That’s all for today. Here’s a very quick summary

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has predicted that Brexit could help the world economy emerge from its slowdown, or make it worse. He told the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee that Britain’s exit from the EU was a test for globalisation, as is the US-China trade war.

Carney also said that recent no-deal preparations would mitigate the impact of a disorderly or disruptive Brexit. However, he also warned that an accidental no-deal could still be very damaging.

Earlier, the Bank of England announced new weekly auctions of euros to help banks avoid a Brexit liquidity crunch.

UK companies cut staff last month, at the fastest rate for six years; economists blamed uncertainty over the UK’s future.

Several UK carmakers have warned they could cut jobs after a No-Deal Brexit.

Greece has raised €2.5bn through its first auction of 10-year bonds in nearly a decade. Insiders are delighted.

China has cut its 2019 growth target, and announced new tax cuts to spur growth.

Goodnight! GW

Q: How do your scenarios change if Britain ends up leaving the EU without a deal, but in May or June rather than on the 29th March?

It all depends on what progress are made on critical projects, Mark Carney replies.

He cites official figures showing that one third of government projects for no-deal preparation still need to make progress, and most businesses aren’t ready

One of the biggest challenges is business preparedness, Carney explains. Firms don’t know what to prepare for, so a three-month extension which just repeats the recent deadlock is not valuable.

The governor warns:

Transition is when you know where you’re headed. Waiting to find out where you’re headed is not transition, it’s just heightened uncertainty.

However a delay “could make a material difference” if the UK knows where its headed, he adds.

And that’s the end of the session -- although there’s an exciting coda as a woman in the audience tries to ask a question. She’s told firmly to sit down or she’ll be removed....at which point Parliament Live kills the video feed.....

Some good news: Mark Carney has said that Britain’s preparations for no-deal Brexit could help cushion the blow for the economy from leaving the EU without a deal.

While maintaining that crashing out without a deal would trigger a “material shock” for the economy, the Bank of England governor said that steps taken in recent months would help to “pull back” some of the impact on GDP.

Threadneedle Street had previously published details of a worst-case scenario for no-deal Brexit that included an immediate recession with GDP falling by as much as 8%.

However, Carney tells the House of Lords committee that as much as 3.5% of those losses could be contained by mitigating steps taken in recent months.

“My point being there has been progress in preparedness and that reduces the level of the economic shock.”

The Bank’s governor said there was “false precision” in the numbers he used, and added: “To be absolutely clear we still expect there would be a material economic shock.”

On the global outlook, Mark Carney says the world economy has experienced a fairly broad-based slowdown in the last six months.

Investment growth has slowed, and is stagnant in some economies, and trade growth has slowed too.

So are we stagnating on a global level? Probably not, governor Carney says. But... there are two risks:

1) A spillover from China’s slowdown economy (reminder, China has cut its growth target for 2019 and announced tax cut plans)

2) Tensions around globalisation, due to Brexit and the US-China trade war.

Carney says these two issues are a litmus test for the future:

Which way Brexit goes in the coming weeks and months has the potential to provide a boost to the global economy, and alternatively has the potential to further slow the global economy.

The same can be said of the trade talks between the US and China which are by some reports coming to a head.

Boom! Greece has successfully held its first sale of 10-year government bonds in a decade.

Athens has raised €2.5bn through today’s auction, after receiving €11.8bn worth of offers from investors keen to take part.

The debt will be sold at a yield (interest rate) of 3.9%, according to Reuters, lower than the initial target of 4.125%.

That’s close to the 12-year low which 10-year bonds are trading in the markets -- and a long way from the 7% danger-zone which they crashed through in the debt crisis.

Helena Smith writes from Athens:

Over in Greece officials are saying that investor demand for the country’s new ten-year bond has exceeded all expectations – in what will be seen as a boost for the country’s economic prospects .

“We never expected such massive participation in a paper with such a long maturity following our county’s exit from bailout oversight,” said one well-placed insider requesting anonymity.

It was, he remarked, all the more remarkable given the fact that Greece was still not “an investment grade environment” at BBB – level. “Only one credit rating agency has given us that.”

The Athens bourse is expected to make an announcement before final results come in later this afternoon.

Ouch. Sterling is suddenly sliding against other major currencies.

The pound has lost almost a cent against the US dollar, from $1.32 to barely $1.31. It’s also down half a eurocent at €1.158.

The fall came after Labour’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, was quoted as saying that few Labour MPs would vote for the prime minister’s Brexit withdrawal agreement.

