2025-11-26 12:37
LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Britain's Office for Budget Responsibility will carry out one full fiscal forecast a year instead of the current two, according to its outlook unexpectedly published on Wednesday ahead of finance minister Rachel Reeves delivering her budget. The OBR has so far published two assessments annually to accompany the government's spring and autumn fiscal statements. They provide detailed economic projections and whether the finance minister is on course to meet targets for the public finances. Sign up here. The International Monetary Fund had recommended that the OBR assess the government's progress towards its fiscal rules only once a year to reduce speculation about what measures might be needed to stay on track. Reeves has previously said that the OBR's two full forecasts a year made it harder to have a single major fiscal event. https://www.reuters.com/business/uks-budget-watchdog-publish-one-full-forecast-per-year-2025-11-26/
2025-11-26 12:36
LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The pound briefly jumped to session highs, while UK government bond prices staged a short, sharp rise on Wednesday, after the independent Office for Budget Responsibility released its forecasts early, offering a more upbeat view of Britain's economy and finances. Britain's government will have almost 22 billion pounds ($28.9 billion) in fiscal headroom in five years' time, according to estimates by the country's budget watchdog published on its website on Wednesday ahead of finance minister Rachel Reeves' budget statement. That is higher than a Reuters poll expected. Sign up here. Sterling rose to a session high of $1.32 from around $1.3153 prior to the OBR forecasts, but was last down 0.2%. Ten-year gilt yields fell as much as 7 basis points on the day to 4.425%, as prices rose, but were last up 2 basis points on the day. UK stocks were last up 0.1% (.FTSE) , opens new tab COMMENTS: NEIL WILSON, UK INVESTOR STRATEGIST, SAXO MARKETS, LONDON: "Here is the key to why markets might see this budget as lacking credibility - the direct effects of budget policies increase borrowing by 6 billion pounds next year but reduce it by 15 billion pounds in 2029-30. "The indirect effects of budget policy measures on the economy are estimated to lower borrowing by 2 billion pounds in 2026-27 largely thanks to impact of lower inflation on debt interest spending. From 2027-28 onwards, the indirect effects of policy add to borrowing by amounts rising to 5 billion pounds in 2029-30. "This was one of our key questions this morning - How are you selling fiscal restraint at the end of the parliament when you have signally failed to deliver any cuts or reform to welfare spending? "Fiscal buffer increases to 21.7 billion pounds from 9.9 billion as a result - but who cares about the buffer if the assumptions are not credible?" KALLUM PICKERING, CHIEF ECONOMIST, PEEL HUNT, LONDON: "10-year gilt yields are up slightly, inflation expectations are up a bit too and not much change for Bank of England pricing, to a large extent it doesn’t seem to be surprising markets much. "My concerns are that the headroom - although it looks bigger, 22 billion pounds versus the current spending of 9.9 billion pounds - when I look at the composition a lot of it is backloaded. "You go pretty aggressive from 2026 onwards into a current surplus, which means the market is being asked to believe the OBR forecast which is chronically optimistic, which is why I think the market is a bit concerned." PHILIP SHAW, CHIEF ECONOMIST, INVESTEC, LONDON: "This timing of headlines is a big surprise, but at first glance they seem relatively favourable in terms of the fiscal metrics." "Over the budget process, you would expect the Chancellor to unveil the measures and the OBR arithmetic gradually when she stands up and the OBR numbers to be revealed when she sits down again. "Number one: this is early and secondly from what we can see at the moment, the fiscal numbers look relatively benign, with the government on track to meet its fiscal rules more comfortably than expected." ANDREW WISHART, SENIOR UK ECONOMIST, BERENBERG, LONDON: "It's not clear if this (the OBR release) is a mistake or not, but so far so good in terms of the headline numbers." "The headroom has increased and more importantly we can see a tightening in the budget deficit over the next two years and that supports the argument for BOE rate cuts." JEREMY STRETCH, HEAD OF G10 FX STRATEGY, CIBC CAPITAL MARKETS, LONDON: "If the headlines are correct in terms of greater fiscal room that is beneficial for gilts. The downside is that if fiscal headroom is larger it could mean that we get more fiscal tightening. "So we have part of the story, but there are questions to be asked." "Trend growth has been revised down compared to the spring and that's not great from a productivity perspective." https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/view-pound-uk-bond-prices-briefly-jump-after-upbeat-obr-forecasts-2025-11-26/
2025-11-26 12:18
BRUSSELS, Nov 26 (Reuters) - The European Parliament on Wednesday voted in favour of delaying the implementation of the European Union's deforestation law by one year. Companies will have an additional year to comply with new EU rules to prevent deforestation, the European Parliament said in a statement. Sign up here. Large operators and traders must respect the obligations of this regulation as of December 30, 2026, and micro and small enterprises from June 30, 2027. The ban on imports of cocoa, palm oil and other commodities linked to forest destruction is a key pillar in the EU's green agenda. The world-first policy aims to end the 10% of global deforestation fuelled by EU consumption of imported soy, beef, palm oil and other products, but has become a politically contested part of Europe's green agenda. But it faces pushback from some industries and countries that say the measures are costly and logistically challenging. Critics have previously warned of environmental setbacks. Food majors such as Nestle (NESN.S) , opens new tab, Ferrero and Olam Agri back the law. They warned last month that delaying it endangers forests worldwide and is contrary to the EU's aim of simplifying business rules. Advocacy group Business For Nature called the delay "a profound failure of political courage". https://www.reuters.com/world/european-parliament-supports-year-long-deforestation-law-delay-2025-11-26/
2025-11-26 12:13
PRAGUE, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Energy group Sev.en plans to cease operations at its Czech coal-fired power plants in December 2026 or by March 2027 at the latest, it said on Wednesday, taking 2,400 megawatts of coal capacity off the grid due to lack of profitability. Sev.en, owned by billionaire Czech investor Pavel Tykac, said the outlook for prices of electricity and rising carbon permit costs pointed to continuing losses at the plants. Sign up here. The affected operations are major, decades-old lignite coal-fired plants at Chvaletice, Pocerady and Kladno, where it also supplies heating to the town. Sev.en said its decision has also been based on the unclear outlook for gas prices this winter and the pace of connecting more renewable energy sources. Rising supply from renewable resources has forced the plants to operate fewer hours per year, which reduces emissions but raises the burden of their fixed costs. Like the rest of the European Union, the Czech Republic is phasing out coal. The country's largest electricity producer CEZ (CEZP.PR) , opens new tab plans to reduce the share of its output from coal plants to 9% from the current 30% by 2030. Last year, Sev.en's plants, which include the smaller Teplarna Zlin, supplied 7.6 TWh to the grid, down from 8.8 TWh in 2023, according to its annual report. The Czech Republic's production was 69 TWh last year and consumption reached 58 TWh, according to energy regulator ERU. Tykac has in the past flagged Sev.en may close the plants unless the government steps in with a subsidy scheme if it determines the capacity is needed for operating the national power grid. Network operator CEPS will have time to respond to Sev.en's announcement and take action if needed. There was no immediate response to Reuters questions from CEPS and the industry ministry on Wednesday. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/czech-seven-shut-three-major-coal-fired-power-plants-by-march-2027-2025-11-26/
2025-11-26 12:05
NEW DELHI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - India's power regulator is considering auctioning transmission connectivity that has been lying idle because renewable energy developers failed to sign power purchase agreements, according to a staff paper uploaded on the website. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission said about 31.8 gigawatts of grid access was granted to projects based on letters of award. Sign up here. However, the connectivity remains unused as power purchase agreements have not been executed, blocking transmission capacity and slowing clean energy rollout. Nearly 50 GW of clean energy projects are without buyers due to lack of demand from state power utilities. Developers often start work only after the purchase agreements are signed, leaving transmission systems underutilised while other ready-to-build projects cannot secure connectivity, the paper said. The new proposals include giving developers with delayed purchase agreements more than 12 months old a choice to convert to a land-based route with strict timelines. Other proposals include performance guarantees, swap letters of award for power purchase agreements from other projects, or exit and surrender connectivity, which would then be auctioned to bidders committing to fast-track commissioning. Future applications may require power purchase agreements instead of just letters of award or be processed only through auctions, the paper suggested, citing connectivity as a "scarce resource" that should go to committed players. Stakeholders have been asked to comment on the proposals. India aims to add 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, but delays in project execution and transmission bottlenecks have emerged as key challenges. The country's transmission network, spanning about 495,000 circuit kilometres, is lagging the growth in generation capacity. Reuters reported in September that India had cancelled grid access for nearly 17 GW of delayed clean energy projects to prioritise connections for those that are operational or nearing completion. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/indias-power-regulator-mulls-auctioning-unused-grid-slots-renewable-projects-2025-11-26/
2025-11-26 11:56
PARIS/LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - French state-owned utility EDF is considering selling 100% of its U.S. renewable energy business, its CEO said on Wednesday, as the company focuses on building up its domestic nuclear operations and U.S. support for wind and solar has been rolled back. Bernard Fontana said the company is considering selling "between 50% and 100%" of its U.S. renewable unit, revising an earlier plan to sell only a minority stake, speaking with Reuters on the sidelines of the Adopt AI conference in Paris. Sign up here. A stake of less than 50% was worth about 2 billion euros ($2.32 billion), Bloomberg previously reported. Fontana, who became CEO in April amid government frustration over delays in upgrading France's nuclear fleet, is prioritising investments to strengthen energy security. EDF has been looking for ways to raise funds to fund construction of six new nuclear reactors, and has said it was weighing possible asset sales as it contends with a 50 billion euro net debt. France's nuclear fleet accounts for about 70% of power production in the country and has helped push the nation's power prices below those of neighbours Germany and Britain that rely heavily on gas-fired power plants. EDF had appointed investment bank Nomura to look for buyers for a stake of up to 49% earlier this year, according to two sources with knowledge of the talks. Nomura declined to comment. The company previously booked a 900 million euro impairment on its Atlantic Shores offshore wind farm joint venture with Shell off the coast of New Jersey after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a moratorium on new wind development. EDF's website says the company has developed 23 gigawatts of projects and has 16 gigawatts under service contracts in North America. Other European companies have divested renewable portfolios in the U.S. recently. Ares Management (ARES.N) , opens new tab paid $2.9 billion for a 49% stake in EDPR's 1.6 GW of solar, wind and storage in October. ($1 = 0.8639 euros) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/edf-weighs-full-sale-us-renewable-unit-focus-french-nuclear-2025-11-26/
