Bank of England

Migration from new EU member states in Eastern Europe has helped limit inflation in the UK over the past year, according to comments from Bank of England governor Mervyn King.

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has voted to maintain interest rates at their current level of 4.75% for the tenth month in a row.

UK economic growth is set to slow down and business confidence has fallen to its lowest level since October 2003, making a rise in interest rates later this week unlikely, according to a report out today.

House prices have remained virtually unchanged, increasing by an imperceptible 0.3% in May, claims the latest Nationwide House Price Index.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has put pressure on the Bank of England to maintain interest rates at 4.75% following the release of its latest monthly gross mortgage lending figures.

A multi-millionaire businessman who became a Labour minister last week has admitted holding part of his personal fortune in an offshore tax haven which experts say could have helped him avoid £3m in tax, reports this morning's Times.

MORTGAGE LENDERS are priming themselves to cut loan rates this week on the prospect of a future rate cut, saving homeowners with a £150,000 mortgage more than £400 a year, says the Times.

BANKS WILL relax their grip on the first claim for collapsed companies' assets, says this morning's Times, in an attempt to ensure workers and pensioners do not lose their retirement savings.

The Bank of England has kept its interest rates unchanged for the ninth straight month.

Inflationary pressure from the housing market, consumer slowdown and uncertainty surrounding the general election make an interest rate rise in June increasingly likely, according to a new report.