ECB

THE BIG QUESTION

EUROPE

Next year should be better. Not a particularly positive opening gambit, but unsurprising in view of current volatility.

Annual eurozone consumer price inflation rose to a 16-month high of 1.5% in April, driven by rising energy prices, according to data released last week by Eurostat.

UK inflation probably accelerated to a three-month high in April as higher energy costs and the weak pound stoked prices enough to prompt a letter of explanation from Bank of England governor Mervyn King.

UK EQUITIES

Election drama and political uncertainty may be exercising the market in the UK, but sharp falls overnight in stock markets round the world were a reaction to a different factor: the surprising complacency demonstrated by the European Central Bank (ECB)...

After the €110bn bailout of Greece on Sunday, Investment Week brings you a timeline of the country's economic turmoil in 2010.

Greece bowed to international pressure last week by formally requesting a bailout from the eurozone member countries and the International Monetary Fund.

Earlier this month the Bank of England announced a halt to its quantitative easing programme. Other central banks also have complex exit strategies to undertake. But how successful has QE been and did it have the desired effects?