Im lukwesa burak. We start here in the uk because the uks national debt is on course to triple over the next half a century. Thats the warning from the governments official forecaster, the office for budget responsibility. An ageing population, climate change, and rising geopolitical tensions will all put increasing pressure on the Public Finances according to the 0brs report. And it says without extra Tax Revenues or a return to post War Productivity levels, the Public Finances are not sustainable over the long term, and something has got to give. Uk national debt is currently at almost 100 of the size of its annual Economy Output or gdp. The 0br says its Base Scenario is a national debt of 274 of gdp in 2071. Risks from war, disease, cyber Conflict And Trade tensions could push that even higher. By 2071, the 0br expects the uk to be spending more than £200 Billion extra per year on things like health, Social Care and pensions. The chair of the 0br Richard Hughes spoke to the bbc ear
This is bbc news. A new chapter in the economic History Of The Uk the promise we will hear shortly from Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Should Labourfor Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, should labour for the Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Should Labourfor the next should labour for the next government. Should labourfor the next government. Rachel reeves addressing business and finance leaders in the city of london. We are expecting her speech to start very shortly and we will of course be keeping across the and bring it to you as soon as possible she appears. She is delivering the annual Mais Lecture Following in the footsteps of previous chancellors and Shadow Chancellors and bank governors. Rachel reeves will promise to reform the treasury as part of a possible labour governments Economic Policy. She will say, i remain an optimist about our ability to rise to the challenges we face. The conservatives suggested labour had no plan just more borrowing and more taxes. The speech comes
as inflation cools. from new york, our north america business correspondent michelle fleury sent this report. the december notes from the us central banks last meeting showed policymakers are feeling better about inflation. they agreed with investors that interest rates are at or near the peak for this cycle. they also agree it will come down this year. but they offered no clues as to how or when that will happen. to remind viewers, the federal reserve started raising rates in march 2022 to tame inflation. it did so 11 times, taking the benchmark rate to 5.5%. inflation, by the time of the last meeting, had dropped to 3.2% from a peak of 9.1%. meanwhile, new data out on wednesday showed the number ofjob openings in the united states fell to 8.79 million in november. this points to weaker demand for labour but is still well above pre covid levels. that is consistent with the fed s goal. to slow the economy without triggering a nasty recession. the feds first rate setting meeti
as of today, the bosses of britain s biggest companies will have made more money in 2024 so far than the typical worker makes all year. and that pay gap is growing. the average pay of the top ftse 100 chiefs amounts to £3.81 million per year, including pensions according to the think tank, the high pay centre. that s equivalent to wait for it £1,170 an hour 109 times the average worker whose median annual salary is just under £35,000. sorry to upset your lunch or dinner. joining me now is chris roebuck a global leadership expert who has worked in major organisations assessing senior leaders performance. hello, lovely to have you with us on the bbc. that will be tough to swallow, won t it? are those figures justified? i swallow, won t it? are those figures “ustified? ~ , ., swallow, won t it? are those figures ustified? ~ , ., ., ., justified? i think you need to ask the question. justified? i think you need to ask the question, lobbyists - justified? i thin
including pensions according to the think tank, the high pay centre. that s equivalent to wait for it £1,170 an hour 109 times the average worker whose median annual salary isjust under £35,000. chris roebuck is a global leadership expert who has worked in major organisations assessing senior leaders performance. i asked him if these huge payouts are justified. we will come back to that in a moment. but essentially he told me a little bit more about the talent poaching that the city had to be careful of unless they paid the ceos competitive salaries. this is what he told me. well, i think you need to ask the question. lobbyists are saying, yes, they are justified because we need to attract the best ceos to the uk or to keep them here. but, actually, this is not consistent across the world. if you look at some of the data on that ratio. if you say, if we re at 200, the us is at 270, but funnily enough german is only at 136, so the ratio of germany ceo play to empl