Closing summary
Time for a quick recap
US inflation has cooled, bolstering hopes that the Federal Reserve might slow, or even pause, its interest rate rises.
Consumer prices rise by 5% in the year to March, the slowest rate in almost two years, helped by falling energy prices and cheaper gasoline.
However, annual core inflation rose to 5.6%, compared with February’s 5.5%.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has told an audience in Washington DC that “I don’t believe we face a systemic banking crisis”, as policymakers gather for the Spring Meeting of the IMF and the World Bank.
Bailey told the Institute of International Finance that the BoE had not altered its monetary policy, a hint that interest rate rises could continue despite the wobbles in the banking sector.
He said:
The post crisis reforms to bank regulation have worked. Today I do not believe we face a systemic banking crisis. When I look at the UK banks, they are well capitalised, liquid and able to serve their customers and support the economy.
Bailey also pointed out that banks are more vulnerable to panicky customers withdrawing their money in the digital age, as shown by Silicon Valley Bank.
And he suggested regulators should take another look at how much protection they extend to depositors at smaller UK banks.
Warren Buffett, meanwhile, has predicted there could be more bank failures down the road, but believes depositors should not worry about losing their money.
The IMF has predicted that Britain’s national debt will continue to climb over the next five years, putting at risk one of Rishi Sunak’s key pledges to voters.
A leaked recording has suggested that World Bank staff were apparently told to give preferential treatment to the son of a high-ranking Trump administration official after the US Treasury threw its support behind a $13bn (£10bn) funding increase for the organisation.
Elon Musk has revealed that Twitter is now “roughly breaking even”, in an interview with the BBC in which he said his pain level from running the site had been “extremely high”…. and insisted his dog was now acting as CEO.
Musk also said Twitter will change the BBC’s label of “government-funded media” after the broadcaster objected.
An ad campaign by Etihad Airways trumpeting its approach to “sustainable aviation” has been banned by the UK advertising watchdog, which ruled it was misleading consumers over the environmental impact of flying.
The music industry is urging streaming platforms not to let artificial intelligence use copyrighted songs for training, in the latest of a run of arguments over intellectual property that threaten to derail the generative AI sector’s explosive growth.
Upmarket cinema chain Everyman has returned to profit, as the allure of luxury sofa seating and a menu including parsley and garlic dough balls and hot honey halloumi helped attract customers.
Demand for paper money has fallen to its lowest level in more than 20 years as consumers switch to card and contactless payments, the world’s largest commercial printer of banknotes has said.
World Bank staff were told to give special treatment to son of Trump official
World Bank staff were apparently told to give preferential treatment to the son of a high-ranking Trump administration official after the US Treasury threw its support behind a $13bn (£10bn) funding increase for the organisation, a leaked recording suggests.
Shared with the Guardian by a whistleblower, the recording of a 2018 staff meeting suggests colleagues were encouraged by a senior manager to curry favour with the son of David Malpass, who is now president of the World Bank but at the time was serving in the US Treasury under Donald Trump.
During the recording, which has left the Washington-based organisation facing questions over standards of governance, staff refer to 22-year-old Robert Malpass as a “prince” and “important little fellow”, who could go “running to daddy” if things went wrong.
Campaigners said the case could undermine the World Bank’s mission, which includes combating the erosion of public trust in civic institutions by promoting good governance.
Staff were apparently told Robert was the son of the undersecretary of the US Treasury, which had played a “beneficial” role in helping the World Bank secure an endorsement for the multibillion-dollar capital injection.
The recordings also suggest it may not have been the first time the international development bank had hired a family member of an important global figure. “Remember we had a ‘prince’ before … that is a subject for happy hour,” a staff member is heard saying.
The World Bank said it could not confirm the contents of the recording, but added it was “both false and absurd” to suggest that there was any connection between an entry-level hire and the multibillion-dollar capital increase.
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