If so, that would lower Theresa May’s chances of getting her deal approved -- although some of her Conservative MPs could end their opposition.

If the Meaningful Vote (probably next week) fails, MPs will vote on whether to leave without a deal, or extend article 50. Analysts assume that an extension is most likely, but you never know....

Back in the UK, campaigners are celebrating after the financial watchdog cracked down on the rent-to-own market.

New rules will protect consumers who by items through small regular payments, rather than paying the full ticket up front. Those payments often work out as a very expensive way of shopping - but can still appeal to families who only have small disposable income each month.

From April, retailers won’t able to charge more than 100% credit -- or double the face-value of the goods.

The FCA took action after discovering that some consumers are paying up to four times the retail price of some goods. It believes the new rules will save consumers aroun £22.7m per year.

Nicky Morgan MP, chair of the Treasury Committee, says this rent-to-own price cap is welcome -- but the FCA needs to do more.

“This is a much-needed step in the right direction that will help households ensure that their finances are as resilient as possible.

“The FCA should now implement its proposals on other forms of high-cost credit urgently, including overdraft fees, doorstep lending and catalogue credit.”

Here’s more reaction:

It’s a red-letter day in Greece, which is holding its first 10-year debt auction since the eurozone debt crisis began.

Our correspondent Helena Smith reports from Athens:

Greece has today opened books for a new ten-year bond – its first in nearly a decade – with an initial price target of 4.125%, according to an Athens bourse filing.

A great deal is pinned on the sale, the second since the debt-stricken country exited its third internationally-sponsored bailout programme last August. Athens’ leftist government signaled on Monday that it would seize the moment and push ahead with the issue after a credit rating upgrade by Moody’s.

“It’s been nine years since such a bond was issued,” said one-well-placed insider highlighting its benchmark significance.

“In that sense, it’s a big bet because of everything that hangs on it.”

Greece last sold ten-year bonds in March 2010, only months before it received its first €110bn EU-IMF sponsored bailout. Financial analysts say the sale is more about proving market access for the euro zone’s weakest link than having to meet immediate financing needs as the country has built up a €24bn cash buffer to enable it to adequately cover debt service requirements.

Tapping markets since August has proved more difficult than anticipated due to political instability in Italy. Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio, at 185% the highest in Europe, may also deter some potential investors.

With general elections scheduled later this year, the main opposition leader Kyrakos Mitsotakis tweeted:

The Bank of England is taking new steps to protect the UK economy from Brexit.

The UK central bank is launching new weekly auctions of euro loans to eligible banks and building societies, to prevent their currency reserves running short.

The Bank says the new Liquidity Facility in Euros (LiFE) is a “prudent and precautionary step” that will help the financial system keep supporting the real economy.

Under the scheme, banks can take assets to the Bank and used them as collateral for euro funds. The operation will take place each Wednesday. The idea is to keep the financial system running if a sudden shock makes it hard for banks to sell assets for cash. Full details here.

The BoE is also triggering a ‘swap line’ with the ECB, to give it access to all the euros the UK may need.

Economist Shaun Richards thinks it’s a prudent move.

Last week, the BoE also boosted the supply of sterling to any banks or building societies who need it, in another attempt to prevent Brexit gumming up the wheels of finance.

The PMI reports don’t usually cause much of a stir at Westminster. But today’s news has alarmed John McDonnell MP, Shadow Chancellor.

He blames the government for the drop in staffing levels, and the lack of confidence gripping boardrooms today:

“This is a signal of plummeting business optimism in the wake of the government’s bungling of Brexit.

“The signs of falling UK private sector employment are worrying, against the backdrop of dropping business investment, downgraded growth forecasts, and a manufacturing recession.

“The UK economy is not in good shape and only a Labour government with a plan to grow it would undo the damage that the Tories have done.”

Just in: Britain economy was “close to stagnation” last month, as anxious companies cut staff ahead of Brexit.

Data firm Markit reports that UK business activity only rose “marginally” in February, while new orders dipped.

Markit says:

Reports from survey respondents suggested that Brexit- related uncertainty remained by far the most prominent factor acting as a brake on business activity growth in February. There were widespread reports that political uncertainty had encouraged delays to corporate spending decisions and a general rise in risk aversion among clients....

Some companies reported that they’d cut staff, or not replaced voluntary leavers, because they didn’t have enough new work to replace completed projects.

This trigged the biggest drop in staffing levels in over six years, suggesting Brexit uncertainty and the global slowdown is hurting the UK economy.

