Debt management companies are expecting a surge of calls for assistance once the New Year celebrations are over, as figures from the Insolvency Service show a sharp increase in a scheme known as a Debt Relief Orders. Though inflation has been easing and economists expect it to continue to fall next year, analysis from the financial research company Defaqto shows less than one per cent of savings accounts provide a real return when inflation and tax is taken into account

In Japan, Police have raided the headquarters of the camera maker, Olympus after the company admitted it had covered up losses of around a billion pounds. More than a quarter of a million people are to spend their second Christmas on the dole according to the Trades Union Congress. There are signs that all is not well in the 'I' of the BRIC countries - India

The government's cracking down on credit and debit card surcharges, which it says are all too often "excessive, opaque" and "misleading". After much wrangling US politicians have struck a deal to extend a payroll tax cut to around 160 million workers; is it another sign of the American economy getting back on its feet? And will the busiest shopping day of the year be enough to pull some retailers back from the brink?

We get the third revision of how the British economy has performed in the third quarter of 2011. Sales of homes may rise a little over the coming year but prices will struggle to follow suit, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors Housing Market Forecast published today

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander will update the Commons on public sector pensions negotiations later today.

Markets are nervous as yet another euro zone rescue package seems to be unravelling. More companies are closing their final salary pension schemes, and things look set to get even worse for their employees

The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, thinks we are at risk of repeating the mistakes of the 1930s. What will happen to the housing market in 2012?

This morning we'll be hearing the latest round of unemployment figures from the Office For National Statistics.

David Cameron will today explain his decision to veto European Union treaty changes. The Financial Services Authority report on the collapse of the Royal Bank of Scotland three years ago is released today. Massive cuts to solar feed in tariffs took effect at midnight.

The European Central Bank is expected to announce whether it will take a bigger role as an emergency lender. Nick Clegg wants to use British cities to help rebalance the economy away from the Square Mile