Meanwhile, two announcements from the Bank of England were closely scrutinised for what they reveal about the state of lending markets and the nation’s economic prospects more generally.

On Tuesday, the Bank’s monthly Financial Stability Report identified consumer lending as a “pocket of risk” and instructed banks to hold an extra £11.4bn in ‘countercyclical buffers’ to guard against related losses.

As well as holding more capital against credit card debt and consumer loans, banks have also been warned that next month the FCA and the PRA will publish new affordability measures to make sure customers are likely to be able to repay their debts.

Second, on Thursday, The Bank issued its monthly Money and Credit report.  This showed annual growth in consumer credit at 10.3% in May, down slightly on its peak in November 2016 (closer to 11%).

As always and expected, monthly statistical announcements from the BoE, ONS, etc, trigger a wave of newspaper punditry with familiar faces lining up on each side to claim vindication for what they have been saying all along.

But one thing is for sure, the figures place a closer focus on the crucial issue of ‘affordability’. The FCA remains vague on the timing of its consultation paper: its most recent update in June said ‘Timing TBC’.  The two BoE announcements would appear to have shortened the timeline.  We could be in for a busy summer.