IMF cuts 2017 growth forecasts for UK and US

'Tepid performance' so far of UK economy and Trump's failure to deliver tax cuts lead to downgrade to 1.7% and 2.1% respectively

The International Monetary Fund has cut its growth forecast for the UK economy this year after a weak performance in the first three months of 2017.

In its first downgrade for the UK since the EU referendum in June last year, the IMF said it expected the British economy to expand by 1.7% this year, 0.3 points lower than when it last made predictions in April.