Inflation

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) once again voted unanimously to maintain interest rates at 0.5% and keep the quantitative easing (QE) programme at £275bn in January, despite fears inflation may fall below target levels.

Bank of England governor Mervyn King last night backed calls for limits on boardroom pay, in a speech in which he also said the UK's economic recovery would be "arduous" and hinted at a further round of quantitative easing.

Steve Gibson, portfolio manager of the Fidelity Multi Manager Balanced fund, explains how he is preparing his portfolio for a tough year ahead for investment returns.

Fears of a period of prolonged inflation are "unfounded", Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Adam Posen said, after UK inflation dropped sharply.

UK CPI inflation fell from 4.8% in November 2011 to 4.2% last month, the equal largest drop since December 2008, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has held fire on its quantitative easing (QE) programme and kept interest rates at their historical low of 0.5%.

AXA Investment Managers' Richard Marwood says understanding how asset classes react differently to various market conditions is the key to real portfolio diversification.

Members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to hold rates at their historic low and maintain the quantitative easing (QE) programme at £275bn - but they indicated more QE could be on the way.

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.