Thursday newspaper round-up: Argentina, Centrica, Ukraine...

31st Jul 2014 07:11

Standard & Poor's last night downgraded Argentina's foreign currency rating to selective default as efforts to agree a last-minute deal to avert the country's second default in 12 years appeared close to failure. Argentine officials, led by Axel Kicillof, the economy minister, were in negotiations with a court-appointed mediator in New York in an attempt to resolve a stand-off that has prevented the country from making a bond payment that was due on June 30. - The TimesThe country's largest domestic energy supplier, Centrica, is in talks with the government as fears mount that a worsening stand-off with Russia could undermine an important power deal. [...] The government talks centre on a big contract estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds under which gas from Gazprom, which is owned by the Kremlin, is scheduled to start flowing into Britain in a matter of weeks, before peak winter demand. At the time of signing, Centrica described the deal as "helping to deliver UK energy security". - The GuardianGermany and Russia have been working on a secret plan to broker a peaceful solution to end international tensions over the Ukraine. The Independent can reveal that the peace plan, being worked on by both Angela Merkel and Vladimir Putin, hinges on two main ambitions: stabilising the borders of Ukraine and providing the financially troubled country with a strong economic boost, particularly a new energy agreement ensuring security of gas supplies. - The IndependentFirst time buyers and home movers are scraping together increasingly smaller deposits to buy a house through the controversial Help to Buy scheme, new research shows. The Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), which represents hundreds of UK brokers, said the average loan to value (LTV) for buyers using the mortgage guarantee element of Help to Buy, which provides Government guarantees for high LTV mortgages, rose to a record 94.4pc in the three months to June. It went up from 94.1pc in the quarter to May and 92.6pc in the first quarter of 2014. This was close to the maximum 95pc LTV available through the scheme. - The TelegraphEnergy firms are set to double their profits in the space of 12 months after refusing to pass on to customers huge falls in the cost of wholesale oil and gas. Ofgem, the energy industry regulator, said yesterday that companies would make on average £106 from each customer they supply with electricity and gas, up from £53 last year and from £9 five years ago. - The TimesThe Bank of England's plans to impose seven-year clawbacks on bonuses and threaten bankers with jail could damage the City of London's competitiveness and impose direct costs of more than £260m on the country's banks, the industry has warned. Bankers, advisers and businessmen united to criticise the impact of the Bank's regulatory plans, aimed at increasing individual accountability in the wake of the global financial crisis. - The TelegraphBC