The talks come as the spotlight once again falls on the weaker member countries and whether they can manage their debt without help from European Union (EU) assistance funds, the BBC has reported.
The Irish Republic on Monday insisted it did not need EU help.
But there is intense speculation it may be forced to use EU bail-out money.
Dublin said it was in contact with “international colleagues” but the Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, dismissed talk of a bail-out by the EU or IMF.
Inflation likely to come in over threshold again
Bank Governor Mervyn King is widely expected to write another letter to the Chancellor today explaining why inflation is too high, the Telegraph reported.
Official figures out are expected to show consumer price inflation (CPI) stuck more than a percentage point above the 2% target in October.
The consensus from forecasters is that CPI annual inflation will come in at 3.1% as it did in September, although no one will be very surprised if soaring food and oil prices push it higher.
Policymakers have warned inflation will peak around 3.5% around the coming VAT rise, before dropping back below target due to slack in the economy.
IoD says UK economic growth will fall short of forecasts
Britain’s economy will grow just 1.2% next year, according to the Institute of Directors, well below official forecasts, the Telegraph has reported.
Cutting its growth expectations for 2011 from 1.8%, the trade body said while “too much doom and gloom” surrounds the austerity measures in the Spending Review, there needs to be “greater realism” about weaknesses in the economy.
It believes the recovery is taking the shape of a “square root sign”, representing an uptick followed by flatter growth.
If its analysis is correct, the IoD warned the Chancellor may have to make more cuts or raise taxes to reduce the deficit as planned.
Town halls fear cost of redundancies
Local authorities are warning the government its own rules mean councils will struggle to pay for redundancies that spending cuts are forcing them to make, the Financial Times reported.
About 100,000 local council job losses are expected following last month’s comprehensive spending review, which cut funding to English councils by 26% in real terms over the next four years.
Local authorities had been braced for cuts but had not expected government emphasis on “frontloading”, which requires them to make particularly heavy cuts in the first year, 2011-12.
