We already knew that Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement was paving the way for years of pain but the Resolution Foundation’s report makes for worrying reading.
The scaling back of the energy price guarantee, which will keep average bills at £2,500 until April, means the typical household will only have 30pc of the rise in their gas and electricity bills offset.
Even after the new energy price guarantee and cost of living payments, around one-in-eight families (3.3m in total) will be paying over £2,000 more next year than they were in 2021-22.
5 things to start your day
1) Welfare bill soars by £90bn as Jeremy Hunt protects pensioners but clobbers workers – Economists label the Autumn Statement as ‘George Osborne rhetoric and Gordon Brown policy’
2) Why Jeremy Hunt is relying on a surge in migrants to boost Britain’s flagging economy – New arrivals to the UK could help deliver much needed growth as tax burden hits new high
3) Hunt overrules Bank of England to push ahead with plans for Big Bang 2.0 – Chancellor confirms post-Brexit reforms that could unlock billions in investment
4) FTX collapse worse than Enron, claims cryptocurrency firm’s liquidator – Filing calls company executives ‘inexperienced, unsophisticated, and potentially compromised’
5) Royal Mail union targets Christmas post with fresh wave of strikes – The CWU had already planned walkouts on Black Friday weekend
What happened overnight
European equity futures edged higher and Asian stocks pared their gains after Chinese technology shares came off their intraday highs.
Hong Kong’s benchmark erased all its advance to trade slightly lower while contracts for US equities were flat. Investors are awaiting results of quarterly index reshuffling later Friday for Hong Kong’s benchmark gauge.
Treasury yields were little changed after the previous day’s jump when St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said policymakers should increase interest rates to at least 5% to 5.25% to curb inflation. He also warned of further financial stress ahead.
The dollar steadied. Oil was poised for a weekly loss as concerns over a worsening demand outlook filtered through the crude market.
