Monday newspaper round-up: Carney's future, BoE meeting, National Grid

The Bank of England will concede this week that it was wrong to predict an immediate slowdown after the Brexit vote when it raises its growth forecasts for this year and next, but it will warn that the squeeze on households is set to intensify. Economists from Bank of America Merrill Lynch expect the central bank to lift its outlook for growth this year to 2.2 per cent from 2 per cent and to 1.1 per cent in 2017 from 0.8 per cent, but to predict a tougher 2018 as higher inflation eats into disposable incomes. - The Times

The EU and Canada signed a free trade deal on Sunday that was almost derailed last week by objections from French-speaking Belgians , exposing the difficulties of securing agreement from 28 member states as Britain prepares for Brexit talks. The European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, said there was no parallel between the deal struck with Canada and looming Brexit talks. - Guardian

The European Union and Britain must work together to avoid the break-up of the City or they risk losing the capital market services that London provides to New York, a senior Wall Street executive has warned. Colm Kelleher, president of Morgan Stanley, argues that “hard Brexit” could become an example of “bluffs gone wrong” and that the financial sector was facing a “looming cliff” more than any other area of the economy. He has warned that the “political seductiveness of moving the City to the Continent is not to be underestimated”. - The Times

Surging rates on dollar Libor contracts are rapidly tightening conditions across large parts of the global economy, incubating stress in the credit markets and ultimately threatening overvalued bourses. Three-month Libor rates – the benchmark cost of short-term borrowing for the international system – have tripled this year to 0.88pc as inflation worries mount. - Telegraph

France will this week step up efforts to attract business from London in the wake of the Brexit vote by appointing a team of corporate leaders and politicians to drive the campaign. Ross McInnes, an Oxford-educated Franco-Australian and chairman of Safran, the French engine maker, is to be named the “ambassador” heading efforts to lure UK-based companies to Paris, said people familiar with the decision. - Financial Times

A huge contract to modernise the British Army’s main battle tanks could see much of the work go abroad. The Ministry of Defence is updating its 227 Challenger 2 tanks with the digital capabilities needed to be an effective part of Britain’s military might, as well as extend their service lives, with the bid whittled down to just two. - Telegraph

National Grid attempted to keep up to £87m of consumers’ cash it had collected to fund new gas pipelines despite deciding not to build them after all. The utility giant was criticised for the “unjustified” move by consumer group Citizens Advice, which highlighted the claim as part of a damning critique of the way energy networks are paid for. - Telegraph

Thousands of Post Office workers and managers are to stage a fresh strike on Monday in a dispute over jobs, pensions and branch closures. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite will walk out for the second time in two months, and further action in the runup to Christmas has not been ruled out. - Guardian

Pharmaceutical companies will leave the UK unless the Government and the NHS start to pay for breakthrough drugs, particularly cancer treatments, a senior executive at AstraZeneca has warned. “It's depressing and demoralising that our latest drugs that are discovered here are not being used in the UK,” said Mene Pangalos, executive vice-president of AstraZeneca’s innovative medicines and early development biotech unit. - Telegraph

Two thirds of companies in the FTSE 350 are not disclosing enough information about their defined-benefit pension schemes, including the amount of future cash contributions, according to new research. A report by Lincoln Pensions suggests that 67 per cent of FTSE 350 companies failed properly to outline the deficit or surplus position of their pension schemes relative to the funding target required in their annual reports. - The Times

The pensions minister has told small businesses that there is “no excuse” for failing to give all their workers the option of a pension, after the regulator fined thousands of employers for not adhering to new rules. Under auto enrolment, every employer must offer their staff the chance to save for their retirement. The government says that ten million people will be enrolled in a pension by 2020. With the smallest companies now obliged to sign up their employees, there has been an increase in the number of penalties for those that fail to comply. - The Times

Sports Direct and its shareholders are struggling to agree on a heavyweight individual to conduct an independent review of the business before a second vote to re-elect its chairman that must take place by early January. An investor familiar with the talks said for that reason both sides were now looking for a credible individual rather than a professional services firm to conduct the review. - Guardian

An asset manager is preparing to float a company to invest in upmarket student accommodation in the regions. Amiri Capital, which has invested £1.5 billion in UK capital in the past seven years, will announce plans to float a tax-efficient real estate investment trust today. - The Times

The biggest investor in Stock Spirits has accused the listed distiller of paying its board directors too much and of failing to respond publicly to questions about its corporate governance. Western Gate Investments, the vehicle of Luís Amaral, the Portuguese cash-and-carry tycoon, said that it estimated Stock Spirits’ board of nine directors was costing the distiller about £1.36 million a year. - The Times

Fears of a shortage of workers after a “hard” Brexit have been blamed by UPS for a game-changing decision to use more automation in its British depots. Jim Barber, international president of the parcel delivery company, said that Britain’s vote to quit the European Union had “moved some of our thinking towards automation” to reduce the impact of an exit in which the free movement of workers is curtailed. - The Times