CHRISTMAS CHEER RAISES CONSUMER CONFIDENCE

Consumer confidence has improved in the run up to Christmas, according to the latest GfK consumer confidence index (The Times). The index score has risen two points since last month but remains firmly in negative territory at minus 22 – an improvement on the minus 29 reported this time last year. 

Higher prices and borrowing costs have weighed on household budgets, but wages have begun to rise faster than inflation and mortgage rates are down from their summer peak, supporting people’s sense of financial security (Financial Times).  

MILLIONS BORROWING TO PAY ESSENTIAL BILLS 

Millions of people are borrowing to pay essential bills this Christmas, charities have warned, with energy debts a key concern (BBC News). The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said that a third of those it surveyed still had loans to pay off, which had originally been taken out to cover the costs of food, housing, energy bills or council tax. Meanwhile, the debt charity StepChange estimated 2.6 million adults used credit to pay for essential household bills in the last three months.  

Separately, nearly a million households face council tax rises of up to 15 per cent after two more local authorities announced they were at risk of effective bankruptcy (The Telegraph). Households could also face paying extra on energy bills to cover customers’ bad debts under industry regulator plans (BBC News). 

NEWS IN BRIEF

Only one in four companies expect their staff to be in the office full time in the coming years, according to research by the British Chambers of Commerce (The Times). 

The number of companies in England and Wales declared insolvent in November was 21 per cent higher than a year earlier according to government figures (Reuters). 

Software programmers and IT specialists could be in shorter supply when an increased minimum salary for skilled worker visas kicks in next year, according to analysis conducted for Sky News.  

Traders have priced in a substantial loosening of monetary policy in 2024, despite the Bank of England’s warnings that rates will stay restrictive for an “extended period”. The Bank kept the UK’s base rate unchanged yesterday (The Times).