the imf warns the uk it's borrowing too much. but chancellor of the exchequer jeremy hunt tells the bbc the uk economy is in good shape. the imf are saying this week that over the next six years we will grow faster than any major european economy and faster than japan. and shop till you drop. retail bosses gather in paris to plot the future of a $30 trillion industry. is ai the key to making us spend more money? welcome to the programme. we start in washington dc, where boeing has been facing more questions about its safety culture and manufacturing quality as three whistle—blowers gave evidence to congress as part of its investigation into the aviation giant. boeing engineer sam salehpour, a company veteran of 17 years,

told a senate hearing that he was harassed and threatened after he raised concerns about the safety of the firm's planes. and former engineer ed pierson accused the aircraft giant of a cover—up, after a door panel blew out of a 737 max nine jet shortly after take—off. michelle fleury was watching the hearings. this was damaging testimony for the plane maker. boeing engineer turned whistle—blower, sam salehpour, claimed boeing used short cuts to reduce bottlenecks during the assembly of its 787 dreamliner planes. he said he faced retaliation for raising safety issues. and after the threats and after this, you know, it's like, you know, it really scares me, believe me. but i am at peace. you know, if something happens to me, i am at peace because i feel like by coming forward, i will be saving a lot of lives, and i'm at peace. another boeing engineer,

ed pierson, accused the plane—maker of a criminal cover up after a door blew out of a 737 max plane shortly after take—off. and a preliminary investigation revealed the door was missing four bolts. the ntsb chair reiterated to congress last week that boeing has said there are no records documenting the removal of the alaska airlines door. i'm not going to sugar—coat this. this is a criminal cover up. records do, in fact, exist. i know this because i've personally passed them to the fbi. boeing, which is one of the world's two major producers of commercial planes, insists its jets are safe. as for its culture, in a statement to the bbc, boeing said it was taking steps to foster a safety culture that empowers and encourages all employees to raise their voices. it said retaliation was strictly prohibited. the plane—maker's ceo, david calhoun, didn't appear today, but lawmakers said they expect him to testify in the future. united airlines says it will receive compensation from boeing over the grounding of it 737 max 8 planes.

let's talk to murdo morrison from the aviation news site, flight global how deep are boeing's financial and cultural problems? this bowling is really facing a sea of troubles. this latest whistleblower is just the newest problem that boeing has had to face in the past five years. there was the crash and subsequent grounding of the max aircrafts. boeing feels it has aircrafts. boeing feels it has a robust defence against the specific allegation from the 77 product quality. on the 737, the max, it was just the door incident. they are waiting for the investigation and holding its hands up and admitting,

culturally, in terms of its whole approach to engineering, it really needs to have a review on how does things. there is also reputational damage as well as presume. i was flying monarchy 737 maxes a few days ago and have to be honest, i was relieved when it landed. it was a very smooth flight. what is boeing going to to recover? let flight. what is boeing going to to recover?— to recover? let us not forget on aircraft — to recover? let us not forget on aircraft takes _ to recover? let us not forget on aircraft takes off- to recover? let us not forget on aircraft takes off safely i on aircraft takes off safely every day. this is not a complete safety problem here and now. what it is is a huge reputational problem. boeing faces financial problems which it is to sort out financial and nature doesn't end up costing so much money that it basically goes out of business. it faces these reputational problems to

its image. if you are an aircraft manufacturer, you cannot have any doubts about the quality of your aircraft. it also faces industrial problems in terms of wrapping up problems in terms of wrapping up its production and delivery of the aircraft. what us not forget people do still want boeing aircraft. the competitors cannot make it fast enough to be demand. boeing is constrained by faa limits on what it can produce at the moment while the fpa looks into the whole door incident. they are also facing whole industry supply chain problems and wrapup problems after the pandemic. wrapup problems after the pandemic— wrapup problems after the pandemic. the result all of this, pandemic. the result all of this. from _ pandemic. the result all of this, from the _ pandemic. the result all of this, from the point - pandemic. the result all of this, from the point of- pandemic. the result all of| this, from the point of view pandemic. the result all of. this, from the point of view of the consumer, is there likely to be high affairs if there are these delays in deliveries? for these delays in deliveries? for the aviation sector generally, it is a two horse race with

