US markets fell yesterday after minutes from the latest FOMC meeting revealed concern over the impact of further QE, while disappointing housing data also hit shares.

Chancellor George Osborne has ordered the Treasury to draw up plans for a mass give-away of RBS shares to taxpayers by the next election in 2015, according to reports.

Lord Myners, the former City Minister, has condemned lobbying of the government by the financial services industry, which has made fund managers rich at the expense of companies.

A group of MPs has criticised government attempts to stimulate the economy, including quantitative easing, for being "expensive experiments".

Stephen Hester, chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland(RBS), mounted a strong defence of his bonus package to MPs yesterday, despite mounting criticism of the bank's involvement in the LIBOR scandal under his watch.

Economic output per person in the UK will not recover to its pre-crisis peak until 2018, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

The FTSE 100 rose 6.43% or 379.07 points in January, making this the strongest start to a year since 1989.

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European Central Bank policymaker Jens Weidmann has warned that putting pressure on central banks to pursue more aggressive monetary policies could spark 'currency wars' in the future.

The Bank of Japan(BoJ) has taken more aggressive measures to kick-start growth than analysts expected by doubling its inflation target from 1% to 2% and pledging to pump billions of yen into the economy.