In April, the International Monetary Fund positioned itself to go head-to-head with the UK government over its fiscal stance. The fund said it wanted Britain to consider slowing deficit reduction and Olivier Blanchard, its chief economist, said the country was “playing with fire”.
A month later, the considered view of the IMF is much more nuanced. Here are the five things you need to know about the fund’s retreat.



Hello and welcome to the FT’s live blog on the European Central Bank’s rate decision and press conference. All eyes on Thursday are on the ECB and what it has left in its tool kit as gloomy data throws further doubt on the recession-bound eurozone economy.
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