How strong is the UK recovery? GDP figures are due this week and a survey by employers association, the CBI, suggests the outlook is “exceptionally strong” but is the growth largely based on foreign investment in housing, especially in London?

Chair of Saxo Bank Capital Markets, Nick Beecroft, believes we’re seeing a broad based recovery in the UK. He cites evidence of increased investment and a series of indicators which show confidence returning to British business.

Can the Bank of England resist the temptation to raise rates with a recovery underway? The Bank’s governor certainly seems to be one of the leading ‘doves’ right now. Unemployment has dipped just below seven percent, which had been a rate rising trigger, until ‘forward guidance’ was revised. The Bank’s inflation target remains two percent with the latest CPI at one point six percent.