British Chambers of Commerce raises new fears for UK growth

Business lobby group casts doubt over official UK growth estimates but still supports government plans to reduce deficit

Britain's economy will grow more slowly this year than has been forecast in official estimates, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), due to a weak first quarter and the impact of bank holidays and the royal wedding. Despite the sluggish performance, the lobby group said that it still backed the government's drastic plans to reduce the deficit, but called for more to be done to help businesses take up the slack caused by cutbacks in the public sector.

G8 upbeat on recovery but warns of commodity costs

Leaders of the Group of Eight industrialised nations today declared the global economic recovery was becoming "self sustained" despite concerns in many quarters.

But they cautioned that the high cost of commodities is hampering growth.

India, China lead global economic recovery: UN

UNITED NATIONS: The emerging economies of India, China and Brazil are leading the global economic recovery, according to a UN report released on Wednesday.

"The rebound has been led by the large emerging economies in Asia and Latin America, particularly China, India and Brazil," the report said.

OECD fears global recovery could spiral into 'stagflation'

The OECD has sent out a stark warning the global economic recovery could spiral into stagflation on the back of rising oil and commodity prices.

In its latest economic outlook, the group's chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan said this will lead to stagnant growth and high inflation in some countries.

U.S. Spending Cuts Might Imperil Global Recovery, UN Says

Government spending cuts by the U.S. and other Western nations might threaten the global economic recovery, the United Nations said as it forecast 2.8 percent growth in the U.S. economy next year.

“If austerity measure are too drastic and come too soon given the stage of the recovery, economic growth and employment could suffer and the still fragile banking sector could weaken further,” the UN’s midyear economic analysis said. “A fall out in one part of the developed country financial system may still have ripple effects worldwide.”

Danger of uneven Europe recovery has fallen

VIENNA, May 23 (Reuters) - The danger of an uneven economic recovery in Europe has fallen despite concerns about the patchy nature of the upturn, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said on Monday.

"One cannot exclude the possibility of a slowdown in recovery, but I think that the risks of an L-shaped or W-shaped development have clearly decreased," he said told a conference organised by the central bank.

Return of black economy ‘a threat to recovery’

The re-emergence of the black economy could be a threat to Ireland’s economic recovery, according to the newly-elected president of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Ireland (CPA).

Gail McEvoy, who is managing partner of Drogheda firm McEvoy and Associates, said that immediate steps must be taken to ensure the under-the-counter payments culture, which was prevalent in the 1980s, does not re-emerge

Economic Policy Cooperation Vital to Global Recovery

Advanced and emerging market economies stand to benefit from a stronger economic recovery if they cooperate in setting their basic economic policy plans, said John Lipsky, acting managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Lipsky, giving the annual Stavros Niarchos Foundation lecture at the Peterson Institute for International Economics—a Washington, D.C-based think tank—said effective policy coordination promises to be a mutually beneficial proposition.

Small businesses are key to economic recovery

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Nearly two out of every three jobs are created by small businesses.

If our small businesses are thriving, we will create jobs. If our small businesses are growing, we will keep our economy moving in the right direction.

This week is Small Business Week, which is the perfect opportunity to reflect on what has been done to support the small business community and to refocus our efforts on helping American small businesses grow.

Fed’s Dudley Says ‘Moderate’ Economic Recovery Is Falling Short of Goals

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said the central bank is falling short of its goals because of the modest pace of the recovery, with unemployment too high and headline inflation likely to ease.

“The recovery remains moderate and we still have a considerable way to go to meet the Fed’s dual mandate of full employment and price stability,” Dudley said today in a speech in New Paltz, New York.

Fed officials are considering how quickly to begin an exit from record stimulus after purchasing a total of $600 billion in U.S. Treasuries by the end of June. They are also discussing a strategy for how to remove stimulus, with a majority favoring ending the policy of reinvesting proceeds from maturing securities first before raising interest rates or selling assets, minutes of their April 26-27 meeting showed yesterday.

Newt's Economic Recovery Plan

Last Friday I attended the speech by Newt Gingrich at Art Laffer's annual Investor Conference in Washington, D.C., where Gingrich unveiled his own economic recovery program. This wasn't just campaign rhetoric. The speech was specific, detailed, and comprehensive.

Laffer himself, who was central to defining the economic policies that produced the 25-year Reagan economic boom, said regarding Gingrich's economic plan, "The combination of pro-growth tax reform, spending restraint, and sound money will restore robust economic growth with low unemployment and low inflation." Moreover, Laffer added, given the dramatic reductions in tax rates as discussed below, "in due course, the plan should be surprisingly inexpensive from the standpoint of lost revenues given the powerful effect it will have on the future growth path of the United States economy."

