Larry Elliott

Annual health check to examine whether tax increases or spending cuts will be needed after election

IMF has revised up growth forecasts but medium-term prospects remain poor as globalisation goes into reverse

Chief economist says common framework has failed to provide any new money to world’s poorest countries since it was set up in 2020

Government borrowed £120bn in the last financial year, with just under £12bn in March

Brazil, Germany, Spain and South Africa sign motion for fairer tax system to deliver £250bn a year extra to fight poverty and climate crisis

The world's 3,000 billionaires should pay a minimum 2% tax on their fast-growing wealth to raise £250bn a year for the global fight against

A 2 percent levy, they say, could raise $313 billion a year to ease poverty and climate disparities.

Prices in non-food stores are lower in April than a year earlier as stores offload summer stock

France, Spain, Germany and Italy helped by lower inflation and prospect of interest rate cuts

As the fortunes of the super-rich soar, a proposed annual levy of 2% could offer a corrective – and they will fight it tooth and nail, says the Guardian’s economics editor Larry Elliott