Economics / Markets

Bank of England chief economist Spencer Dale has predicted inflation will fall to around 3% early next year and is confident the latest round of quantitative easing will prop up the economy.

UK CPI inflation fell from 5% to 4.8% in November, the Office for National Statistics has said, in line with economists' forecasts.

The German central bank told me in no uncertain terms last week it was not printing Deutsche Marks, despite growing speculation - and a number of sources - pointing to the contrary.

Shares tumbled across Europe yesterday and in the US overnight after ratings agency Moody's disclosed fresh concerns over the European sovereign debt crisis and reiterated it would review the ratings of all 27 EU nations in the first quarter of next year....

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Lloyds Banking Group's chief executive António Horta-Osório is having to reapply for his own job as doctors prepare to give him the go-ahead to return to work from sick leave.

Prime minister David Cameron has caused the EU to fracture after refusing to sign up to a new treaty over concerns about financial services regulation.

Shares in European financials have dropped in late trading as the latest European Banking Authority stress tests said the industry must raise €115bn in capital by June 2012.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has once again kept interest rates on hold at 0.5% and left QE unchanged at £275bn, but the European Central Bank has cut rates back to their historic low of 1%.

Standard & Poor's has said it may downgrade the European Union's AAA rating and make further cuts to eurozone banks' credit ratings if a review of eurozone countries prompts mass sovereign downgrades.