Friday, January 19th, 2007 at 11:56 am
In the US Ben Bernanke stepped up the pressure on Congress to address the budgetary impact of soaring spending on entitlement programmes on Thursday, warning that they could one day cause a â⒬Ŕfiscal crisisâ⒬ in the US.
The Federal Reserve chairman told the Senate budget committee that the recent improvement in US public finances was only the â⒬Ŕcalm before the storm”, says the FT.
Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at 5:13 pm
IVA.co.uk is to hold the UKs first Debt Awareness Week from 29 Jan – 2 Feb 2007. – Consumer groups, MPs and debt consultancies alike are backing the initiative. – Events are planned throughout the week and will be announced periodically throughout January. – The key event will be The Great Debt Debate on 1 Feb as high profile figures gather in Canary Wharf to take questions from the press and general public. To find out more go to IVA.co.uk
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
New mortgage figures show that the amounts first-time buyers are borrowing as a proportion of their salaries has hit a record.
The average first-time buyer income multiple now stands at 3.29 times household earnings, said the Council of Mortgage Lenders. A year earlier the ratio stood at 3.08 while in early 2002 it was 2.55, reports the Guardian.
