As well as announcing a £2bn cash bailout for its giant pension plan this morning, the telecoms group BT also said it was reducing the amount it expects to make off its investments. This critical number has been cut from 2.5% a year over inflation to just 2%, an increasingly cautious prognostication compared to similar plans.

BT said its scheme, worth £36.7bn in total as of June 30 2011, is now in deficit to the tune of £4.1bn, with liabilities worth £40.8bn. This is less than half the deficit recorded at its last full actuarial valuation, in 2008, thanks to good investment returns in the meantime.