Aurelia Butler

Rishi Sunak has hinted that he could perform a U-turn and introduce a windfall tax on UK oil and gas companies unless they ramp up investment in new energy projects.The UK chancellor has long argued against such a levy, which is backed by the Labour party, on the grounds that it would deter investment in the North Sea and in green energy projects.But he is under growing pressure to offer more help to families struggling with the cost of living crisis and on Wednesday suggested that he might reconsider his position.Speaking to the online parents’ forum Mumsnet, the chancellor said he had not introduced a windfall tax in last month’s Spring Statement, despite rocketing profits in the oil and gas sector, because he wanted companies to invest.He highlighted the announcement by Shell this month that it planned to invest £20bn to £25bn in the UK energy system over the next decade and had earmarked more than 75 per cent for low- and zero-carbon projects, including offshore wind, hydrogen and electric vehicle infrastructure.But he added: “What I would say is that if we don’t see that type of investment coming forward, and companies are not going to make those investments in our country and energy security, then of course that’s something I would look at and nothing is ever off the table in these things.”Sunak’s refusal to contemplate a windfall tax on the North Sea oil and gas companies, at least so far, has left him exposed to Labour criticism that he is not doing enough to help households facing higher energy and food bills.This week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson told his ministers to come up with ideas to cut the cost of living that would not incur extra costs for the Treasury. A cabinet meeting on Tuesday spawned a series of ideas including the removal of the need for an annual MoT test for cars, cuts to health and safety laws and a unilateral cut in tariffs on food imports, a policy opposed by Anne-Marie Trevelyan, international trade secretary.Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader, said Johnson was the “Comical Ali of the cost of living crisis” because he was failing to come up with significant measures to help households.Starmer told MPs in the Commons: “North Sea oil producers are making so much unexpected profit that they call themselves a ‘cash machine’. That cash could be used to keep energy bills down.”However, other senior government figures were sticking to the official government line that a windfall tax on the oil and gas sector would be a bad idea.Dominic Raab, justice secretary, on Wednesday called the idea “disastrous”, while Johnson rejected it at Wednesday’s prime minister’s questions as a “tax on business”. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. data due out Thursday is expected to show slower economic growth in the first quarter, mainly due to a less robust jump in business inventories, but the overall economy remains strong, a senior Biden administration official told Reuters on Wednesday.The Commerce Department’s advance reading of first-quarter gross domestic product, due out at 8:30 a.m. ET (1230 GMT), should not be interpreted as a sign that the economy is headed in a bad direction, the official said. “Businesses continue to add to their inventory, it’s just that they didn’t do as fast as they did in the previous quarter,” the official said. “If you get under the hood of the GDP number tomorrow I think you’re likely to see that economic conditions are still very, very strong.”Economists polled by Reuters expect growth to have slowed to an annualized rate of 1.1% in the first three months of 2022 from a 6.9% rate in the fourth quarter of 2021.That growth rate would be the slowest since the recession triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting a new wave of COVID-19 cases and a surge in imports, economists say.While growth was expected to slow “quite a bit” in the first quarter, other elements pointed to continued strength in the economy, the official told Reuters, citing very strong household balance sheets, household consumption and business investment.Other data, including a 3.6% unemployment rate, strong continued job growth and the level of debt relative to household income, also pointed to continued strength in the economy, the official added.”If you look at the amount of debt that households have relative to their income, it’s never been this strong in the last 30 years,” the official said.Russia’s war in Ukraine was expected to have only a muted effect on the first quarter data, given the fairly limited exposure of the U.S. economy to Russia, although its impact on energy prices would be quite noticeable, the official said.U.S. officials were carefully monitoring the impact of the war on Europe, which are far more reliant on Russian energy and are facing sharper slowdowns in growth as a result of the war, the official said.Friday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index data for March is expected to show “quite elevated” headline inflation, but so-called core inflation is likely to have flatlined or even be a bit lower, the official said.Economists polled by Reuters estimate that growth in core PCE, excluding food and energy, decelerated a touch to a 5.3% annual increase from 5.4% in February, which was the highest since the early 1980s. That would mark the first slowdown in core PCE growth, on an year-over-year basis, since October 2020. More

