Brexit, low growth and the spectre of protectionism stalk an IMF in sombre mood

For bank governors and ministers heading to this weeks annual meeting in Washington, the UKs immediate prospects will be a rare bright spot. We pick the five areas causing most concern. For chancellors of the exchequer, annual International Monetary Fund meetings have not always been the happiest of occasions. Heading there in early October 2008, […]

EU and US trade negotiators seek to get TTIP talks back on track

Officials will rush to lock in progress on controversial trade deal before Barack Obama leaves White House in January. Trade negotiators will meet in New York next week to search for common ground on the controversial EU-US trade deal, which has been buffeted by strong opposition on both sides of the Atlantic. A team of […]

World Bank renews drive against inequality

Report says faster growth and more anti-inequality measures would be needed to meet goal of eliminating extreme poverty and boosting pay. The World Bank has called for a fresh drive to tackle inequality after warning that the gap between rich and poor risks thwarting its ambition of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030. Ahead of its […]

A year after the crisis was declared over, Greece is still spiralling down

The historic third bailout awarded to Athens after weeks of brinkmanship last year was supposed to have secured its future in the EU. But little has changed In a side street in the heart of Athens, two siblings are hard at work. For the past year they have run their hairdressing business an enterprise that […]

IMF warns Italy of two-decade-long recession

Eurozones third biggest economy may not recover from 2008 financial crash until mid-2020s, according the funds annual report The fragile state of Italian banks in the fraught post-Brexit financial climate has been highlighted by the International Monetary Fund, in a stark warning that the eurozones third biggest economy will have suffered for almost two decades […]