What does the Middle East conflict mean for your money?
3/6/202646 min
In the past week, news headlines have been dominated by the conflict in the Middle East. It has pushed up oil and gas prices, and as such, concerns over our household finances in Britain.
Georgie Frost, Lee Boyce and Helen Crane discuss what the conflict means for investors, mortgage rates, price at the petrol pumps and energy bills - is there anything you can realistically do to keep a lid on the potential for runaway inflation?
With the potential for inflation to spike, does that spell the end of a 'nailed on' base rate cut and what are your rights if you have a holiday or flight booked which is hit by the disruption?
We also saw the Chancellor deliver the Spring Statement on Tuesday - growth downgraded, unemployment up and predictions house prices will rise by more than £40,000 between now and 2031. But with events in the Middle East, are the OBR predictions wildly out-of-date already?
There is now more than £1trillion held in tax-free Isas. With a month to go until the end of the tax-year, thee has been a number of top deals launched - but are they worth opening?
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsGeorgie Frost· Host0:00
[upbeat music] Welcome to This is Money podcast, sponsored by Trading Two one two. I'm Georgie Frost, and joining me and Lee Boyce today is Helen Crane. And coming up, how the Iranian conflict will affect your finances, from investments, energy bills, and mortgages, to prices at the pumps and at your local supermarket. Also today, growth downgraded, unemployment rising, borrowing falling. But with events across the Middle East, will the outlook delivered in this week's spring statement already be out of date? And some lighter news, thankfully. As the Cash Ice race heats up, Lee will give us the best deals around. Don't forget, to stay up to date with all the latest breaking money news, just go to thisismoney.co.uk or download the app. But first, there are fears that the conflict in Iran could cause a new cost of living crisis. The events might be taking place thousands of miles away, but they've led to a surge in energy prices that could fuel higher inflation and raise interest rates impacting our mortgages. The advice for investors, though, is to keep calm and carry on. Lee, Helen, welcome. It goes without saying, obviously, that war is horrific, and it almost feels a little bit crass to talk about mortgages, for example, when people are dying and the world feels a very scary place. But this is a finance podcast, and this is an event that is likely to impact in lots of different ways, including Helen getting back from wherever she's been. We'll get on to that in a minute. But Lee, fears of a new cost of living crisis. Overblown?
Lee Boyce· Host1:28
Uh, Georgie, I think you were, uh, bang