LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) – British leasing companies are
in talks with the government and the Bank of England about
extending a flagship government credit scheme to enable the
firms to offer more finance, a trade body said on Monday.

Britain launched the Funding for Lending Scheme in August in
order to boost investment in the country’s stagnant economy. The
scheme offers banks cheap credit if they increase lending to
households and businesses, but so far the benefits have gone
mainly to banks and home-buyers rather than small businesses.

LONDON (Reuters) – A British government scheme to help home-buyers risks being costly, counterproductive and a danger to the Bank of England’s political independence, a non-partisan committee of legislators said on Saturday.

Chancellor George Osborne pledged to guarantee up to 130 billion pounds of higher-risk mortgages and offer 3.5 billion pounds of shared-equity loans to home-buyers in his annual budget statement last month.

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters) – A British government scheme to
help home-buyers risks being costly, counterproductive and a
danger to the Bank of England’s political independence, a
non-partisan committee of legislators said on Saturday.

Finance minister George Osborne pledged to guarantee up to
130 billion pounds ($198 billion) of higher-risk mortgages and
offer 3.5 billion pounds of shared-equity loans to home-buyers
in his annual budget statement last month.

LONDON, April 19 (Reuters) – Britain’s credit standing took
a further blow on Friday when Fitch Ratings became the second
major international agency to strip the country of its top-notch
credit rating.

The move is an embarrassment for Britain’s Conservative-led
government which promised to protect the country’s rating when
it took power in 2010, and will heighten the debate about
whether austerity is still the right approach.

LONDON (Reuters) – Unusually cold weather hurt British retail sales in March, but the fall was small enough to leave the possibility that the economy as a whole avoided shrinking in the first three months of the year.

Retail sales volumes slipped 0.7 percent on the month after strong growth in February to stand 0.5 percent lower on the year, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

LONDON, April 18 (Reuters) – Unusually cold weather hurt
British retail sales in March, but the fall was small enough to
leave the possibility that the economy as a whole avoided
shrinking in the first three months of the year.

Retail sales volumes slipped 0.7 percent on the month after
strong growth in February to stand 0.5 percent lower on the
year, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s unemployment rate rose in February and pay excluding bonuses posted the smallest increase on record, suggesting that cracks are starting to show in the so far surprisingly resilient labor market.

The Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday that the main jobless rate rose to 7.9 percent in the three months ending in February – the highest rate since the three months to August 2012, when it was also 7.9 percent.

LONDON (Reuters) – The unemployment rate rose in February and pay excluding bonuses posted the smallest increase on record, suggesting that cracks are starting to show in the so far surprisingly resilient labour market.

The Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday that the main jobless rate rose to 7.9 percent in the three months ending in February – the highest rate since the three months to August 2012, when it was also 7.9 percent.

LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) – British inflation held steady
in March at its highest level since last May, keeping up the
pressure on households, and the International Monetary Fund
sharply cut its growth outlook for the country.

Annual consumer price inflation held at 2.8 percent, the
same as in February and above the Bank of England’s 2 percent
target, although finance minister George Osborne has given the
bank leeway to focus more on growth and allow some inflation
overshoots.

LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) – British consumer price
inflation held steady in March at its highest level since last
May, while lower oil prices suggested future rises in inflation
may be smaller than feared, official data showed on Tuesday.

Annual consumer price inflation held at 2.8 percent, the
same as in February and above the Bank of England’s 2 percent
target, although the finance minister has given the bank leeway
to focus more on growth and allow for such inflation overshoots.