global events such as the 1973 oil crisis put pressure on the post-war consensus; this pressure was intensified by domestic problems such as high inflation, the three-day week and industrial unrest (particularly in the declining coal-mining industry). in early 1976, expectations that inflation and the double deficit would get worse precipitated a sterling crisis. by october, the pound had fallen by almost 25% against the dollar. at this point the bank of england had exhausted its foreign reserves trying to prop up the currency, and as a result the callaghan government felt forced to ask the international monetary fund for a £2.3 billion loan, then the largest that the imf had ever made. in return the imf demanded massive spending cuts and a tightening of the money supply. that marked a suspension of keynesian economics in britain. callaghan reinforced this message in his speech to the labour party conference at the height of the crisis, saying: