Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England (BoE), struck a positive note today in presenting his last Inflation Report as governor, as the forecast for growth was revised up and inflation down for the first time since the global financial crisis.

"Today's projections are for growth to be a little stronger and inflation a little weaker than we expected three months ago," King said. He called it a "welcome change" in the outlook, but cautioned that the "hangover" from the financial crisis was