Quantcast
Menu
Save, make, understand money

News

60 second news round-up: the top money stories of the week

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
05/08/2016

Missed this week’s big money stories? Here’s our one-minute summary of the key facts and figures from the last seven days.

Interest rates

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee unanimously voted to cut the Base Rate to 0.25% – a record low which ended the seven-year reign of 0.5% interest rates. With the cut, savers will be hardest hit and Santander announced it would need to review interest rates on its 123 current account as a result. We also looked at the potential stock market winners and losers.

Household bills

We started the week with unwelcome news that car and home insurance premiums are on the up, but there’s a small silver-lining for motorists as fuel prices have started to fall after four consecutive months of pump price rises.

It was revealed that HMRC raked in a record £4.7bn in inheritance tax receipts so we explain how to cut your bill. And you may want to check your bills to see if you’re owed any PPI as the financial watchdog’s now consulting on implementing a deadline as early as June 2019. In other news, if your kids are off to university, our comparison of student account deals may help them decide where to bank.

Investing

There’s no getting away from Brexit as anxious investors pulled £3.5bn from funds in June, though gold and silver buyers hit a 3-year high as the White House race becomes a ‘clear concern’. However, one fund manager explains why the Indian bull market may continue while another lists one sector to buy and one to avoid. The bi-annual Tilney Bestinvest ‘Spot the dog’ report was out, naming and shaming the serial underperforming funds and while HSBC saw profits fall 29%, it’s pledged to maintain dividends.