Wednesday newspaper round-up: British economy, Heathrow, FOS
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 12 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - The British economy is on course to expand by 1.5% this year after the budget gave a boost to public spending but could be blown off course if Donald Trump goes ahead with threatened tariffs, a leading economic thinktank has warned. In a boost to Rachel Reeves after a bruising month of negative economic figures, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) upped its annual growth prediction from 1.2% to 1.5%. - Guardian
Heathrow will submit third runway proposals to the government this summer, pledging to use UK steel and boost growth, the airport has confirmed. Its chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, will formally spell out plans for a third runway to follow a multibillion-pound upgrade of the London airport's existing terminals and facilities, in a speech at the British Steel plant in Scunthorpe on Wednesday. - Guardian
Britain is at risk of a £24bn blow to the economy should Donald Trump forge ahead with "reciprocal tariffs", analysts have warned. The UK is facing the prospect of 21pc tariffs on goods exports to the US if the president imposes duties on Britain based on VAT charges, Deutsche Bank has warned. Tariffs of this scale would knock 0.4 percentage points off UK GDP growth for the next two years, according to Ahmet Kaya, of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr), accounting for $30bn (£24bn). - Telegraph
The departing chairwoman of the Financial Ombudsman Service was reminded of rules governing contempt of parliament as she was accused of refusing to answer MPs' questions about the sudden departure of the organisation's chief executive last week. Baroness Manzoor was told that it was a "contempt of parliament not to" answer questions as she declined to explain why Abby Thomas, chief ombudsman and chief executive, had unexpectedly left the dispute resolution service with immediate effect. - The Times
Company bosses have become much more confident about the UK economy over the last quarter, with a large majority expecting profits to rise in the coming year. According to researchers at EY-Parthenon, 82 per cent of chief executives felt optimistic about the business landscape over the next 12 months, up sharply from 67 per cent in September. - The Times
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