Another emergency cut was announced reducing the rate down to 0.25%. Also to increase global liquidity the USD swap line between central banks was enhanced.
US closes borders
A travel ban was announced between Europe and the US.
Budget 2020
We have summarised Mr Sunak the new Chancellor’s 2020 budget for you.
- National Insurance (NI) threshold raised to £9,500 up from £8,632
- Pension taper increased to £200,000 from £110,000 – this helps pension funding restrictions
- Junior ISA annual limits increased to £9,000 from £4,368. Adult limit remains at £20,000.
- In the UK the income tax rates and allowances remain at £12,500 for the personal allowance and £50,000 the higher rate threshold
- The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) allowance has increased to £12,300 for individuals
- The Inheritance Tax (IHT) residence nil rate band increases to £175,000 taking the overall IHT allowance up to potentially £500,000 per person
- Entrepreneurs Relief lifetime allowance reduced to £1million
- Off-payroll working rules (IR35) reform still scheduled for April 2020
- Corporation tax rate to remain at 19%
BoE reduces rate
The Bank of England has announced an emergency unscheduled 0.5% cut in
the bank rate.
The interest rate cut is part of a series of a comprehensive and timely package
of measures to help UK businesses and households bridge across the economic
disruption that is likely to be associated with Covid-19.
FED cuts rate
The Fed reduced rates by 0.5% but the markets fell. This is first time the Federal Reserve cut its policy rate since the financial crisis to ease fears that the coronavirus epidemic would trigger a recession.
Record employment level
We reached a record high in the 4th quarter of last year and average pay has surpassed its pre-crisis peak after more than a decade. In the three months to the end of December, the employment rate rose to 76.5 per cent as an extra 180,000 people found work, taking the total number of workers to 32.9 million.
Japan’s economy shrank 6.3%
The data, the worse since 2014, shows the impact of the consumption tax increase and the impact of the coronavirus.
German industrial output drop
German industrial orders fell by 2.1% resulting in a year-on-year decline of 8.6% the worst reading for over 10 years. Industrial production also fell 3.5%.
Apple is now valued more than the DAX
Apple was in the doldrums when Steve Jobs returned back to the company that he founded in 1997. It was then valued at $3bn less than 10% of Siemens. Today it is valued at over $1tn matching the value of the German stock market top 30 companies.
UK unemployment lowest level since 1975
UK unemployment fell to its lowest level since January 1975 in the three months to October this year. The number of people out of work fell by 13,000 to 1.281 million, Office for National Statistics figures show.
The employment rate rose to an all-time high of 76.2%, with an increase of 24,000 taking the number of people in work up to a total of 32.8 million.