Good morning. Today, I report on rising concerns about Russian meddling in Moldova’s EU membership referendum, and reveal that the first EU-UK summit is being pencilled in for the first half of next year.

Have a great weekend.

Hybrid threats

Russia is attempting to derail Moldova’s EU membership bid through a hybrid pressure campaign targeting a referendum in three weeks on its accession ambitions, its pro-European government has warned.

Context: Moldova formally began EU accession talks in June. On October 20, the country will hold a referendum on whether to enshrine EU aspirations in the country’s constitution.

President Maia Sandu is leading the “yes” campaign, and a group of five Russia-affiliated opposition parties — including one run by fugitive pro-Kremlin oligarch Ilan Shor — are campaigning against; and calling for geopolitical alignment with Moscow instead.

That “no” campaign is benefiting from some €100mn that Moldova’s security services say is being funnelled into the country by Russia to support pro-Russian political groups and influence campaigns, and widespread disinformation on social media.

“Russia’s hybrid attacks aren’t a new chapter for Moldova; what’s unprecedented is their intensity, marked by a diverse arsenal of tactics and a massive influx of dirty money,” said Stanislav Secrieru, Moldova’s national security adviser.

Russia is “proliferating clone parties and candidates across the political spectrum, from pro-Russian to self-styled independents and fake pro-European actors, all designed to keep Moldova stuck in a grey zone”, Secrieru said. “With their ‘not now’ messaging, they know that Moldova’s window of opportunity won’t remain open forever, and their ultimate goal is to derail our EU accession.”

The US, UK and Canada in June warned that Moscow was trying to meddle in Moldovan politics and warned Russia would seek to incite mass protests if its campaign fails.

“These Russian proxies are already laying the groundwork to claim elections are fraudulent. Their objective is clear: sow doubt about the legitimacy of the electoral process to create chaos,” said Secrieru.

But Moldovan officials say there is one silver lining: Moscow’s increased intensity related to the referendum has come with a fall in Russian activity opposing Sandu’s re-election campaign. Citizens will vote in the presidential election on the same day as the referendum, and officials link Russia’s falling interest in that vote to Sandu’s now strong polling lead.

“Our conclusion is that they have realised there’s not a lot of point trying to campaign against her,” said a senior Moldovan official. “So that’s one positive.”

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Friends reunited

EU and UK officials are discussing holding their first joint summit since Britain left the bloc in the first half of next year, according to people briefed on the preparations, in a move to solidify the “reset” of relations between Brussels and London.

Context: The UK left the EU in 2020. Britain’s Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to build better post-Brexit relations than his Conservative predecessors. The EU regularly holds summits with third countries such as India or China; or groups of countries, such as with the Gulf Cooperation Council next month.

The planned UK summit would take place during Poland’s rotating presidency of the EU, but would be held in Brussels, two of the people said.

The talks come as Starmer prepares to visit Brussels next week for bilateral talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to “discuss the reset of EU-UK relations”.

Last month Starmer said he was “absolutely clear” about his desire to restore good relations with the EU eight years after the UK voted to leave the union. “That does not mean reversing Brexit or re-entering the single market or the customs union,” he added.

What to watch today

1. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hosts Italian President Sergio Mattarella in Berlin.

2. Pope Francis meets Belgian King Philippe and Prime Minister Alexander De Croo in Brussels.

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HOLIDAYMAKERS have been warned of a looming tourist tax that will see the existing levy raised by 65 percent with the hope of deterring visitors.

The New Zealand government announced in a statement on Tuesday that it has plans to hike up international visitor and conservation fees to force visitors to “contribute to public services”.

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Frequent flyers will need to remember to set aside their savings to ensure they’re not left short for the nation’s entry fee.

Currently, those landing into one of the five international airports across the Māori and English speaking islands contribute NZ$35 towards the “high-quality experiences while visiting”.

However, the government’s announcement confirms that prices will see a 65 percent elevation.

From October 1, tourists will face a NZ$100 tourism fee.

Those boarding from Australia and most Pacific nations will not have to pay the levy which is equivalent to just under £50.

Despite hiking up the cost of the fee, the Tourism Industry Association has confidence that the number of those heading to traverse, bungee or enjoy the incredible scenery on offer will remain consistent.

However, the association’s chief executive, Rebecca Ingram, said: “New Zealand’s tourism recovery [from the Covid-19 pandemic] is falling behind the rest of the world, and this will further dent our global competitiveness.”

The government has backed the decision by suggesting the fee was competitive and would not put tourists off the destination.

