The Bank of England today gave its biggest signal yet that it is preparing to inject more money into the struggling economy as Britain’s High Street woes deepened.

The vampire squid is thrusting its tentacles back into the eurozone crisis. Goldman Sachs has been hired by the beleaguered Spanish government to examine the books of the part-nationalised lender, Bankia.

The output of factories across the eurozone slumped in March, raising fears that the single currency area might be in a deeper downturn than previously thought.

The British economy is even deeper in recession than first thought thanks to official figures showing that the construction industry suffered a lousy March.

The Bank of England today risked accusations that it was failing to do enough to jump-start the ailing British economy as it declined to resume its monetary stimulus programme.

City economists have given François Hollande the benefit of the doubt, despite lingering fears that the election of the Socialist leader as the president of France could prompt a new downward lurch in the eurozone.

The construction industry continued to expand last month, according to a key industry survey.

The battered Spanish economy has officially slumped back into recession, as figures today showed that the eurozone laggard shrank by 0.3% over the first three months of the year.

A senior UK banking regulator today warned that the new international Basel III rules on bank capital might not be tough enough to avoid a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.

The Office for National Statistics vigorously defended its GDP estimate today from the phalanx of economists who cast doubt on the reliability of the figure.