Papers

The Government is to support calls for reforms of sovereign wealth funds, chancellor Alistair Darling indicated yesterday, marking a major departure from his previous laissez-faire attitude toward the state-controlled funds that have become aggressive...

India's stock market plummeted 9.2% today after market regulators said it may introduce investment controls that would restrict the inflow of capital from overseas funds, The Times reports.

New figures from the Treasury showing a bigger-than-expected budget deficit this year and next could turn out to be a lot worse than feared if the turmoil in financial markets lasts, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said yesterday, The Guardian reports....

Andy Hornby, the boss of Britain's biggest mortgage lender HBOS, predicted yesterday a "fundamental shift" in the lending markets that will leave homeowners paying considerably more for new loans than they have in recent years, The Independent reports....

The future of Northern Rock remains in the balance, with reports over the weekend suggesting that private equity groups had been given a "green light" by the Treasury to take on the stricken mortgage bank's assets," The Independent reports.

Threats that the economy will be in the grip of a deepening downturn before the end of the year are mounting, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said yesterday, The Times reports.

Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, today launches an attack on banks for lending too freely and allowing consumer debt to spiral to record levels, The Daily Telegraph reports.

With the credit crunch entering its toughest week yet, concerns are growing about the division of UK banking regulation between the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority, The Independent reports.

Barclays is offering to underwrite the $1bn rescue of another highly geared fund that got into trouble because of the liquidity squeeze, The Times reports.

The European Central Bank (ECB) today acted to inject liquidity into the eurozone money markets, offering to lend funds to financial institutions at an interest rate of just 4 per cent, according to The Times .