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Banking

Bank of England’s Ramsden More Confident UK Inflation Risks Are Ebbing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Bank of England Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said on Friday that the risk of British inflation getting stuck too high had receded and it might prove weaker than the BoE's most recent forecasts.Ramsden, who has voted recently to keep interest rates at their highest since 2008, said inflation could remain around the BoE's 2% target for the next three years - rather than rise higher later this year as the central bank forecast in February."Over the last few months I have become more confident in the evidence that...
Investing

EU Backs Competitiveness Push, but Divisions Persist

By Philip Blenkinsop and Nette NoestlingerBRUSSELS (Reuters) -European Union leaders agreed to reforms on nine fronts on Thursday to revitalise the bloc's economy and help it catch the United States and China in the global tech race, but still exposed differences on freeing up the money required to do so.Leaders first heard from former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, tasked with assessing the shortfalls of the EU single market, who has warned this is the bloc's last opportunity to act.Letta's report said the rise of geopolitical tensions and protectionism threatened...
Mortgages

US Mortgage Rates Rise for a Fourth-Straight Week, Freddie Mac Says

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. mortgage rates rose for a fourth-straight week, Freddie Mac reported on Thursday, reaching a two-month high and again becoming a factor impeding traffic among rate-sensitive prospective home buyers.The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage ticked up to 6.94% for the week ended Feb. 29 from 6.90% the week prior, the report said.“The recent boomerang in rates has dampened already tentative homebuyer momentum as we approach the spring, a historically busy season for homebuying. While sales of newly built homes are trending in a positive...
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