval. While the RTO5 mandate could trigger a reversal in the suburban drift, a particular pinch point is with those workers…

This article is an on-site version of our Inside Politics newsletter. Subscribers can sign up here to get the newsletter delivered every weekday. If you’re not a subscriber, you can still receive the newsletter free for 30 daysGood morning. One of the six “milestones” the government has pledged to meet by the end of this parliament is a promise that three quarters of five-year-olds in England will be “school ready” by the time they start reception. Children’s centres and family hubs for young families are key to this mission and yet, as I wrote yesterday, funding for these services has in…

Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Global Economy myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Central banks around the world are lowering borrowing costs as global inflation eases from the multi-decade highs reached in many countries in recent years.The FT global inflation and interest rates tracker provides a regularly updated visual narrative of consumer price inflation and central bank policy rates around the world. Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.This page covers the factors affecting policymakers’ decisions on borrowing costs and whether central banks have increased or decreased interest rates.Some content…