Mario Draghi is addressing the media after leaving eurozone borrowing costs at record lowsDraghi defends ECB independence against criticsECB leaves interest rates on holdDraghi’s press conference live 3.29pm BSTMeanwhile oil is on the slide again. After early gains,a rebound in the value of the dollar has seen Brent crude fall 1.5% to $45.08 a barrel. 3.28pm BSTBack with the UK, and the Treasury has revealed the impact of falling oil prices on the North Sea sector. Scotland editor Severin Carrell reports:The North Sea oil and gas sector raised only £35m final year following the collapse in global oil prices and further weakening the Treasury’s books, and the latest HMRC data shows.
Provisional HMRC data for 2015/16 puts total petroleum revenue tax income at minus £503m – the first time PRT income has been negative for a full year,with operators able to deduct various allowances or a deductible expense for corporation tax and the supplementary charge. In 2008/09, the Treasury raised £2.8bn from PRT.
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Source: theguardian.com