Business
Reeves did not mislead on challenges facing UK ahead of Budget, says OBR official
A senior official at the UK’s official forecaster has said he does not believe the chancellor was being misleading when she said the state of the public finances were “very challenging” in the run-up to the Budget.
Prof David Miles from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) told MPs Rachel Reeves’s comments ahead of announcing her tax and spending plans were “not inconsistent” with the situation she faced.
Reeves has rejected claims she misled the public about the country’s finances after the OBR’s economic forecasts revealed they were better than widely thought.
However, Prof Miles said despite the forecast, the chancellor still faced a “very difficult Budget and very difficult choices”.
He said the OBR raised concerns with Treasury officials about leaks to the media in the run-up to the Budget, adding: “I think it was clear that we didn’t find this helpful. We made that clear.”
But he said the watchdog was not “at war” with the Treasury.
A political row has broken out over the information shared with the public over the past few weeks over the health of the economy and the choices required to be made by the chancellor.
Last week’s Budget included a total £26bn of tax rises, with £8bn set to be raised by extending the freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds for a further three years. The two-child benefit cap was also scrapped.
In the build-up to the Budget, Reeves repeatedly talked about a downgrade to the UK’s predicted economic productivity that would make it hard for her to meet her borrowing rules, fuelling speculation that the income tax rates themselves would be raised, which would break a manifesto pledge.
On 4 November, she used a rare pre-Budget speech in Downing Street to warn the UK’s productivity was weaker “than previously thought” and that had “consequences for the public finances too, in lower tax receipts”.
However, it has since emerged that the OBR, which assesses the government’s tax and spending policies, had told the Treasury on 31 October that it was on course to meet its main borrowing rule by £4.2bn due to the downgrade in productivity being offset by higher wages, which increase the government’s tax receipts.
The Conservatives have claimed the chancellor gave an overly pessimistic impression as a “smokescreen” to raise taxes in order to increase welfare spending, with leader Kemi Badenoch claiming she “lied to the public”.
The £4.2bn buffer was less than the £9.9bn Reeves had left herself at the previous Budget, and Prof Miles told a committee of MPs, still “posed a significant” challenge to the government, which wanted to increase the figure overall.
The so-called headroom chancellors have left themselves – essentially a buffer to fall back on – has been smaller in recent years. Prior to November 2022, chancellors tended to create a £20bn-£30bn buffer.
Questioned by MPs over the chancellor not mentioning the surplus in the forecast, Prof Miles said the £4.2bn, while a positive number, “was by a tiny margin”, adding that the OBR was not actually looking for it to be interpreted as “this is very, very good news, there is no hole to fill – as people were saying”.
“I don’t think it was misleading, for my own view, for the chancellor to say that the fiscal position was very challenging at the beginning of that week.
“The chancellor was saying that this was a very difficult Budget and very difficult choices needed to be made. And I don’t think that that was in itself inconsistent with the final pre-measures assessment we’d made, which, although it showed a very small positive amount of so-called headroom, it was wafer thin.”
Prof Miles added that the £4.2bn buffer would also have been reduced to minus £3bn because the OBR’s forecast did not take into account the welfare and winter fuel payment U-turns made by the government.
Business
Exato Technologies IPO: The Rs 37-Crore SME IPO Gets Bids Worth Rs 23,600 Crore; GMP Surges To 114%
Last Updated:
Exato Technologies IPO: Unlisted shares of Exato Technologies Ltd are trading at Rs 300 apiece in the grey market, which is a GMP of whopping 114.29% over the IPO price of Rs 140.
Exato Technologies IPO Day 3.
Exato Technologies IPO Day 3: The initial public offering (IPO) of Exato Technologies Ltd, which opened on Friday, witnessed its final day of bidding today, Tuesday, December 2. The Rs 37.5-Crore BSE SME IPO closed at 5:00 pm today. On the last day of bidding on Tuesday, the IPO received a whopping 947.21 times subscription, receiving bids for 1,68,60,29,000 shares as against the 17,80,000 shares on offer. With this, the IPO received bids worth Rs 23,600 crore.
Its retail category got a 1,068.74x subscription, while its non-institutional investor (NII) quota got a 1,488.72x subscription. The QIB category received a 327.08x subscription.
Exato Technologies IPO GMP Today
According to market observers, unlisted shares of Exato Technologies Ltd are currently trading at Rs 300 apiece in the grey market, against the upper IPO price of Rs 140. It means a grey market premium (GMP) of a whopping 114.29%, indicating a blockbuster listing for the company.
