A ninth interest rate hike in a row by the Bank of England looks to be a foregone conclusion on Thursday and investors will be looking for clues on how many more will be needed with the economy sliding into recession but inflation still above 10%, Reuters reported. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has faced both encouraging and worrying news on the economy since a majority voted in early November to raise rates by 0.75 percentage point, the biggest hike since 1989.

England and Wales saw a 21% annual rise in the number of company insolvencies last month and the second-highest monthly total in figures going back to 2019, published a day after the Bank of England said businesses were coming under increased pressure, Reuters reported. Some 2,029 registered companies in England and Wales were declared insolvent in November, second only to the number in March, when pandemic-related protections against court orders ended.

Britain’s inflation rate eased away from a 41-year high on Wednesday, but the slowdown brings only limited relief to a nation gripped by a deep cost-of-living crisis, the New York Times reported. Consumer prices in Britain rose 10.7 percent in November from a year earlier, bringing the rate of inflation down slightly from 11.1 percent in October, which was the highest annual rate since 1981, the Office for National Statistics said.

The Bank of England warned on Tuesday about "significant pressure" on households and businesses due to higher inflation and borrowing costs, but said they were more resilient than before the global financial crisis, Reuters reported. The BoE has previously flagged that Britain was entering a lengthy recession, and with inflation at a 41-year high and a sharp rise in interest rates over the past year, government forecasters have predicted a record squeeze on living standards.

Investment funds and other non-bank financial institutions face their first 'stress test' next year to apply lessons from the near-meltdown in Britain's pension fund sector, the Bank of England (BoE) said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The BoE had to step in from September to buy 19.3 billion pounds ($23.75 billion) of government bonds to stabilise markets after turmoil caused by the fiscal plans of Liz Truss's short-lived government. Liability-driven investment (LDI) funds, used by pension funds to ensure their long-term payouts, struggled to meet collateral calls as bond prices tumbled.

Britain’s economy shrank in the three months through October, confirming the toll that rampant inflation and rising interest rates are having on business and industry, the Associated Press reported. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, fell by 0.3% in the period when compared with the three months through July, the Office for National Statistics said Monday.

The British government said Friday it would ease regulatory rules on banks, insurers and investors to bolster London’s status as a global financial hub after its allure was dented by Britain’s departure from the European Union, the Wall Street Journal reported. The U.K. presented a 30 point-plan called the “Edinburgh reforms” that the government hailed as a regulatory fine-tuning to boost the British economy, which has suffered a severe slowdown in recent years and is entering a recession.

The Bank of England looks set to raise interest rates to 3.5% or more next week, but policymakers appear increasingly split on how much tightening is needed to tame double-digit inflation as the economy heads into recession, Reuters reported. Last month BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said further rate rises were likely to be necessary, though fewer than financial markets had priced in before that meeting, when investors were betting rates would reach 5.25% in mid-2023.

England's Rugby Football Union (RFU) has rejected applications by the administrators of Wasps and Worcester seeking to prevent the automatic relegation of both clubs, saying the COVID-19 pandemic was not the primary reason for their financial woes, Reuters reported. Wasps and Worcester, who have both been suspended for going into administration, will now drop from the top-flight Premiership to the second-tier Championship in the 2023-24 season.