FirstFT: Sunak sets fiscal rules to curb borrowing in the UK

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UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak plans to use next month’s budget to set rules to contain government debt as the Treasury Department fears that a rise in interest rates could blow a hole in indebted public finances.

Sunak’s new rules will require him to stop borrowing within three years to fund daily expenses – a move intended to illustrate Tory’s budgetary discipline ahead of the next election. While the government’s current spending plans are in line with the rules, they leave little room for additional freebies to be revealed around the budget.

Sunak’s fiscal rules will also require underlying debt to fall by 2024-25, according to people briefed on the Chancellor’s mindset. It is now around 100 percent of the gross domestic product.

UK inflation rose to 3.2 percent in August, its highest level since 2012, and although the Bank of England believes the increase is manageable and temporary, Sunak is watching it closely.

How concerned are you about the prospect of higher inflation and why? Email me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading, and here is the rest of today’s news – Jennifer

Five more stories on the news

1. Unpublished inflation estimate by the ECB increases the prospect of an earlier rate hike According to unpublished internal models, the European Central Bank expects to hit its elusive inflation target of 2 percent by 2025.

2. The US is trying to calm French anger Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, said France remains an “important partner” in allaying anger in Paris, whose lucrative submarine contract with Australia was abandoned as a result of the American naval security pact with Canberra and London.

• Continue reading: Beijing condemned the agreement and accused the three countries of an “outdated zero-sum mentality of the Cold War”. However, the partnership was hailed as a boost to Britain’s post-Brexit agenda “Global Britain”.

3. A study by the World Bank shows that the IMF boss has urged his employees to improve China’s ranking IMF executive director Kristalina Georgieva was accused by a World Bank investigation of spearheading efforts to artificially improve China’s ranking in the lender’s influential annual doing business report.

4. Murdoch’s media empire launches British television network News UK said that talkTV will bring Piers Morgan back to the screens as host, threatening to further disrupt the rapidly changing broadcasting sector.

5. MassMutual fined for roaring kitty meme stock trading The US insurer was fined $ 4 million for improperly overseeing Keith Gill, a former employee whose videos, using pseudonyms such as Roaring Kitty, encouraged millions of day traders to pump up GameStop’s shares .

Thank you to all of the readers who voted in yesterday’s poll. 45 percent of you disagreed with Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood who predicted that the price of Bitcoin would increase tenfold in five years.

Coronavirus digestion

• Analysts forecast earnings Pfizer and Modernas Covid-19 vaccines autumn abruptly by 2024.

• US retail sales recovered again in August when buyers stocked up on school supplies and home accessories as a sign of their willingness to spend.

• the White House offered Rapper Nicki Minaj a conversation with a doctor to answer her vaccine safety questions after publicly questioning vaccinations. (FT, NYT)

The next days

Manchester United to win The team today publishes its full year earnings results, including the financial outlook for the coming year. Investors will be looking for details on his blockbuster deal for Cristiano Ronaldo and the speed at which the club could grow again after the pandemic.

EU inflation data Earlier this week, Eurostat reported that wages in the euro area fell for the first time since 2011 in the three months to June year-on-year. This report has allayed fears about today’s inflation data release.

FDA panel on Pfizer Booster Jabs A panel of experts will meet to give the US Medicines Agency an official recommendation on whether to approve the company’s booster vaccination.

Meeting of the forum of major economies for energy and climate President Joe Biden will urge other countries to join the US and EU to pledge to reduce methane pollution by 30 percent over the next decade.

• Further international discussions: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will meet his UK counterpart Boris Johnson in London on the same day to discuss how Britain could work more closely with the EU on defense and security.

Lib Dem party conference Meetings begin virtually and end on Sunday, when leader Sir Ed Davey will use his personal conference speech to position the party as a clearly anti-Tory force and swear that he would never help Boris Johnson back on Downing Street bring to.

Duma elections in Russia The Kremlin-friendly United Russia party is expected to retain a majority in the lower house of parliament after Sunday’s elections.

What else we read and see

Did Occupy Wall Street mean anything? Triggered by predatory loans and excessive risk-taking, the 2007-2008 financial crisis led to debt crises, mass layoffs and home repossessions. It also led to protests around the world. Here’s a look at the legacy of the movement, 10 years later.

How Labor lost its grip on the “red wall” Post-industrial England turns blue. The transformation after the Tory victory in 2019 was initially due to Brexit and the unpopularity of then leader Jeremy Corbyn. But Sebastian Payne feels a deeper shift beyond these factors.

The east-west divide remains East Germany still exists in people’s minds. Its residents, known as “Ossis,” are expected to vote more radically than Westerners in the September 26 elections. In retrospect, this dissatisfaction arose almost immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall, writes Simon Kuper.

Festivals: a risky business Music events were already a precarious business, but after a record year in 2019, the pandemic brought outdoor events to a standstill. In this film, the FT speaks to organizers, bands, and stage workers to see if they can recover.

The biggest financial mistakes made by FT writers From bad interest rates on cards and hire purchase contracts to a good life without cost control, our experts explain as they learned the hard way – as part of our Financial Literacy & Inclusion Campaign.

Fashion

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, has a gentler, “every symom” now that she faces criminal charges in California for misleading investors and patients about the accuracy of her company’s finger-prick tests “-Personality accepted. Did that transform the power polo into the poisonous turtleneck?