airbus but airlines look for more nobody planes, those with single aisles, is china about to enter the frame? will boeing dropped the ball on this one? that is an interesting thing. in short term, and that is largely driven by competition between the airlines. these are longer term problems for airlines. looking at getting deliveries in the next few years and that is what has delayed. the right issues for the airlines. as far as competition is concerned, boeing and airbus have notjust dominated but then bit wobbly on the aircraft markets really since 1995 or something. china, russia tried to get into the market. what happens there is they won't have eight international market but they are a nobody aircraft. china has a new nobody aircraft in the short term, it will get a

little bit of market share in china and maybe some countries by chinese exports in vaccination. beyond that, difficult to see china getting much hold of the market in the next ten or 20 years. it will remain the duopoly but it is whether split is in the duopoly and currently looking at is 70% market share and narrow bodies. 70%. thank you very much. let's stay in washington, where the uk's been warned by the international monetary fund to rein in government borrowing. it has named the uk as one of four countries, along with the us, china and italy, that "critically need to take policy action to address fundamental imbalances between spending and revenues". the report comes as global finance chiefs gather for the spring meetings of the imf and world bank. the bbc�*s economics editor

faisal islam is there, he's been speaking to the uk's finance minister, chancellor of the exchequerjeremy hunt. and started by asking him about inflation in the uk, which fell to 3.2% in march, its lowest in more than two yea rs i think the statistics we have had this week demonstrate inflation is coming down, now lower than the united states. the bigger picture is the fundamentals for the uk economy are actually very strong. we have had more greenfield foreign direct investment than anywhere in the water apart from the united states and china since 2020. i was at a dinner in newark last night with big investors in the uk, every single one of them increasing investment in the uk. the imf saying this week over the next six years we will grow faster than any major european economy and faster than japan. european economy and faster than japan-— european economy and faster than japan. some felt now the bank of england _ than japan. some felt now the bank of england may - than japan. some felt now the bank of england may not - than japan. some felt now the bank of england may not cut l bank of england may not cut interest rates before the summer. may not cut interest

rates before an election. they think that is the right thing to do, do you back then? {iii to do, do you back then? of course i _ to do, do you back then? of course i do. it is what we have an independent bank of england. they have to make a judgement. what is interesting is that the budget, the idea that would hit our inflation target a year earlier than they thought. commentators think we may still hit the bank of england target in the next couple of months. what that says is the very difficult decisions we took when inflation was over 11% have borne fruit. we need to stick with that approach which is clearly working.— is clearly working. mobile broadband _ is clearly working. mobile broadband prices - is clearly working. mobile broadband prices are - is clearly working. mobile | broadband prices are going is clearly working. mobile - broadband prices are going up, living costs, housing, that is going up. it is still quite type of people. it going up. it is still quite type of neonate-- going up. it is still quite type of people. it is very tou~h. type of people. it is very tough- we _ type of people. it is very tough. we have - type of people. it is very tough. we have been . type of people. it is very - tough. we have been through a very tough period when it comes to living standards, 18 months ago the opi said would have the biggest decline in living standards for half a century. that actually got up and are

now saying we will return to pre— pandemic living standards two years earlier than they thought. what we see is overall a picture that is much more positive than before. but we need to be sensible, cautious, prudent and the approach we take going forward. sensible, cautious and _ take going forward. sensible, cautious and prudent. - take going forward. sensible, cautious and prudent. we - take going forward. sensible, l cautious and prudent. we have heard a lot from liz truss over the past couple of days. she says angepena should have been fired and disbanded the opi. what you to that message? and her message. i what you to that message? and her message-— her message. i think she is the first to say _ her message. i think she is the first to say that _ her message. i think she is the first to say that when _ her message. i think she is the first to say that when mistakes| first to say that when mistakes were made in that period. a discipline and independent bank of england. i do support an independent office for budget responsibility. all i would say is some very difficult decisions taken in that period are now bearing fruit. when it comes didn't think she talks about most, they need grow the economy, with the imf are

saying this week, namely the uk will grow faster than france, italy, germany, japan, the strength and artificial intelligence and with tech industry giving uk particular advantages, those reasons why we can be very confident about the future. we can be very confident about the future-— the future. the imf is the monitor _ the future. the imf is the monitor said _ the future. the imf is the monitor said hang - the future. the imf is the monitor said hang on, - the future. the imf is the - monitor said hang on, critical policy action is required for public finances to be sustainable.- public finances to be sustainable. . , , ., sustainable. that is under you. what they _ sustainable. that is under you. what they also _ sustainable. that is under you. what they also said _ sustainable. that is under you. what they also said publicly . sustainable. that is under you. what they also said publicly is| what they also said publicly is they recognise the pope on the steps we have ta ken to restore public finances and also the tax cuts we have done have been done without increasing borrowing in a way that is fiscally responsible and that is what we will continue to do. swetha ramachandran is a fund manager at artemis investment management hunt upbeat on soft landing, but imf says the uk must rein in the debt, lots of work still to do.

