Monday newspaper round-up: US multinationals, London listings, interest rates

(Sharecast News) - US multinationals underpaid £5.6bn in tax in the UK last year, HM Revenue & Customs believes, according to a national accountancy firm. The suspected deficit is 14% higher than the figure from the previous year, and would mean US companies now make up nearly half of underpaid tax into British coffers from foreign companies. - Guardian Consumers will pay more for less this Christmas, economists have warned, getting less of a bang for their buck than the faint phutting of a puny, overpriced cracker being pulled. Although Britons will spend more than in the belt-tightening 2022 festive season, the resultant fare won't yet match the pre-pandemic Christmases past. - Guardian

Applications to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) have plunged this year despite efforts to revive the City. The number of requests to float on the main market of the LSE has slumped to its lowest level in at least six years, according to data from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The figures come as the City struggles to recruit and retain high-profile companies, leaving executives and policymakers grappling with how to arrest the Square Mile's decline. - Telegraph

The Bank of England will not cut interest rates until 2026, according to projections from the CBI, which predicts sluggish economic growth for the next three years. In its latest outlook on the UK economy, the CBI said the base rate will stay at 5.25 per cent for at least two more years, despite rising market speculation that rates will be cut next year. The forecast is based on projections showing that consumer price inflation will not reach the Bank's 2 per cent target until the third quarter of 2025. - The Times

The scale of the crisis in the lettings sector, as tenants have been hit in the pocket by landlords raising the rent, selling up, failing to invest or turning properties into holiday lets, is revealed in data from Hamptons. The rises have been so steep that the estate agency calculates the amount of rent paid by British tenants this year will be £85.6 billion, which is more than twice the amount in 2010 (£40.3 billion) and £8 billion more than last year. - The Times