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Surging US tariffs will weaken the global economy and push up inflation this year, according to projections to be released next week by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF's Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva, said Thursday that the Trump administration's sharp increases in duties have caused global uncertainty to spike. The import taxes will slow global growth, but not cause a worldwide recession, she added. The details of the IMF's outlook will be issued Tuesday. The world economy's resilience is being tested by the reboot of the global trading system that threatens to cause turbulence in financial markets, Georgieva said. That turbulence has been playing out in financial markets for weeks now, especially on Wall Street, which has experienced wild swings from day-to-day and often times even hour-to-hour. The IMF chief also echoed some Trump administration concerns. She called on countries to reduce their tariffs and lower other barriers to trade, a process that she said
Members of Britain's governing Labour Party dealt Prime Minister Keir Starmer a blow on Wednesday, rejecting his decision to cut payments that offset winter heating costs for millions of retirees. The vote on the final day of Labour's annual conference is not binding, but it's a setback to Starmer's efforts to unite his centre-left party around the contentious measure. Since winning office in July, Starmer has cautioned that the dire state of the public finances inherited from the last Conservative government means he must make hard choices such as ending the winter fuel allowance, worth between 200 and 300 pounds (USD 262 and USD 393), for all but the poorest pensioners. Trade unions that are among Labour's funders and allies organised resistance to the cut at the conference in Liverpool, northwest England. They forced a vote on a demand for the decision to be reversed. It was narrowly passed in a show-of-hands vote amid cheers and jeers in the conference hall. I do not understand
Inflation in the UK held steady at the Bank of England's target rate of 2% in the year to June, official figures showed Wednesday, in a development that could be enough for policymakers to cut borrowing costs next month. The Office for National Statistics said the largest upward contribution to the annualized inflation rate came from restaurants and hotels, with some economists attributing the increases to Taylor Swift's tour of the U.K. The biggest downward contribution came from clothing and footwear, with widespread sales during the month. The flat reading compared to June a year ago was a tad higher than expected. Most economists had anticipated a modest decline to 1.9%. The last time inflation was at 2% was in July 2021 before prices started to shoot up, first as a result of supply chain issues during the coronavirus pandemic and then because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which pushed up energy costs. Financial markets think it's going to be a close call as to whether the B