interest rates – pensionsandsavings.com

Analysing BoE’s statistics on mortgage and savings interest rates

February 4, 2014 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

4 February 2014 No surprise there’s a housing bubble as latest Bank of England figures confirm bonanza for mortgage holders 100,000 Mortgage borrowers £3,300 a year better off Savers with £100,000 saved up are now £4,000 a year worse off Analysing the Bank of England’s statistics on interest rates in mortgage and savings markets since 2007 shows fascinating results. The extent of income gains for mortgage borrowers is startling and the losses for savers are significant. Those with the largest…

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Well done Mr. Carney ….

November 28, 2013 Ros Altmann Comments 3 comments

28 November 2013 … for focussing Funding for Lending on business loans – which is what it should always have done. At long last some relief in sight for savers? The Bank of England’s announcement today that the Funding for Lending scheme will only be available for business lending, not mortgage lending, is fantastic news. At long last, there seems to be a recognition that there are real dangers of a housing bubble based on unsustainably cheap mortgages and that…

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Rates are too low as economy booming – Forward Guidance looking backwards

November 14, 2013 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

14 November 2013 Bank of England repeating past mistakes – rates should start rising as UK growth set to surge Mortgage borrowers enticed into large loans at low rates as loan to income ratio returns to pre-crisis peak Keeping rates at 0.5% is about politics, not economics Take the squeeze off pensions and savers – and encourage companies to spend their £200bn cash pile UK economy is booming – but BoE looking backwards instead of forwards: The Bank of England has finally realised…

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Blinkered Bank of England ignoring dangers of low rates as economy picks up

September 4, 2013 Ros Altmann Comments 3 comments

4 September 2013 Bank of England should take off its blinkers and look at the economic evidence Low rates are distorting economy – causing borrowers and savers to take too much risk MPC should consider a small rise in rates now As the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meets, I urge its members to look carefully at the evidence showing a stronger UK economy and start the process of increasing interest rates to more sustainable levels. Ultra low interest…

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If Savers are all doomed, so are the rest of us in the end

August 18, 2013 Ros Altmann Comments 1 comment

August 18, 2013 at 7:27 pm I have just read a blog which once again suggests that those who save cannot expect returns because times are tough and everyone should expect to do badly at the moment. The blog discusses its views on ‘Why @SaveourSavers are doomed’. You can read it here: http://leftoutside.wordpress.com/2013/08/18/why-saveoursavers-are-doomed/ This is my response: Demands for higher interest rates are not necessarily demands for transfers from people in the future to people in the present. Indeed demands…

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Following the Bank of England’s statement

August 7, 2013 Ros Altmann Comments 0 Comment

7 August 2013 Three more years of misery for savers and pensioners Rates remaining at emergency levels whilst there is no emergency Relying on borrowing and house price inflation to drive growth is how we got into the crisis Anyone approaching retirement and potentially buying an annuity, anyone running a pension scheme and anyone saving for their future will have been disappointed by today’s masterly statement from Mark Carney, potentially promising three more years of emergency, ultra-low, interest rates. The…

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