Weak economic recovery still affecting Scottish commercial property

Scotland’s office occupier markets still performing at below average levels.

Economic recovery from a banking crisis-induced recession is notoriously weak. Aberdeen aside, the lack of a solid foundation to the recovery means that Scotland’s occupier markets are still performing at below average levels, while the development sector remains moribund. The investment market appears to have found some stability but trading is thin and these conditions will persist during 2011. These are the main findings in Ryden’s 68th Scottish Property Review, an authoritative report on the country’s commercial property sector.

Securing global economic security

Inflation is a significant factor of global economic security and has the innate capacity to upend carefully laid plans

Canadian Natural Gas Rises on Signs of U.S. Economic Recovery

Canadian natural gas rose after confidence among U.S. consumers grew more than forecast in May, a signal that industrial gas use is poised to increase.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index rose to 72.4, a three-month high, from a final reading of 69.8 in April, the group reported today. The consumer-price index rose 0.4. percent in April, matching the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Economic recovery delayed by property collapse

Ireland's economic recovery continues to be weighed down by the property collapse, according to the European Commission.

The aftershocks of the property collapse means growth this year is reaching just 0.6%, lower than the Government's target of 0.75%

U.K. House Prices Drop Most in Seven Months on Economic Recovery Concerns

U.K. house prices fell the most in seven months in April as signs of a fading economic recovery and tighter lending conditions dented property demand, Halifax reported today.

Values fell 1.4 percent from March to an average 160,395 pounds ($262,839), Halifax, the mortgage unit of Lloyds Banking Group Plc (LLOY) said in a statement in London today. From a year earlier, prices were down 4.9 percent.

Economic recovery is "back on track", new figures claim

Order levels are up and business growth remains high, although the number of new jobs has slowed.

Economic recovery in Scotland is back on track, according to figures released today.

April marked the fourth straight monthly rise in new order levels in the Scottish economy, and new business growth was unchanged from March's three-and-a-half-year high.

Pakistan’s economy on way to recovery

Pakistan is the 26th largest economy in the world in terms of purchasing power, and the 47th largest in absolute dollar terms. Its production is dominated by textiles, chemicals, food processing and agriculture. Most of the recent acceleration in GDP growth has come from the industrial and service sectors. Despite adverse factors such as energy shortfall and rising costs of imported petroleum products, the economy has shown modest signs of recovery during 2010-11. It has been a period during which the government made efforts to stabilise the economy in its quest for sustainable growth.

Treasuries Advance for Fourth Week Amid Economic Recovery Concern, Greece

Treasuries rose for a fourth week, pushing 30-year bond yields to the lowest level since December, as a plunge in commodities reduced concern inflation will climb and investors sought a refuge from Greece’s debt crisis.

U.S. two-year note yields dropped yesterday to the lowest level since March after reports European finance officials were in Luxembourg for an unscheduled meeting that may address restructuring Greek debt. Treasury yields had risen earlier yesterday after a government report showed payrolls accelerated in April in the biggest gain since May 2010. A report next week may show retail sales rose for a 10th straight month.

Soaring administrations cast fresh doubts on recovery

Corporate administrations in England and Wales have soared this quarter, jumping 22% since Q4 2010, statistics published today by the Insolvency Service reveal.

Highlighting this worrying trend has been the recent, high profile administration of DIY giants, Focus DIY, which recently colllapsed. The business is now being administered by Earnst & Young and it is expected that up to 4,000 could be lost.

Building industry can lead way to enconomic recovery

John Elliott, managing director of Millwood Homes, right, explains why now is the right time to start building a recovery.

Housebuilding is vital to our recovery as a nation since construction is one of the best ways to stimulate economic activity - each £1 spent generates a total of £2.84 in economic activity.

Sage on a Way to Recovery

According to the first half results of software giant Sage, after being badly affected by the downturn, it has initiated the process of its recovery.

As revealed by those unaudited accounts, there now exist organic growth, pre-tax profit, debt reduction and increased revenue.

Warren Buffet Weighs in on Status of Economic Recovery, Lubrizol and David Sokol

Warren Buffet, the ‘Oracle of Omaha,’ recently faced weary shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway this past weekend for an update on the outlook of the conglomerate. Questions from shareholders indicated the anxiety was a largely a result of the recent Standard & Poor’s Index put the U.S. government’s credit rating on a “negative credit watch,” according to Reuters. Mr. Buffet responded by saying that the Standard & Poor’s decision was hasty, as the US government can print more money to pay down the debt if absolutely necessary. As a result, he went on to say that it was an economic certainty that the dollar would fall; however, it is variable as to how fast and soon this will occur.