Growth outlook

    THE Confederation of British Industry, a leading employers group, cut its forecast for U.K. economic growth yesterday but said the government should not delay its push to fix the public finances.

    The CBI predicted growth of 2.4 and 2.5 percent in 2015 and 2016 respectively, down from forecasts of 2.7 and 2.6 percent it made in February, echoing cuts to growth forecasts by other organizations including the Bank of England. The group said the downgrade mostly reflected a sharp slowdown in Britain’s official economic growth rate in the first three months of this year, which would probably prove a blip.

    MERS impact

    SOUTH KOREA is concerned with the impact on its economy from the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and will take countermeasures swiftly if an economic impact is confirmed, the country’s finance minister said yesterday.

    “I am concerned over the negative influence the recent MERS outbreak could have on the local economy, including private consumption and investment sentiment,” Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said in a prepared speech to be given at a luncheon. “We will aggressively respond to mitigate the effect of MERS on the economy, including allocating necessary budgeting at the right time.”

    Checks for banks

    EUROZONE banks should expect another round of health checks in 2016, the European Central Bank’s (ECB) top banking supervisor was quoted as saying, adding that Greece’s banks remained solvent.

    European banks underwent health checks last year to help make the financial system more resilient to economic crisis as the ECB took over supervision of the eurozone’s biggest lenders. The tests are the first step towards more coordinated control of the single currency zone’s financial system. The European Commission is planning a wider capital markets union for the 28-nation EU bloc.

    New jobs up

    THE number of new jobs available in London’s financial services sector rose by 52 percent in May compared with a year ago, driven by a pickup in trading by banks’ bond, currency and commodities (FICC) desks, a study showed yesterday.

    Such businesses had previously borne the brunt of cuts in staffing by banks striving to keep profits up in the face of new capital requirements and declining volatility and hence returns on trading.