A major goal, of course, is to reduce defaults, which have risen over the last 18 months.

This number rose over the subsequent months but then dropped to 650 by January 1941.

Consumer prices have risen over the latest three months at an annual rate of 5.3 percent; last year's average was 4.4.

The oil market has been slowly rising over the last two months.

The Dow rose 1,500 points over the next three months.

American wages and salaries rose at an annual rate of 4.1 percent over the last three months, the Government said.

The number of attacks has risen and fallen over the months.

There is little concern that prices, which rose 2.9 percent at the consumer level over the last 12 months, will surge, he said.

Gas prices are likely to rise by 10pc over the coming months, the Bank of England said last week.

Many oil experts expect the situation to worsen and prices to rise further over the next two months.