Barclays most ‘hurt’ bank to UK economy downgrades Banking Barclays has been branded the bank most set to be “hurt” by the downgrades slapped on the UK economy following the turmoil caused by the war in the Middle East. The bank’s macroeconomic forecasts hold the most optimistic assumptions when compared to its FTSE 100 peers. This leaves the lender with a less of a [...]
UK economy jumped above forecasts before Iran war Economics The UK economy was growing ahead of expectations before the war in the Middle East erupted, official data has shown. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said GDP grew by 0.5 per cent over February, though City analysts have suggested the figures are “too good to be true” given trends seen in recent years. In [...]
Reeves says diplomacy is ‘best economy policy’ as UK tax burden to mount Economics Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that de-escalating the war in the Middle East is the “best economic policy” to protect growth as the International Monetary Fund showed the UK tax burden was set to deepen at a faster pace than any country. Speaking at a CNBC event in Washington, Reeves doubled down on her attacks [...]
IMF downgrade Reeves is gaslighting voters on energy crisis April 15, 2026 Rachel Reeves is set to urge other countries to “follow her plan” for the energy crisis, but international analysts expect Britain to perform the worst among comparable nations thanks to decisions she has made, says Alys Denby The war in Iran has come at the worst possible time for a government already struggling to command [...]
IMF: Middle East war risks sparking government debt doom loop April 14, 2026 Ballooning levels of government debt have left the global economy dangerously exposed to the aftereffects of the Middle East war, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which warned a fresh wave of inflation could trigger a historic bond crisis. In its latest Financial Stability Report, the financial body said that countries’ inability to rein [...]
IMF slaps UK with biggest growth downgrade of any G7 country April 14, 2026 The UK economy has suffered the biggest growth forecast downgrade of any country in the G7 in the International Monetary Fund’s spring economic outlook report, dealing a blow to Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she struggles to overcome setbacks sparked by the Iran war. Growth this year was revised down by 0.5 percentage points as trade [...]
Fuel shortages, hunger, inflation spiral: IMF fears ‘scarring’ harm from Iran war April 9, 2026 Several fuel shortages, hunger and spiralling inflation will be some of the consequences of the Iran war as the head of the International Monetary Fund said that it would leave “scarring effects” on the global economy. In a speech by Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF’s managing director, global policymakers were warned that trade disruption across the [...]
Goldman: Oil could remain at crisis prices for rest of year April 9, 2026 Goldman Sachs has warned that oil prices could stay above the $100 a barrel mark for the rest of 2026 if the Strait of Hormuz stays shut for another month. In a note published on Thursday, the investment bank said any truce between Iran and the United States would be fragile, and that four more [...]
Amazon plans new round of job cuts as IMF chief warns of AI ‘tsunami’ January 23, 2026 Amazon prepares a new round of job cuts amid growing use of automation across corporate roles, following a round of redundancies just months ago. The move comes as the head of the International Monetary Fund warned that AI is set to hit the global labour market like a “tsunami”. Speaking at the World Economic Forum [...]
IMF: UK economy to lag behind growth of advanced economies January 19, 2026 The UK economy is set to grow at a slower pace than the average across advanced economies in each of the next two years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said, in a warning on the Labour government’s ability competitiveness against world powers. The IMF has kept its UK growth figures for 2026 and 2027 [...]