UK TO ANNOUNCE RUSSIAN SANCTIONS

The UK will today announce sanctions against Russia after an escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, foreign secretary Liz Truss has said. Existing legislation will be used to impose restrictions on people and organisations with links to Russia, the BBC reports, with the prime minister expected to set out the details to parliament later today. The US, Germany and France have also said they will impose sanctions on Russia (Reuters).

The price of oil has risen to its highest level since 2014 (Sky News) while global stock markets have dropped in response to the situation (Financial Times).

GOVERNMENT TO REFORM SOLVENCY II RULES

The government has announced plans to reform regulation of the insurance industry in a move which it says will unlock billions of pounds of investment in infrastructure (The Times). Speaking at an Association of British Insurers dinner John Glen, economic secretary to the Treasury, said that EU rules known as Solvency II would be replaced with a new regime which would give UK firms greater flexibility to invest in long-term growth projects (Guardian).

NEWS IN BRIEF

The government has announced that all Covid-19 restrictions in England will end from Thursday, including the legal requirement for people with symptoms to self-isolate (Reuters).

Public sector spending in January was less than income from taxes and other sources for the first time since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic (Financial Times).

Almost 40 per cent of all board positions at FTSE 100 firms are now held by women, up from 12.5 per cent a decade ago (Sky News).

The UK economy has expanded faster than expected in February, according to a monthly survey conducted by IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, driven by a rise on spending on services (The Times).