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Britain's Debt Battle, Russia's Rates, Italy's Flat Tax: Eco Day

Britain's Debt Battle, Russia's Rates, Italy's Flat Tax: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Follow the latest global economic news and analysis @economics.

Welcome to Friday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

  • Britain has a debt problem. With the nation locked in the political hamster wheel of trying to leave the European Union, the risk is that a financial shock from Brexit could tip many people over the edge
  • Italy’s populist government is struggling to reach agreement on a tax-reduction plan that could extend the country’s indebtedness and lead to another clash with the EU
  • With the Russian central bank all but certain to hold fire at its interest rate decision today, investors are instead watching closely for any hint of easing
  • The Federal Reserve’s policy pivot took center stage in a busy week for central banks, with Chairman Jerome Powell declaring too-low inflation “one of the major challenges of our time”
  • Fed policy makers have concluded that when in doubt, do no harm. Welcome to the new abnormal
  • The Fed is also embracing the views of two occasionally ridiculed doves within its ranks who’ve argued for years that interest rates were heading the wrong way
  • Japan’s key inflation gauge crept fractionally lower, before a bigger downturn likely later this year that will further slow the central bank’s long journey to its price target

To contact the reporter on this story: Enda Curran in Hong Kong at ecurran8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Chris Bourke

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