Retail sales in April were 1.3% lower than in March as bad weather continued to dent spending. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also said retail sales volumes last month were 0.5% higher than a year earlier, much less than expected.

The FTSE 100 company, which was fined �10.5m in April for mis-selling to thousands of customers, also rejected calls to forgo any executive bonuses, instead cutting them by 40pc.

International Monetary Fund predicted the economy would grow 6.75 per cent in the 2013/2014 financial year, driven by gas production and investment.

Tax authorities from the UK, US and Australia are to join together to investigate tax evasion from some of the wealthiest people in the world after receiving huge amounts of data from a whistle-blower.

South African inflation was unchanged in April as a decline in the value of the rand added to the cost of imports, countering the effect of lower international fuel prices.