Is this the clock ticking on a slowdown in the UK economy, or are we primed for a Brexit bounce?

This is Money Podcast

This is Money

Business News, Business, Investing, News

4.1 • 650 Ratings

🗓️ 15 February 2019

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Inflation has slipped to 1.8 per cent - below the 2 per cent target - and the Bank of England has downgraded the UK's growth prospects and indicated interest rate hikes are on hold.

But at the same time, wages are rising by more than inflation and unemployment remains low.

So has the clock already started ticking on a slowdown in the UK economy, or is this just some pre-Brexit jitters that could eventually be followed by a bounce?

This is Money editor Simon Lambert, alongside assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost, dig into what's going on, as the growth forecast is slashed to the lowest annual rate since the recession a decade ago.

But there's also some good news: lower CPI also means that more savings accounts are now inflation-beating and we look at where you can get a real return on your money and what the prospects for rates are.

Elsewhere, we talk about the property market and a recent slump in prices in London and the South, along with why you should consider carefully how long your mortgage term is for.

And finally it's a holiday double header. Firstly, how to play the game to avoid the traps of the air miles reward credit cards with the steepest interest rates but the best points and, secondly, with all-inclusive trips on the rise are they a good idea?

Enjoy.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to This Is Money podcast in partnership with NS&I. I'm your host Georgie Frost and alongside editor Simon Lambert and I today is assistant editor Lee Boyce. And coming up, Brexit Blues, as the Bank of England predicts the worst year for the economy since the recession. Project fear or just project reality. Inflation down, interest rates going nowhere,
0:22.9	but we do have some good news for savers. Also today, warnings about very costly 35-year
0:28.6	mortgage small print, how to play and win the Air Miles credit card game, and we look at how
0:34.2	to bag a holiday bargain. All that and plenty more coming up. Don't forget you can stay up to date with all the latest breaking money news.
0:40.3	Just go to this ismoney.com.
0:42.9	Or download the app.
0:44.9	This is Money.
0:45.8	Brought to you in partnership with Ennis and I.
0:48.0	For a gift your little ones will appreciate even when they're not so little.
0:51.2	Give them premium bonds at ns and i.com. But first, we got the Bank of England quarterly inflation report this week, and it made,
0:57.9	well, for pretty grim reading, the bank slashed its growth forecast to its lowest annual
1:02.0	rates since the recession a decade ago. The B word is apparently wreaking havoc on the economy.
1:07.5	Consumer confidence is down, businesses aren't spending. Interest rates may not rise
1:12.1	until next year. We also got the news that inflation dipped below its 2% target to a two-year
1:17.8	low, but it's not all gloom and do. More savings accounts than ever offer rates higher than
1:22.1	inflation and wages are up. So, Simon, pull all this together, would you? A warm welcome, by the way, and a warm welcome
1:28.3	to you, Lee. But first, before you do that, the quarterly inflation report, what is it? What is the point?
1:34.3	The quarterly inflation report is where the Bank of England outlines what it thinks is going to
1:38.8	happen to inflation. This is fundamental for what it thinks will happen to interest rates because the primary function of monetary policy is to target inflation of 2% and then also to support the economy.
1:54.0	And it also says what it thinks is going to happen to the economy.
1:57.0	Now, last time the Bank of England updated us on this in November, it looked
2:02.9	a bit more bullish that things were going okay, despite the concerns over Brexit and worries
	...

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