19 May 2010

Can You Borrow Today?

How easy is it to borrow money in these economic times?

With daily fears erupting on the financial markets regarding the fate of the euro, and banks facing widespread levies to prevent future risk-taking, you'd be forgiven for thinking that getting an unsecured loan was all but impossible.

However, there are ways you can borrow - the only question is how much can you risk?

Thanks to independent lenders offering payday loans and bad credit loans, borrowers can access cash quickly regardless of their past financial records. So, even if you have a poor credit rating you can still borrow up to a significant amount.

Easy it might be to borrow the money - is it easy to pay back? Regardless of the type of loan you take it is always worth thinking of tomorrow.

18 May 2010

Sterling Retreats

An interesting morning in the London session, as the pound rose initially after backing down against the US dollar. The reason for the rise and fall was the announcement of April inflation figures.

The ONS revealed that inflation for April rose by 3.7%, higher than had been expected by economists.

For the pound, this means weakness is likely because investors now expect that interest rates will be raised sooner than expected on the back of high consumer prices.

As for the country's large deficit, the new coalition government is set to introduce 6 billion pounds of spending cuts as early as next week.

17 May 2010

Will the Euro Survive the Crisis?

Once again technical difficulties have prevented Which Way To Pay from posting updates recently - but we're back and those who are abreast of the latest economic news will know that the European debt crisis is still very much top of the list.

Gone are the days when it was said that the crisis was purely localised to the region. Sure, currently only euro zone countries are directly affected by the euro's battering on the currency exchange and other financial markets. But countries as far as Australia are now also feelingt the knock-on effect from the troubles which have dominated the agenda for Merkel and friends.

In the US, there is increasingly commentary about the longevity of the euro as a single currency. At inception in 1999, the euro was hailed as the next US dollar, a leading world currency. Now, even those as prominent as Fed Chief Paul Volcker are saying that there is a danger that the euro could actually topple.

Is it possible that the days for the 16-nation currency are numbered?

12 May 2010

New Government in Britain

Britain has a new Prime Minister, and a new coalition government! David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative party is now the PM of the country with Nick Clegg, leader of the Liberal Democrats as Deputy.

A round of groan-worthy jokes are already in circulation, including the classic "Con / Dem nation..."

So, will the new leading parties be able to fix the country's economy? Will ordindary people find it even trickier to borrow money or get a personal loan in the new climate?

Businesses are already anticipating that public spending cuts will be high-priority.

10 May 2010

Euro Surges after Lows

EU finance ministers and central banks have agreed on an emergency loan which can be called on by any of the 16 euro zone member countries if they are at risk of falling into severe credit problems like those of Greece.

The fund, agreed on over the weekend, caused the euro to surged while global stocks also rose. International investors are finally calmed by the European situation which last week threatened to reach to severe levels.

It is also hoped that negative speculation surrounding the euro will now slow down and that the currency will be stabilized - at least, that is the hope.

06 May 2010

Election 2010 - D Day

Election day has dawned at last! With over 40 million people registered to vote and a tensely-awaited result, it looks set to be an exciting one. At least, that is how it looks for observers - for the financial markets around the world, the best word to use is perhaps less 'exciting', more 'nervous'.

With a hung parliament now widely expected, the UK could be in for more in the way of slow economic recovery. The deficit, already sky high, is expected to reach 12% of GDP this year - higher than that of Greece!

Talking of Greece, the euro fell once more on the worrying situation there. On Wednesday, riots erupted during the 48-hour general strike, resulting in the deaths of three people.