Tourism minister, Matt Doocey, explained that the levy was necessary to ensure “international visitors contribute to high-value conservation areas and projects, such as supporting biodiversity in national parks.”

Last year, more than 3.2 million tourists headed to the nation known for offering thrill-seekers ample dare-devil experiences alongside wineries, Hobbiton set tours, active volcanoes and even the Fergburger – if you know, you know.

However, data from Stats NZ last week revealed that visitor numbers are only around 80% of the level before the border closed for the pandemic.

NZ Airports chief executive, Billie Moore, said: “It is a triple-whammy for our sector, which is trying to work hard for New Zealand’s economic recovery.”

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Shigeru Ishiba will become the next prime minister of Japan after winning the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic party in a closely contested run-off vote on Friday.

As president of the LDP the 67-year-old former defence and agriculture minister will succeed Fumio Kishida after a parliamentary vote on October 1.

Ishiba’s campaign proposals included the creation of an “Asian Nato” to counter the rise of China.

His victory came at the expense of Sanae Takaichi, a hardline conservative, whom he beat in a second-round run-off on Friday. LDP MPs and party representatives from Japan’s 47 prefectures voted.

Takaichi received 194 votes to Ishiba’s 215, narrowly missing the chance to become Japan’s first female prime minister.

This is a developing story

A SUPERMARKET’s own-label baked beans have beaten family-favourite brands including Heinz and Branston in a taste test.

The favourite cupboard staple was ranked top by a team of 66 testers, put together by consumer experts Which?.

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The panel ranked 10 variations of baked beans from top supermarkets including Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, as well brands Branston and Heinz.

Each was given a score out of 100 based on 50% flavour, 20% appearance, 20% aroma and 10% texture.

In the final scores, there was less than 10% between the winner and lowest scorer.

However, the top spot was taken by Aldi Bramwell’s Baked Beans, with an overall score of 76%.

The panel thought the beans looked good, had an appealing aroma, and three-quarters said the strength of flavour was perfect.

Just behind with a score of 75% was Branstons Baked Beans.

The panel said these beans looked appetising and the strength of flavour satisfied seven 70% tasters. The level of sweetness was enjoyed by a similar number of tasters.

In third and fourth spots were the Co-Op’s Baked Beans and Asda’s Baked Beans, with scores of 74% and 73%, respectively.

Heinz Beanz was voted into fifth place with an overall score of 72%.

The panel thought the big brand beans looked good and had a pleasing texture, but the aroma was less well liked than others, and just over a third (35%) thought the sauce was too thin. 

If you get through two tins per week, switching from Heinz beans to Aldi’s offering could save you over £100 per year, as a year’s supply of Aldi baked beans comes in at £42.64 versus £145.60 for Heinz – a £103 saving.

The overall scores were close, but there were bigger variations on individual parts of the scoring.

For example, M&S Baked Beans had a score of 67%, but less than half (45%) were satisfied with the strength of flavour, while a third wanted them to be sweeter. 

Aldi and Branston have now both earned Which?’s Best Buy  endorsement and Aldi also has the Great Value backing too.

Lidl‘s own-label items are usually included on taste tests, but the supermarket told Which? there is variation in the product recipe due to dual supply, so it wasn’t tested this time.

Natalie Hitchins, Which? head of home products and services, said: “Baked beans are a staple for many households and our results show you don’t have to pay a premium for the best taste.

“Choosing supermarket own-label groceries is not only a great way to save money, but our tests prove that you can end up with a better tasting product and can save over £100 a year by making the switch.”

The Sun team has recently taste tested tinned pasta and boxed wines.

Owning a home in Beijing should have been a profitable investment for Zhang, a 32-year-old consultant. But the Chinese property market’s years-long collapse has meant he is “definitely losing money”. Asked if this week’s bumper stimulus measures would restore his faith in the Chinese economy, he was clear: “Absolutely not.”

The package — Beijing’s biggest since the pandemic — includes billions of dollars from the central bank to support the stock market, policy rate cuts, measures to boost bank liquidity and efforts to stabilise China’s prolonged property crisis, including a 50-basis point interest rate cut for mortgage holders such as Zhang.

This was followed by one of the most forceful statements on Thursday from China’s politburo, which held what analysts called an “emergency” meeting on the economy and announced that it would intensify fiscal spending to support growth.

The combination supercharged markets, putting Chinese stocks on track for their best week since 2008.

“We were . . . surprised by the pace of the policy shift,” said Robin Xing, Morgan Stanley’s chief Asia economist, who anticipated this would be the first in a long cycle of policies to reflate the economy.

