Economics

The UK economy faces a "triple whammy" of higher inflation, lower growth, and rising unemployment, the Bank of England's chief economist has warned.

The UK Government's net borrowing was £14.5bn in June, marginally below the shortfall of £14.7bn one year earlier but still worse than economists had expected.

The FTSE has plunged into the red as concerns over US economic growth and mixed results from big corporates drove Wall Street into negative territory at the start of trading.

HSBC, Barclays and RBS are among 15 Wall Street banks accused by a US investment firm of mis-selling a total of $2.4bn (£1.6bn) in mortgage-backed securities, reports the Telegraph.

The FTSE has opened trading in positive territory, but fears of a double-dip recession on the back of disappointing US and Chinese economic data still abound.

The FTSE 100 has slipped further into the red in late afternoon trading as disappointing US manufacturing and housing data added to growing concerns of stuttering global growth.

Besieged BP's share price soared 9% this morning as markets weighed up its value as a takeover target as the current oil spill debacle subsides.

The investment management sector is expected to suffer a "sharp contraction" in the next quarter, says the latest CBI survey.

With the BP crisis and a slowing UK economy further compounding an already delicate situation, investors are nervous.

Economic sentiment in Germany slid last week following signs the recovery is slowing, according to the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim.