Gross domestic product figures for the third quarter, due on Friday, are expected to show economic growth running at close to its long-term trend rate. Trevor Williams, economist at Lloyds TSB, expects the data to show 0.7 per cent growth in the third quarter, taking the rate for the 12 months since the same period last year to 2.8 per cent.

Elsewhere, October's public-sector finances data is released tomorrow and on Wednesday, September's figures for average weekly earnings come out, along with the third-quarter index of hourly labour costs.

Soaring personal insolvencies are likely to translate into bumper results this week for two providers of individual voluntary arrangements, writes Dan Atkinson.

Debt Free Direct, one of the country's best-known IVA suppliers, is expected to report tomorrow pre-tax profits for the six months to October 31 of about 4.6 million, against 1.7 million a year ago. Rival Debtmatters, which reports interims on Tuesday, is forecast to show itself on course for 8.3 million in the full year, about 40 per cent of which will have been made during the six months to September 30.

IVAs are an alternative to bankruptcy for people heavily in debt, where lenders agree to write off part the debt in return for the debtor undertaking to repay the rest. Firms such as Debt Free Direct and Debtmatters put together IVAs and then propose them to creditors.

In the third quarter of this year, 12,228 IVAs were agreed, a 118 per cent rise on the same period in 2005.