But the plight of people such as Zhang shows the scale of Beijing’s challenge as it seeks to reignite consumer confidence in the world’s second-largest economy.

The three-year housing slump, triggered by a crackdown by Beijing on real estate leverage and accompanied by other crackdowns on industries ranging from ecommerce to online education and finance, has hit household confidence. Combined with industrial oversupply and soaring debt levels, analysts warn China risks descending into a deflationary spiral.

Despite China’s booming exports, which are helping to sustain GDP growth, industrial profits for large companies fell nearly 18 per cent year on year in August. This was partly because of “insufficient effective market demand”, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

In the domestic economy, the lack of confidence is evident everywhere. Retail sales are up less than 1 per cent since the start of the year in seasonally adjusted terms, research group Gavekal estimated, while consumer prices are flirting with deflation, youth unemployment is up and tax revenue and expenditure fell in August.

The monetary policy package, which was announced by central bank governor Pan Gongsheng on Tuesday flanked by financial sector regulators, contained powerful support for the stock market, including swaps to help brokers, funds and insurance companies increase their stock market holdings and funds for companies to undertake share buybacks.

The central bank also cut the benchmark short-term rate by 20 basis points and slashed the level of reserves that banks must hold, freeing up about Rmb1tn ($143bn) for lending.

The easing signals sent global markets higher and cheered trading partners. “We are very pleased to see these additional steps,” said Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers during a visit to Beijing on Friday. He pointed to Australian treasury forecasts that China, Australia’s largest trading partner, was facing its weakest three years of growth since the 1970s. Shares in Australia’s Fortescue, the iron ore miner, gained 5 per cent, while BHP and Rio Tinto rose 3 per cent on Friday.

“[Weak] growth in the Chinese economy has been a key contributor to weakness in the global economy,” he said.

But economists were concerned that, with the exception of the mortgage rate cut, there was not enough help for households. Cuts to bank deposit rates will hit broader household incomes.

“Probably Beijing will need to deliver some more concrete programmes over the next few weeks to reassure the market that there is more money being put to use to help consumers maintain their spending power,” said Fred Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC. “You need to have monetary easing, but you also need to provide a demand boost by fiscal means.”

“These monetary policies themselves are not going to change the game,” said Andrew Tilton, chief Asia-Pacific economist at Goldman Sachs. “But they send a message that the top leadership is looking to stabilise things.” 

President Xi Jinping sought to strengthen that message through the politburo meeting statement, which tempered the government’s usual optimism on the economy with a more solemn tone. 

“Some new situations and problems have emerged in the current economic operation,” the statement said. “We must . . . face up to difficulties.”

Economists believe a pledge in the statement to intensify “countercyclical adjustment of fiscal and monetary policies” through the issue of long-term special treasury bonds and local government special bonds could mean more fiscal stimulus is on the way, with some going to consumers.

Goldman Sachs said this could take the form of an extra Rmb1tn-Rmb2tn in ultra-long central government sovereign bond issues.

Morgan Stanley’s Xing agreed that the government might widen its budget deficit this year by up to Rmb2tn to fuel social welfare spending or debt reduction.

But this would still be short of the Rmb10tn in fiscal stimulus Xing and other economists believe will be needed over two years to fully reflate the economy. “We’re not there yet,” Xing said.

For China’s long-suffering homeowners, help cannot come soon enough.

“I don’t feel optimistic,” said another Beijing homeowner who asked not to be identified. “Prices are dropping, so no one is buying or selling. I don’t know how they [the government] can solve this problem.”

Additional reporting by Nian Liu in Beijing and Nic Fildes in Sydney

AS we head into October and the temperature drops, many of us are thinking about putting the heating on and preparing for winter.

But several key financial changes this month, including higher energy bills thanks to a new energy price cap, mean we need to keep an eye on our cash, too.

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The next 31 days are very busy from a monetary perspective, with everything from the first Labour government’s Budget – where it will announce new money and tax policies – to the last days to take advantage of supermarket Christmas savings schemes.

Fortunately, we’ve rounded up all the important deadlines you need to be aware of, as well as anything you need to do.

October 1 – Energy price cap

Every three months, energy regulator Ofgem sets its new price cap. This is the maximum that people on variable tariffs can be charged per unit of energy.

The next cap kicks in on October 1.

From that date until the end of the year, a typical household using both electricity and gas and paying by direct debit will see their energy costs rise by £149 per annum.

This is a 10% increase, which means an extra £12 added to the average monthly bill.

However, the new cap is 6% cheaper than this time last year, saving you about £117 compared to last year’s price of £1,834. 

Your bill will vary based on how much energy you use, where you live, and what kind of meter you have.

