Awaiting German EFSF Vote & UK Lending Data

German parliament set to ratify EFSF changes (311 votes needed by Merkel's allies), higher than expected decline in German unemployment, UK lending data set to remain weak, Japanese retail sales slide, US GDP Q2 final revision, US weekly jobless claims

After seeing the Finns ratify the changes agreed on the 21st July today sees the Germans step up to the plate with expectations that the vote will pass, however there is unease in some circles that this could just be the beginning of the start of an increase of the EFSF by the back door.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel also has a lot of political capital at stake in all of this, especially if she has to rely on opposition votes to get the measure through. Some commentators have speculated that she could find herself politically damaged if she does. Even if it does pass policymakers will have to wait until the end of October when Slovakia finally ratifies it.

Meanwhile the troika are set to return to Greece today to determine whether the latest measures are enough to release the latest funds, though a final decision wont be made until October, just before Greece needs the money.

Germany September jobless - 26k m/m vs expected -5k. Unemployment rate seasonally adjusted 6.9% vs. expected 7.0%

The latest UK credit data (due at 8:30 GMT) is not expected to paint a particular pretty picture with net consumer credit set to remain unchanged at 0.2bn for August, though mortgage approvals are expected to rise slightly from 49.2k in July to 49.5k in August.

In Japan the latest retail sales figure for August show that despite rebounds in June and July that the consumer is still struggling after the earthquake earlier this year as sales slid 2.6%, way more than expected.

In the US markets will be awaiting the final revision to the Q2 GDP numbers with many expecting a revision higher, while weekly jobless claims are expected to remain broadly unchanged around the 420k mark.