INTEREST RATES EXPECTED TO RISE THIS WEEK

The Bank of England is expected to announce a further 0.25 percentage points rise in interest rates on Thursday (Financial Times). Economists predict that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will vote in favour of increasing rates to one per cent, which would be the highest level since 2009. The Bank has previously said that if interest rates reached one per cent it would “actively consider” selling its £847 billion gilt portfolio that has been built up over years of quantitative easing (Bloomberg).

GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING RIGHT TO BUY FOR HOUSING ASSOCIATION TENANTS

People who rent their homes from housing associations could be given the right to buy their property at a discount of up to 70 per cent under plans being considered by the prime minister Boris Johnson, according to the Daily Telegraph. Mr Johnson has asked the No10 policy unit to develop the proposals to expand the Right to Buy system in order to help “generation rent”. Currently around 2.5 million households in England rent from a housing association (The Times). Under the plans being considered, lenders could take into account housing benefit money when people apply for a mortgage.

NEWS IN BRIEF

A series of data releases from Europe, China and the United States has pointed towards a potential global economic slowdown (The Times)

Politicians in Switzerland are due to debate potential amendments to the country’s bank secrecy law later this week (The Guardian).

The European Commission has accused Apple of breaking competition law over contactless smartphone payments (BBC News).

Germany has warned that a ban on Russian oil imports by the EU will impact the eurozone economy and lead to higher energy prices (Financial Times).