exactly. yesterday's inflation print out for is called what on the prospects of eminent rate cuts in the uk also adds that picture. cuts in the uk also adds that icture. ., ., .,, picture. you mentioned those rate cuts. _ picture. you mentioned those rate cuts, not _ picture. you mentioned those rate cuts, notjust _ picture. you mentioned those rate cuts, notjust in - picture. you mentioned those rate cuts, notjust in the - picture. you mentioned those rate cuts, notjust in the uk, | rate cuts, notjust in the uk, us inflation data may hold back what people were talking about as a june interest rate cut. may be pushed further later in the year. that may affect the ecb as well.— the year. that may affect the ecb as well. certainly markets in the last _ ecb as well. certainly markets in the last few _ ecb as well. certainly markets in the last few days _ ecb as well. certainly markets in the last few days have - ecb as well. certainly markets in the last few days have been j in the last few days have been pricing in a delayed rate cut, particularly in the us and uk. in the uk for example, the site of the year, the marketer pricing at about five bread cuts for the year. now it is going to want full record perhaps 30% chance of a second one by the end of the year. the ecb however does appear to be on a diversion pad. set to decrease rate as early asjune

because demand and inflation is simply not as strong as it is in the us and supply—side inflation also not as high as it is in the uk. they appear to be on a diversion path to the bank of england and as well as the physical therapist only to see evidence of disinformation continuing before rate cuts can be put back on the table. they were discussing liz truss return to the public. with her utter return to the public. with her putter and — return to the public. with her putter and reminding - return to the public. with her i putter and reminding everybody of what happened and how the uk lost confidence from international market. a strict warning from the imf that contempt is talking about a possible in national insurance, the opposition talk about spending those that have been drawn back on. yukiko is dependent on international investors with huge debt. a reminder there.— reminder there. right. the lesson from _ reminder there. right. the lesson from the _ reminder there. right. the lesson from the mini - reminder there. right. the | lesson from the mini budget reminder there. right. the - lesson from the mini budget of liz truss is that unfunded tax

cuts are going to be penalised by the markets which is exactly what we saw in the bond markets that led to a tricky period during which interest rates went up more than they perhaps would have otherwise have done. that is definitely a lesson that appears to have been learned so that any future productions in spending or any tax cuts would have to be offset by reductions in spending elsewhere. tile offset by reductions in s-rendin elsewhere. ., spending elsewhere. no unfunded tax cuts. thank _ spending elsewhere. no unfunded tax cuts. thank you _ spending elsewhere. no unfunded tax cuts. thank you very _ spending elsewhere. no unfunded tax cuts. thank you very much. i around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news.

let's turn to venezuela, because the us is set to reimpose sanctions on the country's oil industry, because of what it sees as president nicolas maduro's failure to meet his commitments for free and fair elections this year. sweeping sanctions were first imposed by the trump administration in 2019 following mr maduro's

re—election, which was rejected by the us and europe. on tuesday he struck a defiant tone during a tv appearance. translation: by wanting to harm us ou translation: by wanting to harm us you harm _ translation: by wanting to harm us you harm yourselves. _ translation: by wanting to harm us you harm yourselves. going i us you harm yourselves. going ahead with or without a licence. we are not a grngo colony, we are not your economy, management will move on with its economic peace, no—one will stop us. aneeka gupta is director of research at the investment platform wisdomtree. will this affect the global price of oil? a great question. in terms of the sanctioning on venezuelan oil, in the immediate term it is likely to have less of an impact on the global market but

over the medium coke, the lack of investment from chevron and other outside investors could eventually see venice will begin to decline. "don't need the gringos," but chevron's joint state venture still there to help and will continue to supply the us, in an election year, relief for both sides. treasury will give out individual licenses? it is correct. the rule does not apply to chevron which is a significant producer in venezuela through manyjoint venezuela through many joint ventures venezuela through manyjoint ventures with the state oil company. that will continue operating. however, this position does mean companies that started buying venezuelan crude and conducting other oil operating activities over the six months can only do so without obtaining that license from the us. it includes india's light industries and

