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Citigroup has forecast that UK inflation will plunge from the current double-digit rates to close to 2 per cent by the end of this year as rapid falls in gas prices give Rishi Sunak’s government hope of solving some of its biggest economic challenges. Citi said on Wednesday that consumer price inflation was likely to

Russian president Vladimir Putin has defended his decision to invade Ukraine, which he said he was forced into to protect Russia from what he described as western threats. In a State of the Union address to Russia’s elite, Putin said he had ordered the invasion to “protect Russia and liquidate the neo-Nazi threat” from Ukraine’s

US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday in a dramatic show of American commitment to Ukraine ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia’s invasion. His visit, shrouded in secrecy owing to security concerns, comes at a pivotal moment in the war as Ukraine is gearing up for a Russian

Investors are piling into high-quality corporate bonds this year at a record rate, reflecting their enthusiasm for an asset class that is typically seen as relatively low risk but now offers the best returns in years. A total of $19bn has poured into funds which buy investment grade corporate debt around the world since the

The White House will next week hold secret talks with Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu and national security adviser Wellington Koo as part of a special diplomatic dialogue intended to remain private to avoid sparking an angry reaction from China. Five people familiar with the secret talks — known as the “special channel” — said

Rishi Sunak has launched a high-stakes gamble to seal a deal with Brussels over Northern Ireland, making a surprise visit to Belfast as Tory Eurosceptics warned he was going too far to accommodate the EU. The UK prime minister is seeking to win backing from Northern Irish parties for an outline deal with the EU

Centrica insisted that Britain’s cost of living crisis could not be solved by one company alone as it sought to defend a more than threefold rise in operating profits to a record £3.3bn for 2022. The forecast-beating results prompted Centrica to announce that it would extend a £250mn share buyback programme launched in November —

UK inflation slowed by more than expected to a five-month low in January, adding to growing evidence that price pressures have peaked. The annual rate of consumer price inflation declined to 10.1 per cent in January, the Office for National Statistics said on Wednesday, down from 10.5 per cent in December. Inflation hit a high

UK wage growth accelerated more than expected in the three months to December but remained below inflation, according to official statistics that will be closely watched by the Bank of England ahead of its next interest rate decision. Growth in average regular pay, excluding bonuses, rose to an annual rate of 6.7 per cent in

One of the UK pension industry’s biggest asset managers abandoned mark-to-market pricing on funds reeling from the country’s government bond crisis last year, instead choosing higher values that presented a rosier picture of its position. The highly unusual and previously unreported move by Insight Investment came at the height of the September crisis that began

A Deutsche Bank probe into the mis-selling of risky foreign exchange derivatives in Spain has found that staff acted disingenuously, exploited flaws in the bank’s controls and broke EU rules, according to people with knowledge of the report. One of the people said employees acted in “bad faith” over years, pushing small and medium sized

Gillian Keegan, UK education secretary, has signalled she will fight any Home Office attempts to cut migration into Britain by driving away overseas students, saying universities were a “hugely valuable” export success. Keegan, in an interview with the Financial Times, said she wanted to build on the UK’s booming export market in university education, and

The UK economy stagnated in the final quarter of 2022, narrowly avoiding a recession despite output shrinking by more than expected in December. Gross domestic product was unchanged between the third and fourth quarters of 2022, following a contraction in the previous three months, according to data published on Friday by the Office for National

Credit Suisse has reported its biggest annual loss since the 2008 financial crisis, laying bare the scale of the challenge the bank faces in restoring its fortunes. The lender on Thursday reported a SFr1.4bn ($1.5bn) loss for the fourth quarter, as investment banking revenues slumped and clients pulled money from the group’s wealth management business.

President Joe Biden has warned that the US will protect itself if China threatens its sovereignty as he used a joint address to Congress to deliver a defiant message to Beijing and defend his economic record in the White House. “I am committed to work with China where it can advance American interests and benefit

Rescue teams in Turkey and Syria worked through the night in the search for survivors after a powerful earthquake devastated towns and cities across the region, leaving almost 5,000 people dead and more than 20,000 wounded. On Tuesday, authorities were pulling people out of the rubble in a race against time and freezing temperatures in

Beijing on Monday stepped up its condemnation of Washington’s decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon that traversed American airspace, accusing the US of dealing a “serious blow” to relations. Vice-minister of foreign affairs Xie Feng lodged a formal protest with the US embassy in Beijing in which he came close to accusing Washington of

Beijing has lashed out at the US decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon that flew across North America this week, accusing the Biden administration of “seriously violating international conventions”. The Chinese foreign ministry said it “repeatedly” told the US the balloon was for “civilian use” and had entered American airspace by accident due to

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has cancelled his weekend visit to China after the Pentagon said it discovered a Chinese spy balloon that has been flying over sensitive nuclear missile sites in the western state of Montana. The top US diplomat had been set to travel to Beijing where he had been expected to

Apple posted a decline in quarterly revenues for the first time in three-and-a-half years after “significant” supply chain disruptions in China delayed deliveries of iPhones during the important holiday period. The worse than expected performance highlighted Apple’s dependence on China for manufacturing and came after shipments of its high-end iPhones were hit by an outbreak