Normally a unified group, Federal Reserve officials suddenly find themselves divided on when they should cut interest rates and by how much. How deep those divisions run should become clearer Wednesday when the central bank releases minutes from its July meeting. The July 29-30 meeting saw the Federal Open Market Committee vote to keep its key interest rate steady in a target range of 4.25%-4.5%. However, that decision came with two dissents from Board of Governors members, the first time that has happened in more than 30 years. Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller voted against the final statement, saying later that they wanted the committee to cut by a quarter percentage point. Since the meeting, public statements from Fed officials have fallen in various levels around the notion of cuts, with most still expressing caution about the unknown tariff impacts. However, many of the 11 or so candidates thought to be in the running to succeed Chair Jerome Powell have spoken out forcefully in favor of cuts. That raises the stakes for the minutes. Because the FOMC meetings do not take place in public, the minutes are the only chance for investors to get a glimpse at what happens there. Even then, transcripts don’t come out until five years later. The minutes “could fill in some blanks about how dug in the doves were and how intransigent the inflation hawks might’ve been in late July,” wrote market veteran Ed Yardeni, founder of Yardeni Research. Some things have changed since then: The July nonfarm payrolls count pointed to a further slowdown in the labor market, while inflation reports presented a mixed bag of moderating consumer prices but escalating pipeline pressures as producer costs rose . In the meantime, Trump officials have kept up the pressure for cuts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC on Tuesday that the hot producer price index came largely from rising portfolio costs due to stock market gains. All the heat from the White House means that “the risk that economic policy decisions will be swayed by political pressure is increasing,” wrote Komal Sri-Kumar, head of Sri-Kumar Global Strategies. Fed officials assiduously avoid commenting on political matters, insisting that they make their decisions based solely on their policy goals of full employment and stable prices. However, with the high-profile sweepstakes happening for the Fed chair slot, maintaining that veneer could be more difficult, and investors likely will pore through the minutes for any appearance that politicking is exacting a toll on policy. “The Fed’s independence has always relied less on legal safeguards than on the shared norm that monetary policy is insulated from partisan interference,” Sri-Kumar added. “That norm is under siege.”
The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has expressed “serious concerns” about Citroën’s handling of a safety recall that has left thousands of Britons unable to drive their cars.
In June the car brand’s parent company, Stellantis, issued an immediate and rare “stop-drive” order for certain models because of a potentially fatal airbag safety fault.
The safety alert impacted owners of its Citroën and DS Automobiles-branded cars, with 120,000 vehicles affected in the UK.
In the letter to Eurig Druce, UK group managing director of Stellantis, Alexander said that the “level of disruption experienced by UK motorists – particularly the most vulnerable – is unacceptable”.
Alexander urged the company to take “immediate steps” to improve the recall process. This meant ensuring all affected owners are “provided with viable alternatives”, whether through courtesy cars, financial compensation or at-home repairs.
In the letter, first reported by the PA news agency, the minister said the existing arrangements were “not meeting expectations”. She had received reports from MPs and their constituents that detailed distressing experiences and inadequate support with alternative transport arrangements.
The consumer group Which? recently described Stellantis’s handling of the recall as “chaotic”. It said it had heard from “many distressed drivers” – including a woman caring for her terminally ill husband who needed to get to hospital appointments – who were incurring significant expenses for hire cars, taxis or insurance fees.
While Stellantis had promised to minimise the burden on consumers the “execution of this recall has exposed significant gaps in customer support and transparency”, Alexander said.
Cars equipped with Takata airbags are being recalled because chemicals in the inflators may deteriorate over time, which could cause the bag to rupture.
No incidents have been reported in the UK, but Stellantis issued the stop-drive order across Europe after a woman in France was killed when her airbag exploded.
Driving a car with a stop-drive recall can invalidate your insurance, and it is illegal for a private seller to sell a car with a recall without disclosing it first.
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Stellantis insisted that Citroën was “fully engaged” in maximising the daily number of cars that can have their airbags replaced, adding that its Peugeot network is now authorised to also carry out the work.
To date more than 72,000 vehicles have had replacement airbags fitted and Stellantis expects the majority of vehicles to be repaired by the end of September, with any remaining cases handled within weeks.
Stellantis explained that with such a large number of vehicles affected it was “inevitable” that customers could be inconvenienced in the short term.
“For each and every customer, we discuss options to support mobility. These options include replacement airbags at a dealership or at home, a courtesy car, support for other mobility options and recovery. We give priority to those with the most urgent needs.”
The release of key statistics used to weigh up the performance of the UK’s economy has been delayed for two weeks over concerns about the quality of the data.
The Office for National Statistic (ONS) said the publication of its latest monthly retail sales figures was rescheduled to allow for “further quality assurance”.
It marks another setback for the UK’s official statistics body and raises questions over the reliability of its data, which is used in deciding government policy affecting millions of people, and by the Bank of England to set interest rates.
The ONS apologised “for any inconvenience caused”.
Monthly retail sales figures are closely watched as a measure of consumer spending. Increases generally mean people are spending more money, which boosts business and can lead to the economy growing.
The government has made growing the UK economy its main priority in an effort to improve living standards.
The ONS said its data, originally slated for release on Friday, will now be released a fortnight later on Friday 5 September.
The organisation has faced criticism in recent months, with concerns over its reputation and reliability for some of its data, particularly its jobs market figures.
Such data releases are closely watched by the Bank of England when weighing up whether to cut, raise or hold interest rates, which impact people’s ability to borrow money or obtain better savings rates.
