Gloria Blog

The UK economy contracted by 0.1 per cent between April and June, driven by a decline in spending by households and on fighting coronavirus, compared to growth of 0.8 per cent in the previous three months, the Office for National Statistics has said. It was the first fall back since the pandemic, in part reflecting time off for Queen Elizabeth II's platinum jubilee celebrations, stoking fears that a recession might be around the corner. The figure for June showed a 0.6 per cent decline because of the extra holiday at the start of the month, which followed surprise growth in May due to the celebrations. The state of the economy, and how to tackle the cost-of-living crisis in particular, has been the main focus of the race to become the next UK prime minister. With energy bills rising steeply, on top of increasing food and fuel prices, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have both been setting out plans for tax cuts or extra help for consumers. READ MORE : https://www.thenationalnews.com/Busi...

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team arrives in Sri Lanka on Monday for talks on a bailout program, but time is short for a country just days from running out of fuel and likely months from getting any relief money. Sri Lanka is battling its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948, as decades of economic mismanagement and recent policy errors coupled with a hit from COVID-19 to tourism and remittances, shriveling foreign reserves to record lows. The island nation of 22 million people suspended payment on $12 billion debt in April. The United Nations has warned soaring inflation, a plunging currency and chronic shortages of fuel, food and medicine could spiral into a humanitarian crisis. The IMF team, visiting Colombo through June 30, will continue recent talks on what would be Sri Lanka’s 17th rescue program, the IMF said on Sunday. “We reaffirm our commitment to support Sri Lanka at this difficult time, in line with the IMF’s policies,” the global lender said in a state...

The UK economy contracted for the second month in a row in April, falling by 0.3 per cent, official figures showed on Monday. It added to fears of a slowdown three days before the Bank of England announces the scale of its latest interest rate response to the surge in inflation. All three main sectors suffered a fall in output for the first time since January 2021, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. April’s drop in gross domestic product (GDP) was also the biggest contraction since January 2021 and follows a fall of 0.1 per cent in March. However, households showed signs of resilience despite higher inflation. Consumer-facing industries expanded 2.6 per cent in the month, led by a strong rise in retail sales. Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2022/06/13/uk-economy-shrinks-03-as-covid-testing-ends/