Bank of England

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.

The Bank of England has held interest rates for the 50th month in a row and opted not to increase the size of its QE programme at its May meeting.

The UK may be about to experience its first real property crash, according to Justin Urquhart Stewart, founder of Seven Investment Management (7IM).

George Osborne has said the Bank of England's new Financial Policy Committee must provide "consistent messages" so it does not risk jeopardising the economic recovery.

The UK's stagnating economy avoided a triple-dip recession today after initial estimates showed it expanded 0.3% in the first quarter of 2013.

Mervyn King, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, has warned central banks risk becoming more politicized as a result of their efforts to tackle the banking crisis and subsequent recessions.

GDP data published for Q4 2012 afforded a slightly better perspective on the year as a whole.

FIXED INCOME

The Bank of England has opted not to implement further quantitative easing and held interest rates at 0.5% for the 49th consecutive month.

It is hard not to feel ever so slightly sorry for the pointy heads over at the Bank of England as they contemplate what to do next about the various quantitative easing programmes, including the Funding for Lending scheme.