The GMP had stood at 107.14% in the morning and 93.57% on Monday.
The GMP is based on market sentiments and keeps changing. ‘Grey market premium’ indicates investors’ readiness to pay more than the issue price.
The price band of the IPO has been fixed at Rs 133-140 per equity share.
Exato Technologies IPO: Allotment & Listing Dates
The three-day IPO bidding will be closed today, December 2. Following this, its allotment will be finalised on December 3. However, its market listing will take place on December 5 on the BSE SME platform.
Exato Technologies IPO: More Details
The Exato Technologies IPO is a book-built issue worth Rs 37.45 crore, comprising a fresh issue of 0.23 crore shares amounting to Rs 31.85 crore and an offer for sale of 0.04 crore shares worth Rs 5.60 crore.
The company has set a price band of Rs 133 to Rs 140 per share. The lot size is 1,000 shares, translating into a minimum retail investment of Rs 2,80,000 for two lots at the upper price band. For high-net-worth individuals (HNIs), the minimum investment is 3 lots (3,000 shares), totalling Rs 4,20,000. GYR Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd. is the book-running lead manager for the issue, Kfin Technologies Ltd. is the registrar, and Giriraj Stock Broking Pvt. Ltd. is the market maker.
Financially, Exato Technologies reported a 10% rise in revenue and an 84% jump in profit after tax between FY24 and FY25.
Founded in 2016, the company positions itself as a customer transformation partner, offering technology-led solutions aimed at improving customer engagement and operational efficiency. Its service portfolio spans CX and analytics, unified communications and infrastructure, and its proprietary platform Exato IQ.
The company caters to clients across BFSI, healthcare, retail, telecom, manufacturing, and the IT/ITeS and BPO/KPO sectors, leveraging AI, automation, and cloud technologies to deliver scalable and intelligent customer service solutions.
About the Author
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Archie MitchellBusiness reporter
PA MediaThe Bank of England has warned of a “sharp correction” in the value of major tech companies with growing fears of an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble.
It said share prices in the UK are close to the “most stretched” they have been since the 2008 global financial crisis, while equity valuations in the US are reminiscent of those before the dotcom bubble burst.
The central bank’s financial stability report warned valuations are “particularly stretched” for companies focused on AI.
In its report the Bank also announced plans to lower the amount of capital High Street banks need to hold in a bid to boost lending and spur economic growth.
It marks the first reduction in the amount lenders need to hold since the 2008 financial crisis, and followed stress tests showing they would be able to withstand a crisis scenario with unemployment doubling, house prices plummeting and the economy contracting by 5%.
AI bubble fears
The Bank said the growth of the AI sector in the next five years would be fuelled by trillions of dollars of debt, raising financial stability risks if the value of the companies falls.
It cited industry figures forecasting spending on AI infrastructure could top $5tn (£3.8tn) and said much of this would be funded by AI firms themselves, but around half would come from outside sources, mostly through debt.
“Deeper links between AI firms and credit markets, and increasing interconnections between those firms, mean that, should an asset price correction occur, losses on lending could increase financial stability risks,” it said.
The Bank of England is the latest institution to sound the alarm over a potential crash in the value of AI firms reminiscent of previous incidents such as the dotcom bubble.
Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of US bank JP Morgan, told the BBC in October he was “far more worried than others” about the risk of a serious market correction in the coming years.
The International Monetary Fund and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development have also warned of price corrections.
The dotcom booms refers to a period in the late 1990s, during which the values of early internet companies surged on a wave of optimism for what was then a new technology, before the bubble burst in early 2000 – with many share prices collapsing.
This led to some companies going bust, resulting in job losses.
A drop in share prices can also hit the value of people’s savings including their pension funds.
Fears over an AI-related stock market correction come as Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her Budget to encourage savers to pile cash into stocks and shares by reducing the amounts which can be saved in cash Isas.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has previously raised fears about a potential financial crash, warning after the collapse of two US companies that “alarm bells” were ringing.
On Tuesday he said the AI sector in the US is “very concentrated”, making up a large portion of the value of the country’s stock market.
But he added: “There is a difference to the dotcom situation in that these companies have got positive cash flows, they are not created on hope.
“But, as we see, and we saw last week in the debate about whether Google is moving onto Nvidia’s patch, it doesn’t mean to say everybody is going to win, it doesn’t mean to say everyone is going to win equally.
“It is important to be clear it is not inconsistent, quite consistent in fact that AI turns out to be the next general purpose technology in terms of prompting productivity growth across economies. I hope it is, but we’ll see.”
