The Wall Street Journal reports that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will begin this week to lay out a blueprint for a credit tightening, to be followed once the Fed decides the economy has recovered sufficiently.

The centerpiece will be a new tool Congress gave the central bank in October 2008: an interest rate the Fed pays banks on money they leave on reserve at the central bank. Known as "interest on excess reserves," this rate is now 0.25%. This week, the Federal Reserve will outline how it will go about raising interest rates and tightening credit once the economy recovers. The Fed is still at least several months away from raising interest rates or beginning to drain the flood of money it poured into the financial system in 2008 and 2009. But looking ahead to when the economy is strong enough to warrant tightening credit, officials have been discussing for months which financial levers to pull, when to start and how best to communicate their intent.

Boston Scientific to shed 175 jobs: Boston Scientific today confirmed in Galway, that staff have been told of plans to cut the workforce of 3,000 by up to 175 positions.

The medical devices company said it remained strongly committed to its operations in Ireland which were making a significant contribution to the organisation's global business. Last year, Boston Scientific announced a €91m investment at the Galway plant, creating 45 jobs.

French GDP: The Banque de France, France's central bank, today forecast growth of 0.5% in the first quarter of 2010, a slight rise on previous official estimates, as the country's fragile recovery gains strength.

In December, the INSEE, the statistics office, had forecast an increase in France's GDP (gross domestic product) of between 0.3-0.4% per quarter in the first half of the year. 

Toyota: The nightmare on quality continues for Japanese car giant Toyota and Bloomberg reports today that the company will recall its 2010 model Prius hybrid car in Japan this week to repair a problem with the vehicle’s braking system, two people familiar with the matter said, adding to global recalls of almost 8 million autos for separate defects.

The world’s largest automaker plans to recall at least 270,000 of the gasoline-electric hatchbacks in Japan and the US, one person said, declining to be identified as the information isn’t yet public. Juergen Stolze, a Toyota spokesman in Germany, said the carmaker will decide whether to recall Prius cars in Europe by Feb. 10.

"The notion that you can actually downgrade the United States, frankly it's laughable because it is the nominal anchor for the world monetary system… there's absolutely no danger of a default," Peter Dixon from Commerzbank Securities told CNBC Monday. The economy is still at risk of a double dip, he added: