Bimal Dharmasena
Bimal is Research Economist at the CPS
Written by Bimal Dharmasena Wednesday, 24 March 2010 14:52
Budgets this close to an election are often associated with lavish giveaways. This time had to be different with markets no longer writing off Labour's election chances. Alistair Darling pledged to deliver a 'workmanlike' budget and the main questions surrounded what he would do with his £11bn windfall. Appropriately, most will go towards lower borrowing but the Chancellor did announce a one-off "growth package" worth £2.5bn aimed at small and...
Written by Bimal Dharmasena Monday, 22 February 2010 10:04
Four words have become synonymous with this crisis: Too Big to Fail (TBTF). Thanks to the Volcker Rule serious reform of our own banking system is now on the table and the debate has begun to focus on our current financial structure. Some facts clearly stand out.
The trend of the recent past and the response to the current crisis has meant that the UK banking sector has grown increasingly large...
Written by Bimal Dharmasena Tuesday, 26 January 2010 13:02
After six consecutive quarters of slump that began in the spring of 2008, the UK’s worst recession since the Second World War has finally ended – just. In the fourth quarter of 2009, output rose by 0.1% quarter-on-quarter, again well below analysts’ expectations of around 0.4%.
According to the ONS, the rise in output was due to modest growth in both the service sector and industrial output of...
Written by Bimal Dharmasena Wednesday, 13 January 2010 18:18
February 4th promises to be a defining moment for the Monetary Policy Committee. They must decide the next phase in their experiment with QE and they face a tough task. It is expected that the Bank will decide to pause their asset purchase programme and the effect on bond markets and gilt yields are an important source of concern. The state of our public finances calls for higher gilt yields....
Written by Bimal Dharmasena Thursday, 10 December 2009 17:18
Potentially conflicting fiscal, economic and political pressures provided the backdrop for yesterday's Pre-Budget Report (PBR). In the end, the Chancellor has done little either to support the economy in the near-term, or to move the public finances back to a more sustainable position over the medium-term. This PBR looks aimed at reviving Labour's core support with the aim of depriving the Conservatives of a majority in Parliament after...
