(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors)On a thin day for corporate news the Times has been forced to generate its own news lead in the form of a survey of a number of leading economists. The consensus among them is the George Osborne will have to raise taxes if he is to eliminate the budget deficit by 2020. The paper in a separate story in the same paper reveals the Chancellor is in line for a multibillion-pound windfall from Britain's banks as higher interest rates and a stronger economy drive up tax revenues up more quickly than the government is predicting. The Times reveals Schlumberger which has been hammered by falling oil and gas prices and forced to cut 20000 jobs has agreed to pay for 80% of Sound Energy's first appraisal well at Tendrara in Morocco then 75% of the cost of two further wells. Sound will pay the rest. Sticking with the oil theme it's reported that Cairn Energy has sent a letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking to end its US$1.6bn tax battle with the authorities. Meanwhile wealthy buy-to-let landlords could be excluded from the higher rate of stamp duty on second homes under proposals to classify them as 'large scale investors' the Times tells us. The Independent reckons Saudi Arabia is to raise domestic petrol prices by up to 40% as the low oil price hits home. The Telegraph also has a story on OPEC's leading light suggesting it is burning through foreign reserves at an unsustainable rate and may be forced to give up its prized dollar exchange peg. Sticking with the Telegraph and oil paper said Brent crude moved sharply lower on the first day of trading after Christmas as Iran vowed to cut prices and boost production in a global market that is already swamped by oversupply. There is very little to report from the City's paper of record. Its main corporate stories are overseas in flavour. It said the founder and chairman of Hanergy Thin Film a chap called Li Hejun who became one of China's richest men on paper before shares in his solar power group plunged in May has sold a 6% stake in the company at a 95% discount to the last traded price. It means the business is worth less than US$2bn versus its peak market cap of US$40bn. And finally the FT reports James 'Jim Bob' Moffett is stepping down as executive chairman of Freeport-McMoRan capping a year of turmoil at the US copper and oil group after it came under fire from activist investor Carl Icahn and began to restructure in response to a savage commodity price slump.
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