helped to slow down the rate of price increases for non food products, which eased injanuary down from over 3% in december. i m joined now by shanti kelemen, chief investment officer at m&g wealth. good morning. this isjust what we want to hear before the bank of england has its first meeting of 2024, which happens on thursday. meeting of 2024, which happens on thursday- on thursday. yes, we will have a decision on thursday. yes, we will have a decision from on thursday. yes, we will have a decision from them - on thursday. yes, we will have a decision from them on - a decision from them on interest rates, wiley expected to keep rates unchanged and thatis to keep rates unchanged and that is positive news for inflation and a prices, on the other side we do have the economy still not in a recession and wage growth has been pretty strong. there are some factors balancing inflation, thinking it might not be a sharp drop in the next few months. to not be a sharp drop in the
this. is this what you were expecting? this. is this what you were meeting? this. is this what you were exectinu ? ~ , expecting? well, it did seem like the company expecting? well, it did seem like the company was - expecting? well, it did seem| like the company was coming expecting? well, it did seem i like the company was coming to the end of its road. it has been 1.5 years. the chairman was placed under investigation by mainland law enforcement authorities so it did look like the company was really struggling to come up with any kind of thing acceptable to the creditors. ., ~ , kind of thing acceptable to the creditors. . ~ , ., ., creditors. talk us through what ha ens creditors. talk us through what happens nova creditors. talk us through what happens now. for creditors. talk us through what happens now. for those - creditors. talk us through what happens now. for those that i creditors. talk us through what. happens now. for those that are owed a lot of money, wh
interest payments some of which are linked to inflation. let s get this in perspective though the uk s national debt is at record levels. it owes £2.69 trillion. that is almost the size of the uk economy the so called debt to gdp ratio is around 97.7%. that is a useful guide to how affordable the debt is for a country. the chancellor has pledged to get that ratio down. the uk s far better off than some of its neighbours though italy s debt to gdp is around 140%. but if we look at germany s that s is only around 65%. but if we look at germany s that s only around 65%. staying in the uk where aside from talk of potential tax cuts there are stark warnings that 2 million people could have their gas and electricity cut off this winter because they can t afford to top up their prepayment meter. that comes from the charity the citizens advice bureau as cost of living pressure continue to bite for many. joining me now is the report author alex belsham harris en
the eu has moved closer to passing one of the world s first loss to control artificial intelligence. eu lawmakers agreed on wednesday to changes in draught artificial intelligence rules proposed by the european commission in a bid to set a global standard for a technology used everything from automated factories to self driving cars to chatbots. let s get more in this and speak to the independent tech analyst stephanie here, he will speak to me now. what is this legislation trying to lay down for al developers? it is massive. i ai developers? it is massive. i don t think we can underestimate the importance of this legislation, which was just the first step, they have a few more to go. we would expect this to pass by the end of the year, so there ai developers you have mentioned by plenty of time to get up to speed. what do they need to get up to speed with? that is the devil any detail as always. the really big one will be about the police use of things like real time biometr
apparently minutes before a crash in which two teenagers died, leading to riots. police investigating the disappearance of madeleine mccann begin searching a reservoir in portugal. in sydney tens of thousands fill a stadium to see india s prime minister, narendra modi, addressing a rally. a bbc investigation finds some vapes confiscated in schools contain lead and other metals. the rmt union have announced that london underground workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of extending their mandate to continue to take strike action, this is in the long running dispute overjobs and pensions and conditions, so that is london underground workers voting to extend their strike action so there could be more pain ahead for commuters. another story we are following in the algarve, the search is continuing this is the long running investigation into the disappearance of madeleine mccann. this is a dam which is 50 kilometres away from where the british title i missing 16 years ago.