Most of the economic data from Euroland either beat forecast, were an improvement on the previous month or both. Among the provisional purchasing managers' index readings, which measure the vigour of the private sector, only French manufacturers reported any slowdown in growth. Germany's economy expanded by 0.4% in the fourth quarter of last year, less than Britain's upwardly-revised 0.7% but enough to make it the class leader for calendar 2016.

On June 9, with his 150-year-old Portuguese corporate dynasty close to collapse, patriarch Ricardo Espirito Santo Salgado made a desperate attempt to save it.

Salgado signed two letters to Venezuela’s state oil company, which had bought $365 million in bonds from his family’s holding company. The holding company was in financial trouble. But the letters, according to copies seen by Reuters, assured the Venezuelans that their investment was safe.

Less than a fifth of a cent separated the euro from the week's joint losers, the US dollar and the pound. The single currency fell by an average of -0.5% against the other dozen most actively-traded currencies. There were two angles to the euro's problems. One was the Euroland economic data, which were more inclined to disappoint than to impress. Notably, fourth quarter growth for both the euro zone and Germany came in below forecast at a provisional 0.4%, lagging the United States' 0.5% and Britain's 0.6%. The other irritant was politics, with right-wing anti-EU candidates continuing to lead the polls in France and the Netherlands.

When the European Central Bank president attended the European Parliament's economic affairs committee Mario Draghi's observations were in line with what could have been expected. The ECB is not, as alleged by the White House, massaging the euro lower to satisfy Germany. The euro is not about to break up: it is "irreversible". Yet the scandal surrounding French presidential candidate François Fillon could leave the way open for the Front National's Marine Le Pen to take over the Élysée Palace and one of her campaign pledges is to take France out of the single currency.

This last week was not the highlight of sterling's long and chequered career. The pound lost one and a quarter euro cents and even contrived to give away a third of a cent to the US dollar. The euro put in an average performance in the middle of the bunch, staying fairly close to the franc and the yen.

Income tax and surcharges

The income brackets and tax rates for personal income tax remain the same as last year and are as follows:

First the Brexit referendum, then Donald Trump. In 2016, investors were surprised by events that pollsters and other experts said wouldn’t happen, although on both occasions stock markets swiftly recovered before reaching new highs.

Uncertainty and political risk remain key themes for financial markets in 2017.

Neither the British nor the Euroland statisticians had much to say for themselves. The monthly round of provisional purchasing managers' indices, in which the UK does not participate, indicated that activity in the €Z private sector continued at a decent clip in January even if not all of the readings met expectations.