The podcast that keeps you up to date with what is happening economy-wise in Northern Ireland. Telling you what you need to know but not necessarily what you want to hear. It is better to be prepared for the economic environment we are operating in and not the world we would like to be in.
Featuring Jordan Buchanan – PropertyPal Chief Economist
We’ve become well used to price hikes with rampant inflation. But April was marked by tax hikes with the increase in National Insurance Contributions hitting the pockets of many employees as well as employers. The attention now though is very firmly on interest rate hikes with the Federal Reserve having just delivered its first half a percentage point rate increase in 22 years with more to come as the Fed seeks to tame inflation which is at 40-year-high.
In the UK, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) raised Bank Rate to 1% this month, its fourth consecutive hike – a first in the 25 years since it was granted independence – as CPI inflation currently stands at 9% a forty-year high too. Three members of the committee wanted to see rates rise to 1.25%, and Governor Andrew Bailey made clear that these hikes won’t prevent inflation from rising further, but judged they were needed to prevent it becoming entrenched.