Economics / Markets

Billionaire investor George Soros has warned the Chancellor's austerity budget will return the UK to recession unless the government curbs its spending cuts.

Martin Weale has called for an immediate 0.25% increase in the Bank of England (BoE) base interest rate, echoing the view of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) hawk Andrew Sentance.

London's leading share index rose this morning, recovering from yesterday's fall following news the UK economy contracted by 0.5% in the fourth quarter of last year.

The auction of €5bn ($4.3bn) of five-year bonds to fund Stage One of the Irish loan package was subject to huge demand from Asian and Middle Eastern investors yesterday.

Bank of England chief Mervyn King said the shock contraction in GDP figures proves the UK recovery will be "choppy" but he appeared to rule out immediate interest rate rises.

Tidjane Thiam, group CEO for Prudential, is to chair the G20 High Level Panel for Infrastructure Investment until the November 2011 G20 Summit.

Attempts by the coalition government to reach an agreement with the UK's biggest banks on the amount they lend to small businesses have stalled.

Kaupthing approved loans worth €2bn (£1.69bn) for Alisher Usmanov, the billionaire behind Arsenal FC, less than two weeks before the Icelandic bank went bust.

Tax bosses are facing an inquiry into how they strike deals with multinationals following accusations that Vodafone was let off a £6bn bill.

London's leading share index was down 0.37% at 5954.39 in early trading on Thursday, stemmed by disappointing results from US companies and weakness in Asia.