other commodity trading houses. companies and firms like these would need to apply for specific licenses. it would be evaluated on a case—by—case basis. evaluated on a case-by-case basis. ., , ~' evaluated on a case-by-case basis. ., , ,, ., ., basis. countries like china and i will continue _ basis. countries like china and i will continue to _ basis. countries like china and i will continue to receive i i will continue to receive venezuelan oil presumably. is the net effect of this that it will stop the import of certain parts of the supply chain and make it more expensive to produce?— make it more expensive to roduce? ., , ., ., ,, . make it more expensive to roduce? ., . ., produce? that is one aspect of it. at produce? that is one aspect of it- at the _ produce? that is one aspect of it. at the same _ produce? that is one aspect of it. at the same time, - produce? that is one aspect of it. at the same time, you i produce? that is one aspect of it. at the same time, you willl it. at the same time, you will have less output coming up from venezuela. i think the bigger burden is the impact on the venezuelan economy. clearly now you will see that lack of investment coming in from external international countries in venezuelan that will put a setback on the efforts to restart venezuelan economy. venezuelan is a country that requires significant for investment to

rebuild its oil infrastructure. this is definitely going to be a dampener on the investment outlook. �* . ., , , outlook. and sanctions believe not enough — outlook. and sanctions believe not enough of _ outlook. and sanctions believe not enough of a _ outlook. and sanctions believe not enough of a carriage i outlook. and sanctions believe not enough of a carriage for. not enough of a carriage for them. —— relief. thank you for joining us. to tiktok now, because moves by the us congress to force the apps chinese owner to sell it, orface a ban in america, could be about to receive a boost. house speaker mikejohnson has indicated the measure will be packaged together with a funding bill for ukraine israel and taiwan, potentially giving it a better chance of becoming law. existing stand—alone legislation against tiktok has been stuck in the senate, after passing the house last month. nick marsh is looking at this for us in singapore. nick, it seems like we've talking about this tiktok legislation for an awfully long time, doesn't it? yes, back in the trump administration really. he did not manage to get it through. joe biden, just as hard line on

china if not more so, has managed to make some progress but really slow, stuck in the senate. a new idea is being proposed. combine the tiktok band bill with a bill on more funding on foreign aid to ukraine and israel and taiwan. the idea is basically if you passed this, the republicans will get the tiktok band they like, the democrats will get the funding to ukraine they like and be biden administration get everything it likes. i did basically say to this heartland republicans either support us on more funding to ukraine or you don't give the tiktok band you want. kind of how it works in washington.— kind of how it works in washington. kind of how it works in washinrton. ., , , ., washington. how is this going down in china? _ washington. how is this going down in china? we _ washington. how is this going down in china? we have i washington. how is this going down in china? we have not l washington. how is this going i down in china? we have not had a secific down in china? we have not had a specific response _ down in china? we have not had a specific response at _ down in china? we have not had a specific response at this i a specific response at this specific development from either the chinese government or a bytedance. they have all denied there is link between the chinese government

accessing american user data. they say there is no national security risk but it does seem like this bill is gaining momentum. it will be a game changerfor tiktok based momentum. it will be a game changer for tiktok based here in singapore, maintains it is a separate company but will still lose millions of users and it would be a game changerfor us china relations and also let's not forget, the millions of american dollars invested in it at the moment. all linked. watching events clearly this weekend in washington. thank you. finally to the subject of shopping, because global retail sales are expected to soar to almost $32 trillion by 2026, up from $26 trillion in 2021, according to industry forecasts. over the next three days the top bosses in the industry will be gathering in paris for the annual world retail congress, to discuss the big issues facing the business. retail is tipped to be one of the big beneficiaries of the ai boom.

sarah wyeth is retail & consumer managing director at s&p global ratings in new york. how is the global retail sector fairing now? thank you. i could speak to the us retail sector. we would start with the consumers, really quite stretched, basing inflation, prices that are 20% over 20% higher than they were a couple years ago. access savings from government stimulus and other sources has largely been spent down. we are seeing consumers trade down, the first discretionary spending and the stock. there is evidence of resilience in consumer spending and in fact, the numbers were listed for much were quite positive. up 8% over a month and for year—on—year. if you take a look at —— closer look, there

