King tipped to provide parting gift for Chancellor

Mervyn King, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, has been tipped to give the Chancellor a helpful boost this week by upgrading growth prospects for the embattled UK economy.

According to a report in the Sunday Times, King's (pictured) final quarterly inflation report as governor of the Bank of England will signal the economy has turned a corner after years of subdued - or declining - growth. Inflation forecasts are also likely to come down, in a move which will be welcomed by struggling households. Data has been picking up recently, suggesting the economy may be healing faster than feared, with the initial estimate of Q1 GDP last month showing a 0.3% expansion. While this is only an early reading and is subject to revisions, both manufacturing and outp...