Tokyo Reuters — The Bank of Japan (BOJ) maintained ultra-low interest rates on Friday and held off making changes to its controversial bond yield control policy, leaving options open ahead of a leadership transition in April. Though widely expected by most analysts, the decision sent the yen and local bond yields tumbling as some investors […]
New York CNN — The US economy has been remarkably resilient, defying a year’s-worth of recession calls. From the labor market to consumer spending to inflation, key readings on the economy have been running hot. Incredibly, despite a war in Ukraine, labor shortages in the US, biting inflation for consumers, a looming debt-ceiling showdown and […]
Minneapolis CNN — There’s a slight chill running through the US labor market, but the temperature is still too high for the Federal Reserve. The number of job openings in the United States fell to 10.8 million in January, down from an upwardly revised 11.23 million in December, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday […]
Hong Kong CNN — China’s outgoing Premier Li Keqiang has announced the country’s lowest GDP growth target in decades, highlighting the domestic and global challenges the world’s second largest economy still faces despite its decision late last year to ditch draconian anti-Covid measures. Li set a target of about 5% growth for 2023 during the […]
London CNN — Inflation in Europe fell again in February, though not as sharply as expected, and national data showed accelerating price rises in many of the region’s top economies. Annual inflation across the 20 countries that use the euro dipped to 8.5%, from 8.6% the previous month, according to an initial estimate released by […]
London CNN — The breakthrough deal on Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements heralds a reset in the often thorny relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union — and could be the first step to repairing some of the damage Brexit has done to the UK economy. Unveiled Monday by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak […]
Hong Kong CNN — In the year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has been hit by unprecedented Western sanctions and shut out of much of the global economy. But China, which has declared “no limits” to its friendship with its northern neighbor, has thrown the Kremlin an economic lifeline, tempering the impact of […]
New York CNN — For Ukraine, the year since Russia’s invasion has been one of widespread death, destruction and displacement, as millions had their lives changed forever. Americans got off easy by comparison, with most feeling the impact of the war only at the gas pump. But the effect on Americans was far less than […]
Hong Kong CNN — The property market in China is so depressed that some banks are resorting to drastic measures, including allowing people to pay off mortgages until they are 95 years old. Some banks in the cities of Nanning, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Beijing have extended the upper age limit on mortgages to between 80 […]
Abuja, Nigeria CNN — President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday directed Nigeria’s central bank to reissue old 200-naira ($0.43) banknotes withdrawn just days ago as concerns grow that the botched introduction of new money could disrupt general elections later this month. Violent protests have erupted in recent weeks as millions of people struggled to get their […]