US trade gap narrows more than expected in July
The US trade deficit narrowed more than expected in July, as imports retreated and exports shot to their highest since August 2008, according to a government report that could lift hopes for third-quarter economic growth. The monthly trade deficit shrank 14 percent to $42.8bn, which was smaller than the mid-point forecast of $47.3bn from economists […]
Police beat customers at crisis-hit Afghan bank
Afghan security forces used batons on unruly customers scrambling to withdraw their savings from a branch of the graft-hit Kabulbank, the country’s biggest private financial institution. Officers from the National Security Directorate struggled to maintain control of up to 200 people outside one branch in the capital as desperate customers tried to take out money […]
Barroso says EU economic recovery gathering pace
Economic recovery is gathering pace in the European Union and growth this year will be higher than initially forecast, according to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. In a policy speech to the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg, the head of the EU executive said structural reforms must be accelerated in the […]
South Africa’s COSATU calls on ANC to tighten FX rules
South Africa’s biggest union federation COSATU, a partner of the ruling ANC party, has called for a reversal of measures taken to relax foreign exchange controls and taxing short-term capital flows. The positions laid out in an economic policy paper put pressure on the ruling African National Congress to reconsider its foreign exchange and economic […]
Zambia raises 2010 GDP forecast to 6.6%
Zambia has raised its 2010 economic growth forecast to 6.6 percent from a June forecast of 5.8 percent after a higher than expected performance in the first half of the year, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has announced. “We adjusted the growth forecast to 6.6 percent from 5.8 percent because we now know that mining, agriculture […]
BOJ not doing enough on deflation
The Bank of Japan is not doing enough to fight deflation and one possibility is for the central bank to buy more government bonds, a campaign aide to a ruling party powerbroker challenging Prime Minister Naoto Kan said. But lower house lawmaker Banri Kaieda, an aide to Ichiro Ozawa, also said that the BOJ alone […]
Ukraine signs $950m China loan for railway link
Ukraine has secured a $950m loan from China to build a railway link between Kiev and the capital’s main airport and has hired a Chinese company for the project, the Chinese People’s Daily newspaper said on Friday. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who arrived in China on Thursday for a state visit – the first by […]
German president raises pressure on divisive banker
German President Christian Wulff has increased pressure on the Bundesbank to dismiss its contentious board member Thilo Sarrazin, arguing that the central bank needed to limit damage to Germany’s reputation. Sarrazin has divided Germany with criticism of the country’s large Muslim community, and outspoken remarks asserting that Jews have a particular genetic makeup, sparking calls […]
Japan dilemma as economic dependence on China grows
Japan’s growing dependence on China for growth grates with concerns over its expanding military reach, deepening a dilemma over how to engage with its giant neighbour even as the two trade places in economic rankings. But while the interdependence raises the risks for the world’s second- and third-biggest economies if relations sour, it also boosts […]
Russia home to wealthiest expats, Eurozone lags
Russia, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are home to the wealthiest expats, with Eurozone countries falling behind when it comes to paying for foreign expertise, according to a survey of expats. The third annual report commissioned by HSBC Bank International found finances among expats were generally positive with two-thirds, or 66 percent, saying they have more […]
