Finanse

The UK rail strikes, which have dragged on for almost a year, are costing the economy more than £5.5 billion, estimates the London-based think tank Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). Another protest, the third this week, took place yesterday.more

The rising cost of living is causing Britons to read more and more books, forgoing more expensive leisure activities, report 'The Times' and 'The Guardian'. This has resulted in, among other things, the highest number of independent bookshops in 10 years.more

Lloyds has announced the closure of 53 more branches in the latest blow to the high street. It takes the number of branches that have been shut or earmarked for closure so far this year across the industry to more than 500.more

More than 20,000 rail workers in England have begun a 24-hour strike that will cancel half of the services on affected lines as part of a long-running dispute with train operators over jobs, pay and conditions.more

Canary Wharf’s credit rating has been downgraded as London companies struggle to draw white collar workers back to the office full-time. Moody’s warned that the office district faced a “difficult operating and funding environment” as it cut its outlook for Canary Wharf Group.more

According to a survey conducted by UCE RESEARCH and the SkipWish Group on a group of over 1,000 adult Poles, 21.9% of respondents intend to spend between PLN 50 and PLN 100 on a gift for one person on Children's Day. 15% of people declared spending PLN 100-150, and 11.4% - PLN 150-200.more

Households with prepayment meters are being urged to make sure they have cashed in all their energy vouchers before the end of June. The government says that while more than four in five vouchers have been used, £130m is still available.more

Parents on universal credit will be able claim hundreds of pounds more to cover childcare costs from the end of June, the government has announced. The government will allow parents on the benefit to claim back £951 for childcare costs for one and £1,630 for two or more children - a 47% increase.more

The Polish tax office checks its taxpayers on Facebook, Instagram and commercial platforms, Law.pl reports. By browsing photos and advertisements, the tax office looks for information about people who do not pay taxes, underestimate them, run businesses without registration or treat holiday expenses as business travel expenses.more

Co-op has started putting empty coffee jars on shelves in a bid to stop shoplifters – after prices rocketed to more than £10. A branch in Walthamstow, north London, took the precaution after the price of 200g of Kenco Smooth instant coffee was put up to £10.50.more

The Bank of England will not get inflation back under control until the end of 2025 because of soaring food prices and a "concerning" rise in wages, according to Goldman Sachs. more

65.1 percent Poles are convinced that increasing the 500 plus benefit to PLN 800 will increase inflation in Poland. 1.9 percent of respondents believe that an increase in inflation will reduce inflation, according to an IBRiS survey for Radio ZET.more

Mortgage costs are rising after higher than expected inflation figures this week raised forecasts of how much UK interest rates will go up. A range of lenders have increased the cost of new deals, with Nationwide the most significant with increases of up to 0.45 percentage points on Friday.more

According to one of the UK's largest banks, more than two-thirds of all online shopping scams affecting UK consumers originate from Facebook or Instagram.more

The government is discussing plans for supermarkets to introduce a cap on the price of basic food items to help tackle the rising cost of living. more

Supermarkets have not been using high rates of inflation as a cover for making higher profits, the boss of Sainsbury's has told the BBC.more

The US President assured reporters yesterday that there would be no US bankruptcy and that negotiations with the Republicans on raising the debt limit were productive. At the same time, he acknowledged that the two sides have significantly different visions of the budget.more

Parcel delivery fraud is “by far” the most common scam faced by the public so far this year, according to Citizens Advice figures. Almost half of people targeted by scammers (49%) found themselves involved in a malicious parcel delivery scam, with fraudsters attempting to get hold of personal information or bank details.more

Households will be more than £400 a year better off on average from July after the cap on energy bills was slashed following steep falls in wholesale gas and electricity prices.more

Holiday fraudsters conned UK consumers out of more than £15m last year – twice as much as the year before – according to the UK’s scam reporting centre.more

The UK's annual inflation rate in April was 8.7 per cent, marking the first time it has fallen below 10 per cent since August last year. - reported the UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) today. However, food prices are still rising very rapidly.more

The unthinkable is becoming a possibility. The US Congress may fail to raise the debt limit and lead to the technical bankruptcy of the United States. If this happens, every economy will be affected, stock markets will collapse and global markets will panic, warns the Economist.more

Fourteen Portuguese municipalities, popular with tourists, already charge holidaymakers a so-called tourist tax for overnight stays. This ranges from one to two euros.more

National Lottery operator Camelot has revealed a rise in sales over the past year, resulting in record returns to good causes directly from ticket sales. more

Hellmann’s mayonnaise has become the latest victim of shrinkflation. Tesco has pulled 800g jars of the brand from its shelves and replaced them with 600g versions.more