Interest rates

Voters enraged with austerity measures are preparing to vote again in June as Greece’s president looks set to fail in his eleventh hour bid to cobble together a coalition government.

JPMorgan’s admission that it lost $2bn in six weeks sends bank stocks tumbling. If America’s most profitable investment bank can admit sloppy trading, what on earth are the lesser banks up to?

Greece’s two main parties – PASOK and New Democracy – were expected to incur huge losses when polls closed Sunday night as their popularity plunges to lows not seen since the 1974.

Businesses with a turnover of less than £50m will receive cheaper loans under a government scheme which guarantees £20bn of loans from major high street banks.

Lower electricity and gas bills help drive down the overall rate of inflation to a 15-month low with the consumer prices index (CPI) rate dipping to 3.4 per cent.

With mortgage costs rising for 850,000 borrowers, housing campaigners are warning that poverty and homelessness are set to increase.

A third of high streets are “degenerating or failing”, according to a government commissioned review by TV retail expert Mary Portas.

The Bank of England resists further emergency action despite fears that the economy will go into reverse by the end of the year.

With Silvio Berlusconi’s future in doubt, Channel 4 News looks at whether Italy is too big to bail out.

Inflation matched its record high last month. The consumer prices index (CPI) rose from 4.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent.

With inflation rising to match record highs, Channel 4 News looks at the effect on the economy and consumer and considers if there are any reasons to be cheerful.

The Governor of the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King says this is the ‘biggest financial crisis’ the world has ever faced as the bank increases its quantitative easing programme to £275bn.

In his address to the Conservative Party conference, Chancellor George Osborne returns to his theme of unity in the face of international economic adversity – but rules out early tax cuts.

After partially recovering in early trading, shares in markets across Europe have fallen by between 1.5 per cent and 2.5 per cent, with the FTSE slumping below the 5000 mark.