Friday newspaper round-up: Trade deals, job cuts, protectionism warning

A quarter of German companies with UK subsidiaries are planning to cut British jobs in the wake of the referendum, while a third say they will reduce capital investment. The souring view of Britain in the boardrooms of Germany, the UK’s second biggest trading partner after the US, comes in a survey by the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK). - The Times

Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JP Morgan, has repeated his warning that he could move thousands of jobs out of the UK in spite of a pledge yesterday by his deputy to help London retain its position as the world’s leading financial centre. Viswas Raghavan, the bank’s deputy chief executive and head of investment banking in Europe, was one of five senior London bankers who met the chancellor yesterday and promised to support the capital. - The Times

The antitrade policies championed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump risk sparking a dangerous protectionist movement that could severely damage the global economy, Christine Lagarde has warned. Britain’s vote to leave the EU is already casting a shadow over international growth, the International Monetary Fund chief said in an interview, adding that the imposition of new trade barriers in another large economy could have ruinous effects. - Financial Times

Britain’s vote to leave the EU has opened a political “black hole” in Westminster and Europe’s leaders will not bend to help it out, Belgium’s prime minister has warned. Charles Michel’s caustic views on the unreal “dreams” of Brexiters, outlined in an hour-long interview, speak to the difficulties Britain faces in reaching an exit trade deal that satisfies all 27 EU leaders and their parliaments. - Financial Times

China has abandoned a solemn pledge to keep its exchange rate stable and is carrying out a systematic devaluation of the yuan, sending a powerful deflationary impulse through a global economy already caught in a 1930s trap. The country’s currency basket has been sliding at an annual pace of 12pc since the start of the year. This has picked up sharply since the Brexit vote, suggesting that the People’s Bank (PBOC) may be taking advantage of the distraction to push through a sharper devaluation. - Telegraph

Consumer confidence has fallen at the fastest pace in 22 years after Britain voted to leave the EU, a survey has found, highlighting worries about the economic outlook and fears over inflation. Measures of confidence about the economic outlook, people’s personal finances and big purchases, had all fallen, according to the post-referendum poll of 2,002 people run between 30 June and 5 July by market researcher GfK. - Guardian/Telegraph/FT

Council leaders across England and Wales say they are bracing themselves for years of financial hardship following Britain’s vote to leave the EU. Many fear that the billions of euros from EU development funds channelled into some of the most deprived areas of the country will not be replaced by Westminster, just as the slowing UK economy is set to hit council budgets that are already stretched. - Financial Times

Shopping centres, office blocks and warehouses worth up to £5bn could be put up for sale as the turmoil in the UK commercial property sector prompted by the Brexit vote forces fund managers to revalue their portfolios or temporarily prevent investors withdrawing their savings. With the pound under pressure on the foreign exchange markets, fund managers Legal & General, Foreign & Colonial and Dutch-owned Kames cut the value of their property funds on Thursday. - Guardian

Britain’s farmers face a shortage of fruit and vegetable pickers as the fallout from the EU referendum, particularly the sharp fall in the value of the pound, prompts some seasonal migrant workers to depart for better prospects elsewhere in Europe. The UK’s farms, warehouses and building sites are thus at risk of losing a stream of labour that keeps them running. - Financial Times

The total lifetime cost of the planned Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant could be as high as £37bn, according to an assessment published by the UK government. The figure was described as shocking by critics of the scheme, who said it showed just how volatile and uncertain the project had become, given that the same energy department’s estimate 12 months earlier had been £14bn. - Guardian

Four former Barclays bankers convicted of conspiring to rig Libor interest rates have been jailed for between 33 months and six and a half years. They were told yesterday that their crime triggered losses that potentially ran to “millions of pounds”. Libor, the London inter-bank offered rate, is used to set the cost of financial deals. - The Times