The Slowdown in Consumer Spending

The International Monetary Fund raises concerns about the sudden failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the United States, and the loss of market confidence in Credit Swiss. At its spring conference with the World Bank in Washington, the IMF warned that global financial stability risks have increased rapidly in the last few months, in part because banks generally didn't prepare adequately for interest rates increases. The IMF warns that this might impact in particular regional and smaller banks in the US. Meanwhile, in Japan where interest rates are at 2%, we look at what the Bank of Japan might do with rates in the future. The central bank has indicated that it may revise or even abandon its targeting of long-term interest rates by the end of September - if conditions are right. And – we report on a novel way of increasing productivity in Bangladesh – providing workers with free glasses to improve their eyesight.