Sunday newspaper round-up: British Steel, Moody's, Christmas

(Sharecast News) - British Steel is planning to let go 2,000 employees amid a push by its Chinese owners to radically overhaul its operations and cut pollution. As many as 2,000 people could be let go as part of the turnaround plans, two people familiar with the company's thinking said, although no final decisions had yet been taken. The cost reductions are understood to be a critical part of plans to convert from blast furnaces to electric ark furnaces, which could unlock over £1bn in fresh funding from its owner, Jingye Group. - The Sunday Times

Ratings agency Moody's has revised the outlook for the UK's sovereign debt from 'negative' to 'stable', arguing that policy was now again predictable, unlike in 2022 when Liz Truss announced her mini-budget. The rating on the country's debt meanwhile was kept at Aa3. Structural pressures on spending and relatively elevated inflation posed risks to the government's fiscal plans but the agency still anticipated that fiscal policy would tighten over the coming years. - The Financial Mail on Sunday

Britons will purchase fewer items and less expensive ones this Christmas - particularly online - due to the cost of living crisis. According to GlobalData, over the last three months of 2023, total spending will increase by 3.4% to reach approximately £110bn, but shoppers will be looking out for bargains. And the sharp increase in prices meant that in real terms spending would be down year-on-year. Key to that outcome, the savings built up during the pandemic had now been nearly run down. - Guardian

The UK economy is on a knife-edge with the war between Israel and Hamas and the risk of a broader regional conflict loom in the background. And further rate increases risk tipping the stalling economy into an unnecessary recession. Furthermore, the Chancellor should push back if the OBR tries to push him into tax increases, among other reasons because the OBR has been shown to be systematically too pessimistic. Yet while one is relatively sanguine about the outlook for activity and prices, geopolitics is a very large blot on the landscape, particularly the risk that Iran might try to blockade the Straits of Hormuz. - The Sunday Telegraph