Mild recession forecast in UK, as trade deals with Australia and New Zealand worry farmers – as it happened

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• UK's post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand kick in
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The drop in euro zone inflation seen in regional data over the past two days has been bigger than forecast and point in the direction of a continued slowdown in price growth, European Central Bank Vice President Luis de Guindos says.

The data that we received yesterday and today is positive," de Guindos told a news conference this morning.

Clearly the decline has been bigger than what was discounted by analysts and I think that is positive news."

The news we are receiving now is positive and goes in the direction of an important decline in headline inflation."

The second quarter got off to a poor start in France, with household consumption falling for the third consecutive month in April, and the outlook has been revised downwards. Against a backdrop of falling demand, inflationary pressures are moderating more quickly than expected.