Markit says:

The rate of decline in private sector employment was the fastest since September 2012 as lower payroll numbers at manufacturing firms and service providers more than offset a modest upturn in construction sector workforces

Despite these job cuts, Markit’s All Sector Output Index, which measures firms across the economy, rose to 51.4 in February, up from 50.3 in January.

Its services PMI rose to 51.3 in February, up from a two-and-a-half year low of 50.1. Some economists had predicted it would fall below 50, showing a contraction. So it could have been worse...

Ouch. Struggling UK retailer Debenhams has just issued a fresh profits warning.

The department store is blaming macroeconomic uncertainties, increased financing, and the disruption as it tries to negotiate a restructuring plan with its lenders.

It says UK sales have fallen 6% in the last eight weeks; its guidance in January that it was “on track to deliver current year profits in line with market expectations” is no longer valid.

Debenhams, which received a vital £40m lifeline last month, is still planning to close around 50 stores, if it can hammer out a refinancing deal to cut its debt pile.

Sergio Bucher, chief executive of Debenhams, said:

“We are making good progress with our stakeholder discussions to put the business on a firm footing for the future. We still expect that this process will lead to around 50 stores closing in the medium term.

Dan Wang, China analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit, says Bejing is right to cut its growth target to between 6 and 6.5%, as 2019 will be tough.

“This revision is consistent with our forecasts. China’s manufacturing overcapacity, high debt and excessive deleveraging campaign means the corporate sector needs time to recover and adjust. Uncertainty in the trade war talks has already lowered the appetite for investment in 2019. The lowering of the growth targets signals a difficult year for employment, especially for newly graduated students and technology sector.

Under this expectation, monetary and fiscal support will stay strong, while restrictive policies such as environment requirements will be further relaxed. Resource intensive sectors, such as construction and metal, may see a mild revival in the coming year.”

Elsa Lignos of Royal Bank of Canada isn’t sure premier Li’s plan will make a huge difference:

The growth target is 6‐6.5%, a 2trn yuan tax cut was announced (vs 1.1trn last year) though the overall deficit only increases by 0.2ppt, further targeted rate cuts were signalled.

Whether or not this is “enough” depends on one’s view on how bad the underlying slowdown is in the Chinese economy. But there is nothing overnight to substantially change one’s view.

Jasper Lawler of London Capital Group is worried that China will stoke a new debt bubble, as it tries to prop up growth.

Tax cuts, increased lending and infrastructure spending, rather than continuing along the deleveraging route, will get some quick wins for China. However, this may be a dangerous route in the long run. High levels of debt are a problem, which will only be exasperated as growth slows.

Whilst shares across Asia were broadly lower, the plans to increase spending boosted shares in China. The CSI300 hit a 9-month high in early trade before giving back some gains. As more details over the economic package are released over the coming days, we could see Chinese shares extend their rally.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.

It’s official, China’s economy is slowing -- forcing its government to boost borrowing and cut taxes to ward off a hard landing.

Beijing policymakers have cut their growth target for 2019 to between 6% to 6.5%, down from a previous goal of 6.5%. That would be the weakest performance in nearly three decades, down from 6.6% last year.

Announcing the move, Premier Li Keqiang told the National People’s Congress that China faces “severe challenges”, from trade wars with America to domestic weakness.

In a gloomy statement, Li declared:

“We will face a graver and more complicated environment as well as risks and challenges … We must be fully prepared for a tough struggle.”

“Downward pressure on the Chinese economy continues to increase, growth in consumption is slowing, and growth in effective investment lacks momentum. The real economy faces many difficulties.”

Faced with this slowdown, Beijing will unleash a classic stimulus package of tax cuts and infrastructure spending.

Li said China’s fiscal policy would become “more forceful”, cutting taxes and fees paid by companies by nearly 2 trillion yuan (£227bn).

Value-added tax is also being slashed, down from 10% to 9% for transportation and construction companies, and down from 16% to 13% for manufacturers.

The lower tax revenue and higher government spending push China’s budget deficit target for this year up to 2.8% of GDP from last year’s 2.6%.

Also coming up today

We’ll find out what the Bank of England is most worried about, when the minutes of its Financial Policy Committee’s last meeting is released. Expect Brexit, trade wars and the global slowdown to features heavily.

It’s also Services PMI day, when we learn how the world’s services sector companies are faring.

The agenda

• 9am GMT: Eurozone services PMI for Febuary
  
• 9.30am GMT: Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee minutes released
  
• 9.30am GMT: UK services PMI for February
  
• 3pm GMT: US services PMI for February
  
• 3.35pm GMT: BoE governor Mark Carney testifies at the House of Lords