Economics / Markets

The "wrong kind of inflation" will mean the government has to borrow significantly more over the medium term than planned, George Osborne will be forced to admit in the Budget.

Households are suffering their biggest drop in living standards for 30 years, according to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).

The Chancellor will use Wednesday's Budget to announce the biggest clampdown on tax avoidance since 2004, raising twice as much as the £500m a year predicted when the initiative was launched last December.

Financial technology providers 1st Exchange, N4 and Screen Business are to be rebranded as Avelo from 4 April.

Public borrowing is forecast to be lower this year in a sign the government is gaining control of the public finances.

Global markets have been boosted by news of a ceasefire in Libya, rising oil prices and intervention by the G7 nations to suppress the value of the yen.

Japan could need up to five years to recover from up to $235bn (£145bn) worth of damage from the Tohoku earthquake, according to the World Bank.

Europe's biggest banks must fully disclose their exposure to sovereign debts, as part of a new round of stricter stress tests.

The G7 nations are intervening in currency markets for the first time since 2000, on fears a crippled Japanese economy and political upheaval in the Middle East could combine to derail the global recovery.

Riskier assets are delivering a rebound on hopes the Japanese authorities are taking control of the crisis hit country, countering renewed concern about Libya which is again boosting the oil price.