UK economic outlook ‘very uncertain’, warns Bank of England, as recession fears hit markets –as it happened

Financial Stability Report warns that UK and global economic outlook has deteriorated materially', as pressure builds on households and businesses

The pressure on households will only intensify" through the rest of this year, the boss of Sainsbury's has warned as he said the supermarket would invest 500m in attempting to keep prices low.

The pledge came as the UK's second biggest supermarket, which also owns the Argos and Habitat chains, revealed that sales at established stores fell 4% in the 16 weeks to 25 June compared with the same period a year before and excluding fuel.

Set against ever tightening competitive screws, Sainsbury had its work cut out on any number of fronts going into the statement. And the ferocity of competition in the sector is plain to see.

Against strong comparatives from a partial lockdown last year, each of the main categories have fallen, with Grocery sales down 2.4%, Argos 10.5%, General Merchandise 14.6% and Clothing 10.1%. The picture is marginally better against pre-pandemic sales, although still mixed, with Grocery up 8.7% and Clothing up 3.9%, but Argos down 4.5% and General Merchandise down 13.8%.