is weakness visiting areas especially in categories that were populated during covid, anything spent on the home continues to be down. and areas discretionary largely, apparel also continues to be quite weak. you see this weakness come through in our readings where we have discretionary, if you look at retailers, discretionary versus nondiscretionary, you can see in our readings that we have more negative outlooks as a percentage nondiscretionary. ——on discretionary retailers. ai could offer a rocket—booster to the retail sector in all manner of ways from personalisation and supply chain, restocking and pricing to customer services, so are companies investing enough in it to take advantage at the moment? that is a good question. as with any technology, it takes

investment and resources. obviously the largest best capitalise retailers are going to be in a much better position as they explore this new area and find out what he can do. i don't think it is going to be at the dramatic overnight change, it will be gradual. they are going to be careful with that but as you say, a lot of different areas they can apply customer facing, we all know pots we see a different digital platforms... 50 know pots we see a different digital platforms. . ._ digital platforms... so much data out there. _ digital platforms... so much data out there. club - digital platforms... so much data out there. club carts i digital platforms... so much data out there. club carts atj data out there. club carts at many of the supermarkets here which kind of force you to use the net because you lose a lot of money we don't. i don't know if you are getting a better price group they are inflating them but we use them. there is data coming out of it, e—mail proceeds, all these areas, right for al.— proceeds, all these areas, right for al. part of what aa can do this _ right for al. part of what aa can do this recognise i right for al. part of what aa i can do this recognise patterns,

trends, dynamics very early. thatin trends, dynamics very early. that in speed innovation, speed responsiveness, the ability to forecast and anticipate consumer trends. thank you so much for joining us. and thank you for joining us. and thank you for joining us, for he was in the uk it is breakfast next and i will be back at the top of the ala for your headlines, thank you for your company. hello. slowly, but surely, the weather is going to turn a little bit drier, but not an awful lot warmer as we head towards the end of the week. high pressure is tantalizingly close — sitting to the west of the uk, but still far enough away that weather systems can move in around the top of that area of high pressure, bringing cloud, bringing outbreaks of rain.

that's exactly what we're going to see through the day on thursday ahead of that cold, frosty start, but we will see some spells of sunshine. that will hold on across southern counties of england, but further north, it's a story of increasing clouds, some outbreaks of rain. rain for a good part of the day across scotland, some patchy rain for northern ireland. temperatures just a little bit up on where they have been recently, 8 to 15 degrees. now, through thursday night, we'll see clouds and increasingly light and patchy rain pushing southwards. behind that, a northerly wind kicks in — a mix of clear spells and showers to take us into the first part of friday. so this weather system easing its way through, clearing southwards with northerly winds behind. you can see quite a few isobars squeezing together on the chart, particularly across the northeast of scotland. so, here, it is going to be windy through the day on friday, particularly around some coasts. it's a day of sunny spells and showers. some of the showers could be on the heavy side, perhaps the showers most frequent

across the eastern half of the uk, not as many showers further west. temperatures, 6 to 8 degrees in northern scotland, elsewhere, 11 to 15 degrees. now, into the weekend, this area of high pressure finally makes its move, building across the uk. but brisk winds still affecting eastern coastal counties with potentially quite a lot of cloud, maybe even some showery rain. best chance of any sunshine out towards the west. that's where we'll have the highest of the temperatures, up to around 13, 1a degrees. but it will actually be quite chilly for some eastern parts, particularly for north sea coasts. now, as we get into sunday, again, we'll see clouds, some showery rain perhaps spinning a little bit further west this time. the lowest temperatures always closest to these north sea coast, maybe some places stuck in single digits, 11 for newcastle and for hull. but further west, with some sunshine, northern ireland could see the highest temperatures, 16, maybe 17 degrees. nothing particularly warm in the outlook for next week. often dry, there will be some showers.

welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. good morning. welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. our headlines today... mp mark menzies has been suspended by the conservative party after allegations that he used campaign funds for private medical expenses. the scottish government is set to ditch a flagship target to reduce

greenhouse gas emmissions. police have broken up an major international cyber—crime gang which scammed around 70,000 people in the uk out of money. the latest figures out today on how many homes had benefited from a scheme to help with the cost of installation. take up so far is low, ifind out installation. take up so far is low, i find out why. there are no english clubs left in the champions league — arsenal, were beaten by bayern munich, while holders manchester city were knocked out in heartbreaking fashion on penalties by real madrid, .ending their hopes of another treble. and good morning. a chilly start to the day with a touch of frost around. some sunshine will hold on longest in the south. a bit of rain in the north. all of the weather

details throughout the programme.