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5 Things You Need To Know, Today, on Thursday 12th January 2023
5. Sri Lanka's central bank has urged China and India to agree a write-down of their loans as soon as possible.
The crisis-hit Indian Ocean state defaulted on its debt repayments and negotiated a $2.9bn (£2.4bn) bailout.
4. Royal Mail has asked people to stop sending mail abroad due to a "cyber incident" causing severe disruption.
It said it was temporarily unable to send letters and parcels overseas, and was "working hard" to resolve the issue.
3. British consumers turned a little bit less pessimistic in December as inflation started to fall back from historic highs.
Polling firm YouGov and consultancy Cebr said their overall consumer confidence index rose by 1 point from November although at 95.9 it remained stuck in negative territory. In December 2021, it stood at 110.0.
2. Around 100,000 civil servants will strike on 1 February in a worsening dispute over pay, jobs and conditions, the Public and Commercial Services union has announced.
It will be the largest civil service strike for years and coincides with the TUC's "protect the right to strike day" announced yesterday in response to new government legislation.
1. Citizens Advice has called for a ban on energy companies "forcing" customers onto prepayment meters because they are struggling to pay bills.
The charity estimates that 600,000 people were put onto the pay-as-you-go method last year, with 160,000 more expected by the end of the winter.