India’s second-richest man Mukesh Ambani and US buyout firm Apollo Global Management are planning a joint bid for UK high street pharmacy chain Boots, according to people familiar with the matter. The buyout group is working with Ambani’s Reliance Industries on a bid that if successful would see one of Britain’s best-known retailers expand its presence into India, south-east Asia and the Middle East. Both groups would own equity stakes in Boots under the plan, one of the people said, although it is not clear whether their stakes would be the same size. Reliance is India’s largest listed company by market capitalisation and Ambani is the world’s eighth wealthiest man, according to Forbes. Boots’ US parent Walgreens Boots Alliance put the business up for sale last December to focus on healthcare in its domestic market. It has set a deadline of May 16 for bids, one of the people said. Thanks for reading FirstFT Asia. Send your feedback to [email protected] — EmilyThe latest from the war in UkraineEnergy market: European gas prices have risen by a fifth after Russia’s Gazprom suspended supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. Catch up with our explainer on Russia’s rationale for halting gas flows to the two nations.Chinese business: Shenzhen-based drone maker DJI has suspended its business in Russia and Ukraine, making it one of the first big Chinese companies to publicly halt Russian operations after the invasion.Food security: Disruption to Ukraine’s agriculture industry has shaken the “breadbasket” of Europe. Take a look at how with our immersive feature.Opinion: The Marshall Plan is no longer niche history. Ukraine experts are eyeing 1948’s postwar reconstruction programme as they chart a road map beyond the conflict, writes Gillian Tett. Five more stories in the news1. Truss warns China to ‘play by the rules’ Liz Truss, UK foreign secretary, has warned China to learn lessons from the west’s robust economic response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying Beijing will face consequences if it does not “play by the rules”.2. Archegos’ Hwang arrested on US fraud charges Bill Hwang, founder of collapsed family office Archegos Capital Management, has been charged with racketeering, fraud and market manipulation. The indictment accused Hwang and former chief financial officer Patrick Halligan of using Archegos as an “instrument of market manipulation and fraud” with “far-reaching consequences”.3. Facebook’s shares rally despite slowing revenue growth Facebook parent Meta posted its slowest revenue growth since going public, but its share price jumped as profits held up better than expected in the face of several headwinds. 4. Indian government slashes LIC IPO The Indian government has more than halved the amount it is seeking to raise from the initial public offering of state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India to less than $3bn after testing investor appetite in jittery markets.5. US probes Chinese chipmaker over Huawei ban The Biden administration is looking into claims that Yangtze Memory Technologies Co supplied Huawei with chips for a new smartphone, in a potential violation of US export controls. State-owned YMTC is China’s largest memory chipmaker.The day aheadBank of Japan meeting Policymakers will announce their interest rate decision and share an outlook report for economic activity and prices. Retail sales figures are also due. Shareholder proposals At Moderna’s shareholder meeting on Thursday a resolution will be proposed asking its board to consider transferring Moderna’s intellectual property to the developing world. Votes on shunning fossil fuels are scheduled at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs — read more on the fossil fuel votes in our Moral Money newsletter. Results Today is another big day for corporate earnings. Amazon.com, Apple, Barclays, Comcast, Eli Lilly and Co, Intel, McDonald’s, Merck & Co, Nokia, Sainsbury’s, Samsung Electronics, Swedbank, and Total are among those set to report. Join us along with leading figures from Tesla, Volkswagen, Ford Pro, Nissan, Mercedes and Vauxhall at the Future of the Car event on May 9-12. Register here.What else we’re reading China policymakers clash over how to counter property slump Policy disagreements within the Chinese government highlight the difficult choices it faces as it tries to shore up growth in the world’s second-largest economy while also pursuing a tough zero-Covid strategy and taming heavily indebted property developers.North Korea’s ‘nascent hacker underground’ A small number of tech-savvy citizens are trying to circumvent software and monitoring systems installed by the regime on their smartphones. But the North Korean hackers do so at the risk of hard labour, a lengthy spell in a political prison camp or even a death sentence.Twitter employees fear the worst, hope for the best with Musk Twitter’s workforce is divided and apprehensive over their new owner. Some see the billionaire’s influence bringing about a new era of getting things done, away from the demands of Wall Street. Others worry about what might be undone, particularly when it comes to stemming hate speech or similar content.The populist strongmen who are strangely keen on globalisation The entire idea of a “liberal international order” — a concept that sometimes seems to exist merely to have its death repeatedly prophesied — conflates political freedom with open trade. They do not always go together, writes Alan Beattie.Berkshire Hathaway needs to be broken up When Warren Buffett leaves his post after more than 50 years at the helm, no one else will be able to run the company as successfully as he has. The behemoth conglomerate should be broken up, argues Francine McKenna, editor of The Dig.ArtThe Sydney Biennale showcases artists, oceans, forests and the night sky as curator José Roca casts the natural world as a participant in his low-carbon presentation. But his biennale has its critics too.

Exhibition at the Cutaway features ‘Flow’ (2021), a bamboo ‘river’ created by Sydney mixed-media group Cave Urban © Document Photography More