ONS figures on inflation, which gives an indication of the cost of living, and GDP, a measure of the economy, are used to underpin many tax and public spending decisions made by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
In June, the ONS said the UK’s inflation rate for April was too high after it discovered it had been given incorrect road tax data by the Department for Transport.
‘Mistakes are piling up’
Robert Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said all ONS data “must be suspect now”.
He said while the ONS had “done the right thing” to halt publication to double check the data rather than “sweeping the problem under the carpet”, the “mistakes are piling up”.
“There seems to be a serious problem at the ONS. Every odd datapoint now will raise the question, is this real or an ONS error?” Mr Wood said in a post on social media.
“This stuff really matters. The ONS need to get on top of this yesterday.”
In June, a critical government review said “deep seated” issues needed to be addressed at the ONS for the agency to “rebuild its reputation”.
The review said most of problems with data resulted from “inadequacies” in the way the agency plans and makes decisions. The ONS welcomed the report at the time and acknowledged the issues highlighted.
Last month Sir Robert Chote resigned as chair of the UK Statistics Authority, the body responsible for overseeing the ONS, saying new leadership was critical to restore confidence in the statistics produced by the body.
In a social media post former member of the Bank of England’s rate-setting committee, Andrew Sentance said the latest delay was a “total and utter shambles”.
The US government is pursuing a stake in Intel, the US commerce secretary said on Tuesday, confirming reports of discussions between officials and the company that have circulated for the better part of a week.
The Trump administration wants to convert funding from the Chips and Science Act, which funds research and manufacturing of semiconductor chips in the US, into equity in the struggling tech company, according to Howard Lutnick.
Intel was once a leader in producing computer processors, but is now seen as a laggard behind the likes of Nvidia, which last month became the first public company in history to scale a $4tn valuation after a stratospheric stock market rise.
Lutnick criticized the structure of the Chips Act, signed into law in 2022 under Joe Biden.
“Why are we giving a company worth $100bn this kind of money? What is in it for the American taxpayer? And the answer Donald Trump has is we should get an equity stake for our money,” he told the CNBC financial news network. “So we’ll deliver the money which was already committed under the Biden administration, we’ll get equity in return for it.”
Shares in Intel rallied 7.5% in New York.
The conversion of the funding would not confer governing rights typical of a company’s largest shareholder to the federal government, according to Lutnick. “It’s not governance, we’re just converting what was a grant under Biden into equity. Non-voting,” he said.
Lutnick did say the goal of the equity stake would be much the same as that of the Chips Act, bluntly stating: “We need to make our own chips here. We cannot rely on Taiwan.”
A large portion of the world’s semiconductors originate from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), based in the city of Hsinchu. TSMC has also received Chips Act funding to build semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the US, with construction beginning in Arizona.
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The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, also said on Tuesday that a potential stake would not oblige US businesses to purchase Intel chips.
“The last thing we’re going to do is take a stake and then try to drum up business,” he told CNBC. “The stake would be a conversion of the grants and maybe increase the investment into Intel to help stabilize the company for chip production here in the US. There’s no talk of trying to force companies to buy from Intel.”
The prospect of large US investment in Intel has reinvigorated investor interest in the company, whose stock value has declined by half over the past five years. Shares jumped last week after initial reports of discussions with the US government, and the Japanese conglomerate Softbank announced late on Monday that it would take a $2bn stake in the company.
LONDON, August 19, 2025–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AM Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B (Fair) and the Long-Term ICR of “bb” (Fair) of Jubilee General Insurance Company Limited (Jubilee) (Pakistan). The outlook of the FSR is stable.
These Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Jubilee’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its strong operating performance, limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management (ERM).
The revision of the Long-Term ICR outlook to positive from stable reflects improvements in the company’s balance sheet strength fundamentals, notably through increased risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), underpinned by good earnings retention. In addition, the rating action considers improvements in the economic, political and financial system risks in Pakistan.
Jubilee’s balance sheet strength assessment is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capitalisation at the strongest level, as measured by BCAR (at year-end 2024). Future growth of the company’s underwriting portfolio is expected to be supported adequately by internal capital generation. However, the company’s risk-adjusted capitalisation remains sensitive to changes in asset risk, which is the primary driver of required capital. Other partially offsetting rating factors include the company’s high dependence on reinsurance and its exposure to a non-rated reinsurance counterparty through mandatory cessions to the state-owned reinsurer in Pakistan.
Jubilee has a history of strong earnings, with a five-year (2020-2024) weighted average return on equity of 19.3%. Underwriting performance has been resilient over this period, with a weighted average combined ratio of 94.3%. Investment returns remain the core driver of operating performance, with Jubilee generating a weighted average net investment yield, including capital gains, of 14.3% over the same five-year period.
As the third-largest non-life insurer in Pakistan, Jubilee holds a solid competitive position within its domestic market. The company writes a diversified insurance portfolio, offering conventional and takaful products principally to commercial customers. The company’s premium income increased by 18.5% in 2024, which was ahead of the market growth. This was supported by inflation-driven rate increases and higher sums insured. However, writing PKR 23.1 billion (USD 83 million) of gross premium in 2024, Jubilee remains relatively small on a global scale.
AM Best views Jubilee’s ERM as marginal given the size and complexity of its operations. The company’s risk profile remains exposed to Pakistan’s elevated economic, political and financial system risks. While AM Best notes Jubilee’s historical operational resilience to country risk factors, risk management challenges are presented by its concentration of business and assets in Pakistan.
This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.
AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specialising in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
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