LONDON—U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne came under increasing pressure Wednesday to introduce tax cuts in next month’s budget, with a leading business lobby group and a former government minister adding their voices to the growing chorus urging action to stimulate the economy. Four weeks ahead of the March 21 budget, the Confederation of… Read More

Firms paid out £1.9bn in payment protection insurance redress last year, the latest figures from the FSA show. Payments hit £441m in December 2011, the largest month yet for PPI payouts. The Financial Ombudsman Service says it is currently receiving 1,000 new PPI complaints every day, the majority of which relate to PPI sold by… Read More

The government received more money than it spent in January leaving it with its highest monthly surplus in four years. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the surplus followed a fall in local government borrowing and a rise in tax receipts. It said the public sector made a net repayment – excluding financial interventions… Read More

Greece is set to get its next tranche of bailout money, worth an estimated €130 billion, after Eurozone leaders announced an agreement with the Greek government. The move came after the Greek government announced a further €325m in reduced spending and private lenders took a 53.5 per cent haircut. Eurozone leaders say they had been… Read More

Savers are being cheated out of roughly £80million a year because the banking industry keeps a generous slice of tax-free Isa interest for itself, a This is Money investigation has found. Banks and building societies privately admit the costs of offering Isas is broadly similar to taxable accounts, despite additional paperwork. But the average of… Read More

Despite investors flooding back into the region at the start of 2012, emerging markets manager Emmanuel Hauptmann of Reyl AM is staying defensive and betting on Australia to shine. Speaking to Citywire Global, Hauptmann, who co-manages the Reyl GF Emerging Markets Equity fund, said he is seeking to indirectly access Asian growth through a 12%… Read More

All the elements are in place for agreement on a new bailout loan for Greece, the French finance minister has said, ahead of a meeting of eurozone finance ministers in Brussels. Athens needs the 130bn Euros (£110bn; $170bn) in order to avoid bankruptcy in mid-March, when a huge repayment on its governmental debt must be… Read More

People need to take ownership of financial planning as the average retirement age increases, says an AXA Wealth spokesman. Yesterday, the Office For National Statistics (ONS) released a report showing average retirement ages for men and women rose by one year between 2004 and 2010. Mike Morrison, head of pensions development at AXA Wealth, said… Read More

The price of petrol has risen 1.46p in the past month, and diesel is now just a fifth of a penny off its record high. UK petrol and diesel prices soared over the past month and are now not far off the record highs seen last year, new figures reveal. Diesel prices rose 0.8p to… Read More

The full scale of how the banks are still failing to lend to Britain’s desperate small firms emerged yesterday. Despite a series of public promises from senior ministers and bank officials, lending to business has tumbled in every single quarter of the past three years. Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King yesterday spoke out… Read More