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BANK PRINTED MONEY FOR ‘TOO LONG’ FORMER BANK ECONOMIST ANDY HALDANE SAYS QUANTITATIVE EASING ‘PERSISTED’ TOO LONG AND FUELLED INFLATION JAMES SILVER THE BANK of England’s former chief economist has said Threadneedle Street persisted “a little longer than we needed to” with quantitative easing – helping to fuel inflation. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee expanded its quantitative easing programme – effectively, printing money to buy government debt – by £450bn in 2020 and 2021 as the country battled with Covid-19. But in an interview airing tonight, Andy
Haldane (right), who stepped down in April 2021, admitted that the Bank “went on printing money for a bit longer than it needed to”. “With the benefit of hindsight… we probably did a little bit too much for a little too long,” he told Sophy Ridge’s Politics Hub show on Sky News. The Bank stopped buying bonds in late 2021 and is now actively selling them. “At the time of Covid-19, [it was needed] to protect
jobs and to protect households and to protect businesses,” Haldane, now the chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, said. “But did we persist with that a little longer than we needed to? And did [the Bank] step on the brakes a little too late – and therefore a little harder now than they needed to?” Wonks at the central bank
have been criticised for failing to move fast enough at the beginning of an inflationary cycle that continues to this day, and there are now questions about whether more than a dozen interest rate hikes in a row will effectively strangle growth as that wave of price hikes dissipates. Haldane was regarded as the most hawkish of MPC members, pushing for rate hikes before Governor Andrew Bailey.
CANADA, EH?
Toronto pips London on UHL listing EXCLUSIVE
NICHOLAS EARL THE WORLD’s largest hydrogen conglomerate plans to invest £250m in the UK over the next 12 months – but is heading to Canada rather than London to raise cash on the public markets. Australian-headquartered United H2 Limited (UHL) is looking to fund more hydrogenrelated startups in the UK and Europe. UHL invests in and helps create companies that utilise hydrogen technologies, such as hydrogen cars, trucks, boats and planes – with 37 companies currently on its books, and many more planned in the coming years. However, the conglomerate told City A.M. that it is ultimately aiming to list in the US rather than London, determining that the investment climate in North America would bring more value to shareholders than the London Stock Exchange. It plans to raise funds for a targeted £150m-plus listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange later this year, with an eye to an eventual initial public offering on the Nasdaq. £ CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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