Bank of England

Sterling fell against the dollar and the euro after the Bank of England downgraded its economic growth forecast for 2011.

A series of quarter-point interest rate hikes will begin in May, according to analysts examining Bank of England governor Mervyn King's latest obligatory letter to the Chancellor.

The UK inflation rate rose to 4% in January, which is double the government's target and up from 3.7% the previous month.

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% and kept its quantitative easing programme at £200bn.

Banks will reveal salary details of their highest paid staff and lend businesses £190bn this year under Project Merlin, but their top earners will not be hit with a bonus tax, the government said today.

There is a "real chance" the Bank of England will raise interest rates as early as next week, says Skandia, with subsequent hikes pushing rates up to 3% by the end of next year.

Britain could suffer a jobless recovery like the one currently engulfing the US, an Institute for Fiscal Studies' (IFS) economist warns.

The Bank of England topped up Governor Mervyn King's pension pot by £1.4m after deciding to award him an early payout in 2008.

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.

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.