Global risks
The central bank also said the risks to financial stability had risen during 2025, citing geopolitical tensions, global trade wars and rising borrowing costs for governments.
It said growing tension between countries had specifically raised the prospect of cyber-attacks and other disruptions.
After assessing High Street lenders’ ability to cope in a crisis situation, the Bank has proposed lowering the benchmark for Tier 1 capital requirements for firms to 13% from the 14% level it has been at since 2015. The requirement refers to the buffer banks must hold in case of any losses from risky lending.
The central bank said this would still give firms a £60bn buffer against their minimum requirements so they would be able to continue lending to households and companies.
The Bank’s Financial Policy Committee said lowering the threshold would make it easier for lenders to offer loans to households and businesses. The changes are due to come into force in 2027.
Elsewhere in the financial stability report, the Bank warned homeowners coming off fixed-rate mortgages in the next two years face a £64 increase in their monthly repayments.
The central bank said the typical owner-occupier coming off a fixed rate would see an 8% jump in their bills as the impact of higher interest rates continues to bite.
In total, 3.9 million people, or 43% of mortgage holders, are expected to refinance at higher rates by 2028, the Bank said.
But a third will see their monthly payments fall in that period, it added, with interest rates having fallen significantly since a spike in 2022.
The Bank of England’s base rate, which influences the cost of borrowing for individuals, including mortgages, has fallen from 5.25% in 2024 to its current 4%.
Business
IPO boom continues! December set to be another big month; ICIC Pru, Juniper & more – What’s on the list? – The Times of India
India’s primary market is gearing up for a blockbuster year-end, with a string of public offerings in December signalling that the IPO boom of 2025 is far from over. The last month alone is expected to raise almost Rs 30,000 crore, making it one of the hottest month in what has already become a landmark year of record breaking equity issuances.December, the number of IPOs is set to soar to about 25, led by five major listings: ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co (Rs 10,000 crore), Meesho (Rs 5,400 crore), Clean Max Enviro Energy Solutions (Rs 5,200 crore), Fractal Analytics (Rs 4,900 crore) and Juniper Green Energy (Rs 3,000 crore). Meanwhile, October saw 10 IPOs, attracting Rs 45,188 crore, followed by nine issues in November that raised Rs 23,613 crore. Market watchers describe the momentum as evidence of both strong business confidence and a selective yet optimistic investor base. Neha Agarwal, managing director and head of equity capital markets at JM Financial Institutional Securities Ltd, told ET that the strength of the pipeline reflects more than a rush to close the year. “The IPO rush is driven not by indiscriminate issuance but by a meaningful confluence of entrepreneurial energy and discerning investor appetite,” she said, pointing to the sharp investor preference for high-quality companies. “What’s encouraging is the quality-first filtration investors are applying – strong management, governance and credible business models are being rewarded, while anything with uncertainty rightly faces pushback.” Alongside large offers, a second wave of mid-sized IPOs is also poised to raise capital. Wakefit Innovations (Rs 1,500 crore), Innovatiview (Rs 1,500 crore), Park Medi World (Rs 1,200 crore), Nephroplus (Rs 1,000 crore) and precision engineering player Aequs (Rs 1,000 crore) are among the next set of issuers. Meesho and Aequs have already confirmed their subscription window for December 3–5, while the rest are awaiting final calendar announcements. The surge has also been helped by the depth of liquidity in domestic markets. Systematic investment plan (SIP) contributions of about Rs 30,000 crore every month continue to offer a dependable capital base as foreign flows fluctuate. Domestic institutional investors have also delivered steady participation for two straight years, giving investment bankers confidence that the surge of issuance can be absorbed without market disruption. Another defining feature of the current cycle has been the dominance of offer for sale (OFS) deals, with close to two-thirds of recent IPO funding coming from shareholder exits. Despite this, the market has remained stable, said Gaurav Sood, managing director and head of equity capital markets at Avendus Capital. “We believe this is not just a year-end rush but the culmination of a record year for India’s primary markets,” he said. He added that the system’s liquidity strength has ensured smooth execution of large deals across multiple sectors. “When you combine this domestic flow strength with the proven ability to execute large and diverse deals across sectors, it’s clear why the market is comfortable running a heavy December calendar and why promoter confidence, filing volumes and broader IPO momentum are likely to stay elevated into 2026,” he told ET. The fundraising numbers reflect the same optimism. According to Agarwal, main-board IPO issuances have already crossed last year’s milestone of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, and the month has only just begun.
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