Watch again as chancellor Rachel Reeves gave a speech on the UK economy at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC on Wednesday (23 April).
Official figures published on Wednesday showed the government borrowed more than expected for the latest financial year, the third-highest level of borrowing since 1947.
Activity across the UK’s private sector has also plunged to a more than two-year low as Donald Trump’s trade tariffs hammered exporters and causes a collapse in confidence.
The chancellor had her first face-to-face meeting with US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent as she spent three days in Washington DC for the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s spring meetings.
Her trip came after the IMF slashed the UK’s economic growth forecast, warning that the fallout from Mr Trump’s trade war will hit Britain harder than the rest of Europe.
Mr Trump implemented 10 per cent levies on all UK goods as he announced sweeping tariffs on imports from the rest of the world earlier this month.