So, while the new headline cap is around £1,717, this can vary depending on whether you use more or less energy than a typical household.

You can find more details about the new price cap here, including costs per unit of energy and when to take a meter reading.

October 1 – Ofcom new rules for phone providers

Starting from October 1, new rules from the communications regulator, Ofgem, will help mobile phone users avoid surprise charges when using their phones abroad. 

The new rules require mobile providers to inform customers when they start roaming and to protect them from accidental roaming, which happens when you unintentionally connect to another country’s network while travelling near a border. 

They will also need tell you about spending caps and direct you to free information about roaming costs in your current location.

You can read more about the legislation and what it means for you in our round up here.

October 5 – deadline to register for self-assessment

If you need to do a self-assessment tax return for the first time this year, you must register by October 5. 

Reasons you might need to self-assess include if you’ve become self-employed, if your side hustle earned you more than £1,000 in a tax year, if you need to pay the high-income child benefit charge, if you’ve made money from savings and investments, or if you’ve started earning more than £150,000.

If any of these things happened to you between April 6, 2023 and April 5, 2024, then you must register.

Failure to do so may mean you cannot file your return and pay on time, which could lead to a hefty fine.

Find out exactly what you need to do and how to register in our guide. Applying is quick and easy using the Government’s online tool. 

October 7 – Fraud APP rules

Starting from this month, people who fall victim to Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams will be able to get as much as £415,000 back from their banks. 

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is now requiring financial institutions to pay back scam victims, which is a change from the previous system where reimbursement was voluntary.

The rule change has also put more onus on the banks that receive APP fraud money as they will be responsible for repaying half.

Victims need to let their banks know about the scam within 13 months and provide any information the bank needs to investigate. 

Learn more about the new rules here.

October 16 – inflation figures announced

On October 16, we find out the inflation rate for September, which is very important for a two key reasons. 

First, it helps decide how much the State Pension will go up by from April next year as part of the Government’s triple-lock promise.

The triple lock ensures the State Pension rises each year in line with inflation, average earnings of 2.5% – whichever is highest. 

Second, it affects how much benefits, like Universal Credit, and Tax Credits for working age people, will increase by from next year.

October 4 – Winter Fuel Payment phone applications open

From this date, the Winter Fuel Payment Centre will accept phone claims from people who are eligible to receive the payment for the first time.

This year, only people who claim Pension Credit and certain other benefits will be eligible, so check if you could benefit.

You can call the Winter Fuel Payment Centre on 0800 731 0160.

October 16 – Last day for Tesco Christmas Clubcard Saver

Tesco’s Clubcard Christmas Saver lets customers save money and earn bonuses.

How much you get depends on what you save, and to get the maximum amount of £12 you need to stash away at least £200.

In November, customers will get vouchers matching the value of the money saved and any bonuses received.

These can then be used during the Christmas season, either in stores, online, or through the Tesco Grocery & Clubcard app.

You can also use them for fuel at Tesco and Esso stations with Tesco Express. 

The last day to add qualifying savings is October 17, 2024.

The Clubcard and top-up vouchers are good for 2 years, while the bonus vouchers are good for 3 months.

Find out more about supermarket saver schemes and their pitfalls here. 

October 30 – Budget (also called Autumn Statement)

On October 30, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, will give her first Budget.

This is when the government’s shares updates on its tax and spending plans – which could impact your finances.

At this time of year it would normally be called an Autumn Statement, but as it is the new government’s first, it is being called a formal Budget.

Ms Reeves has already warned that there will be tax rises, which experts speculate could include changes to inheritance tax, pensions rules, capital gains tax, and even fuel duty. 

This is to plug a £22billion “black hole” in the country’s finances, Ms Reeves has said.

You can read more about what changes are expected here. 

October 31 – deadline for paper tax returns

Around half a million people still fill in a paper tax return each year. If you’re one of them, you need to hand it in by October 31.

If you want to do an online return instead you have until January 31.

Missing both deadlines means a fine, and if you don’t pay up on time, you’ll have to pay interest and further fines.

October 31 – Last chance to buy Morrisons Christmas saver stamps

The Morrisons Christmas saver scheme gives you a bonus for the money you save.

The maximum bonus is £6 if you save £197 through the programme.

To earn the extra cash, you need to make sure your savings are in your account by October 31. 

Christmas Saver stamps bought after that date will count towards your savings for Christmas 2025.

Once you’ve saved your money and received your bonus, you’ll get a voucher that you can use to shop in-store or online.

Read more about the downfalls of saver schemes and how to avoid them here.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

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