United Kingdom

Britons will spend less this Christmas than a year ago as falling disposable incomes temper the traditional urge to splash out, according to a report published on Thursday, Reuters reported. Retail research group Decipher forecast retail spending would fall 0.6 percent year-on-year in December, or about 200 million pounds, with a 1.4 percent rise in food sales offset by a 2.2 percent drop in spending on general merchandise products, particularly electrical goods. "People do like to put their worries to one side at Christmas.

Administrators of the UK arm of MF Global face a larger task than expected, as the UK operation is where most of the group's exposure to shorter-dated European sovereign debt was held, Reuters reported. US$17bn of repo-to-maturity deals involving European sovereign debt have been fingered as the transactions that ultimately forced MF Global, Inc to file for Chapter 11 insolvency in a New York bankruptcy court on Tuesday.

Britain is becoming a nation of debtors, with increasing numbers of people being forced to take out loans or turn to credit cards to pay for essentials, despite the worsening economic forecast, The New Zealand Herald reported. The amount of cash borrowed through cards or loans climbed £629 million ($792.7 million) in September, about a third more than the previous month's increase of £478 million, the latest borrowing figures from the Bank of England suggest. In July the figure stood at just £369 million.

Consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since February 2009, adding to evidence that the economy is returning to recession, a survey by GfK NOP showed on Friday, Reuters reported. GfK said its consumer confidence index sank to -32 in October from -30 in September, a level last seen when the economy was in the depths of recession. A year ago, the index stood at -19. "Consumers' outlook is becoming increasingly pessimistic about the UK's general economic situation over the coming year," said GfK managing director Nick Moon.

Parliament rejected a call for a referendum on leaving the European Union on Monday, but a large-scale revolt against Prime Minister David Cameron hurt his authority and cast doubt on the country's long-term commitment to Europe, Reuters reported. Around 80 members of Cameron's Conservative Party -- more than a quarter of the total -- defied their leader by voting for the motion, the biggest revolt against a Conservative prime minister on a European issue. "We understand that many people who voted for it felt very strongly -- and we respect that.

Germany, Japan and China must take greater responsibility for getting the world economy out of the doldrums by boosting demand for imports to help highly indebted countries get back on track, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The lack of rebalancing between deficit and surplus nations means countries such as Britain have had to support their economies with ultra-loose monetary policy, creating a dilemma between short-term stimulus and a long-term need to cut back spending, King said.

Confidence among small U.K. businesses dropped sharply in the third quarter, a survey showed Monday, the latest sign of a slowdown in private-sector activity that is building pressure on the government to offer more support for companies, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Federation of Small Businesses said its quarterly confidence index fell to a reading of minus 9.3 for the period from July to September, from 0.3 in the previous three months. The index measures how small businesses see their prospects for the coming three months.

Conservative backbenchers have reacted with concern at reports that the UK could be required to provide more money for the eurozone bail-out package via the International Monetary Fund, the Financial Times reported. Speaking at a meeting of finance ministers from the G20 group of leading economies, George Osborne, the chancellor, told journalists: “We have indicated our willingness to consider additional funds for the IMF.

The National Asset Management Agency, Ireland's state-run "bad bank", has put two loan portfolios worth a total of 800 million euros ($1.1 billion) on the market, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday. The source told Reuters that NAMA was being advised by property consultancy Savills on the disposal of about 200 million euros of loans that had been made to housing and hotel developer Donal Mulryan. Separately, real estate consultancy CBRE was marketing about 600 million euros worth of loans to property developer Cyril Dennis. NAMA, CBRE and Savills all declined to comment.

The Bank of England has launched a second round of quantitative easing to defend Britain's faltering economy against the euro zone debt crisis, pledging to buy 75 billion pounds of assets with new money in a dramatic move to stave off recession, Reuters reported. Thursday's decision by the Bank to expand its asset purchase programme to a total of 275 billion pounds highlights the precarious state of Britain's economy as global growth slows, government spending cuts and tax hikes bite, and consumers face high inflation and slow wage rises.