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Good morning.

From the newsroom of the Financial Times. Today is Monday, February 11th, and this is your F.T. news briefing.

Today, the IMF's new chief economist backs the Fed on interest rates.

Japan's economy takes a hit from the Chinese slowdown in trade disputes,

and US companies sound the alarm over mounting Brexit risks.

Then the FT's Marumita Mergia explains how an investigation into Facebook's data collection

might change how big tech companies operate around the globe. I'm Eric Krupky and here's the news you need to start

your day.

The International Monetary Funds new Chief Economist Gita Gopinath sat down with the F.T.

In the interview, Ms Gopinath backed the Federal Reserve's decision to pause interest rate increases.

She said the decision would have a positive impact on the U.S.

And that the shift in policy had also helped emerging market economies that had struggled with the tightening financial conditions over the past year.

But Ms. Scopinath also stressed big lingering concerns about the Fed's outlook.

Last month, the IMF estimated that the world economy

would grow at a rate of 3.5% this year.

That's 0.2% less than it forecast in October. She said the IMF's forecast for the UK had involved a relatively

benign set of events with regard to Brexit that could no longer be counted on. That's because of the

rising possibility of a no-deal Brexit.

Ms. Kopinath said it was important for the IMF and other multilateral economic

institutions to show their effectiveness, especially in an age of rising populism around the world.

...