Economic Outlook

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% for the 41st consecutive month and kept its bond-purchase target at £375bn.

Capital Economics expects the Bank of England to cut the UK's base rate from 0.5% in an effort to stimulate growth, after last week's GDP figure showed the economy is shrinking faster than feared.

Sentiment among UK and European financial advisers has fallen to its lowest level in 12 months, according to a recent global report.

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) measure of inflation fell to 2.4% in June, from 2.8% in May, official figures show.

The Bank of England (BoE) has extended its quantitative easing programme by £50bn, in a bid to get the UK economy out of recession.

The UK economy shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter, the final official reading has confirmed.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted five to four to maintain quantitative easing (QE) at £325bn this month, overruling the governor and three colleagues who called for further expansion.

The UK narrowly escaped a double-dip recession by posting slight growth in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest monthly GDP estimate from NIESR.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has resisted calls for further quantitative easing after leaving its programme of stimulus unchanged, with interest rates also kept on hold.

Confidence in the financial services industry has dramatically improved in the last quarter, with life insurers and investment managers "particularly bullish", a poll shows.