The UK stock market is shrinking at its fastest pace in history amid a wave of foreign takeovers which have propelled the FTSE 100 to its strongest week in eight months.
The head of the International Monetary Fund has urged countries to cut debt and slash red tape to revive growth as she warned the world was becoming more vulnerable to economic shocks.
Investors are racing to buy British debt as traders ramp up bets that the Bank of England will start cutting interest rates before the US Federal Reserve. Official data showed the US rose by more than expected in March in a blow to US rate cut hopes.