The UK government is on course underspend by more than £3bn this year, according to analysis from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS). Despite deep cuts to spending, Whitehall figures show that there is a £2.9bn undershoot, which will reduce the country's total borrowing requirement in 2011-2012.

However,

Greece roundly rejected a German plan, revealed last week, to hand power over the country's budget to the European Union as its failure to push through economic reforms continues to endanger the stability of the eurozone.

That same weekend, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she would be prepared to...

Apple has announced that Dixons chief executive John Browett is to head its global retail operations. Former head Ron Johnson left last summer to take up a role at the US department store chain JC Penney.

“Our retail stores are all about customer service, and John shares that commitment like...

Europe's race towards fiscal integration saw another member drop out on Monday, as the Czech Republic joined the UK on the sidelines of a treaty to enforce tighter economic discipline within the single currency zone.

The 17 countries in the euro, and eight others, agreed to move forward with the...

European leaders were given a glimmer of hope ahead of Monday's summit, as sentiment and demand in the eurozone defied expectations to rise. The flash purchasing managers' index (PMI), an indicator of demand, rose above 50 points in January - the level that typically indicates an expansion.

Consumer and...

RBS is likely to clinch a deal to sell its corporate brokerage arm, Hoare Govett, to the American investment bank Jeffries, on Monday, as the state-owned lender continues to pull back from all but its core banking business, according to analysts.

The unit is small, with less than 100 employees,...

European leaders meet on Monday with enormous questions still hanging over the future of the euro in its current form. Leaders are expected to sign off on permanent crisis mechanisms for the eurozone and on new rules to enshrine budgetary responsibility into national legislation.

However, it is unlikely that Greece...

Britain's current growth crisis is the hangover of a "debt-fuelled binge", Chancellor George Osborne said in an address to UK business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, as he unveiled sweeping new government powers to intervene in the financial sector.

Launching the Financial Services Bill, a...

Pressure is growing on Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Stephen Hester to turn down his six-figure bonus, as politicians and unions line up against the payout. One shareholder, Paul Mumford at Cavendish Asset Management, has a different answer to the £963,000 question.

"Is he actually doing a good job,...

European leaders have gathered in Davos for the World Economic Forum, and have been talking tough on Greece, as the country's attempts to fix its broken economy appear to be failing, and as international institutions and investors intensify calls for more money to be poured into the eurozone's...

The Bank of England may be preparing to print even more money before the spring in a bid to pull the UK economy back into growth, according to analysts.

The minutes of the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC from its meeting earlier in January show that policymakers remain concerned about...

Retail sales fell back in January, the Confederation of British Industries (CBI) said, as the malaise on Britain's high streets continued.

There is typically a post-Christmas slump in retail, but this year it was even deeper than usual, the CBI said - with the sector seeing the biggest aggregate...

If a CEO can reverse the fortunes of a loss-making, state-owned bank and see some of the profits returned to the taxpayer, just how much does he deserve to be paid?

The Royal Bank of Scotland will decide on Wednesday how much its senior directors are due in bonuses. Stephen...

Blaming the eurozone and the world economy for the UK's economic woes might be wearing thin, as more bad news about the country's growth emerges. Austerity is having an impact. Is it time for a Plan B?

The UK's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.2% in the fourth quarter...

A long-awaited deal to restructure Greece's debt has been rejected by eurozone finance ministers, and the government will now need to return to the negotiating table as it desperately attempts to stave off a sovereign default.

The country has been locked in talks with its private sector creditors, seeking to...

Just 29% of the British public are confident that the UK government is making the right decisions, and 38% trust business, according to research from the public relations firm Edelman, which said that trust in governments and businesses has slumped worldwide.

In the UK there is also a worrying gap...

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has called on European leaders to pour more money into their bailout funds, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Stability Mechanism (ESM).

In a speech to the German Council of Foreign Relations in Berlin, Lagarde asked...

Oil prices rose above $110 per barrel on Monday morning amid an ongoing dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, with Tehran threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to Western sanctions.

The passage of a flotilla of Western warships through the straits marks a further escalation in...

Asda, the supermarket chain owned by US retail giant Walmart, is to invest more than £500m in its UK operations in 2012, opening 25 new stores and creating 5,000 new jobs.

The expansion will add more than 600,000 square feet of retail space, the company said, through a combination of...

Hopes are rising that an agreement to write off large amounts of Greece's debt can be reached in the near term, easing growing concerns in the markets that the country was stumbling towards defaulting on its debts.

Talks between the Greek government and its private sector creditors are...