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MUMBAI, India (AFP) — India’s central bank released $6.7 billion in cheap financing for vaccine makers, hospitals and other health firms on Wednesday, to counter the devastating coronavirus surge gripping the country. Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said cheap loans would be available until March 31 next year, and vowed to deploy “unconventional” measures if the crisis worsens. He spoke as India announced a record 3,780 deaths in 24 hours as well as […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela nearly tripled its minimum wage Saturday but inflation is so outrageous that that amount of money will not even buy a kilo of meat. Labor Minister Eduardo Pinate announced the raise to government supporters at a May Day rally in Caracas. The new monthly minimum wage is seven million bolivares, which is equivalent to $2.50. A kilo (2.2 pounds) of meat in Venezuela costs about $3.75. The once-wealthy oil […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s annual inflation rate accelerated in March, official data showed Wednesday, stoking analyst fears of spiking prices when the nation emerges from the pandemic. The Consumer Prices Index rate advanced to 0.7 percent last month on rising prices for clothing and motor fuel, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. That was slightly short of forecasts for a 0.8-percent increase, but a sizeable jump from the 0.4 percent […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin, whose United Russia party is deeply unpopular ahead of September elections, said Wednesday that the government’s main task was to boost Russians’ falling personal incomes. Putin’s popularity has long been based on his ability to provide stability and better living standards to Russians, but the economy has in recent years been hit by Western sanctions, stagnant oil prices and now the coronavirus pandemic. “The main thing is to […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain’s unemployment rate dipped to 4.9 percent in the three months to the end of February, remaining close to multi-year highs on fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed Tuesday, The rate compared with 5.0 percent in the three months to the end of January, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. “The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 4.9 percent, 0.9 percentage points higher than a […]
DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab called for wealthy Qatar’s help during a visit to the Gulf country on Monday as his nation sinks deeper into economic ruin.Diab has met with several prominent Qatari ministers and officials during the trip which Lebanese media has suggested has been mired in “secrecy”. “Lebanon has reached the brink of total collapse, as a result of decades of corruption and policies that have encouraged a […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s government deficit will deepen and public debt rise after a lingering Covid crisis smashed hopes of a rapid economic rebound, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday. The annual deficit, which has spiralled as President Emmanuel Macron’s government tries to prop up the struggling economy with massive spending, is now expected to reach nine percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021, he told reporters. This compares to […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Arabia announced plans Tuesday to pump $3.2 trillion in fresh investments by 2030 to boost the private sector, as the OPEC kingpin pushes to diversify its oil-reliant economy. The announcement by de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman comes as the petro-state battles high unemployment and a coronavirus-triggered downturn. “The total investment injected… into the national economy is expected to reach 12 trillion riyals ($3.2 trillion) by 2030,” […]
Says ECQ extension not the only way to address COVID-19 rise, urges gov’t to look at response of other ASEAN nations (Eagle News) – The president of the Economic Confederation of the Philippines appealed to the Philippine government not to concentrate on lockdown as the only solution to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases. ECOP President Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr., in an interview with NET25’s Balitalakayan, said that while they note that the move of […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Oil prices nosedived Tuesday on lower demand prospects as Europe’s biggest economy Germany said it would reimpose strict coronavirus containment measures as it struggles, along with other EU nations, to roll out vaccines. European stocks ended the day mostly lower, as did US stocks, as renewed fears of spreading Covid-19 overtook hopes of a swift reopening to the world’s largest economy. On currency markets, the Turkish lira stabilized a […]
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand’s economy shrank at a record rate of 2.9 percent in 2020 due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, official data released Thursday showed. Statistics New Zealand said the economy contracted just one percent in the final quarter of 2020 but a coronavirus-induced recession earlier in the year meant the annual fall was the highest on record. “The decline in annual gross domestic product is largely due to […]
by Heather SCOTT WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US labor market faces a lengthy recovery and the economy will not see maximum employment this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday. While he expressed hope about the restoration of jobs lost during the pandemic, Powell noted that millions of workers have left the labor force. “I think it’s not at all likely it would reach maximum employment this year. I think it’s going […]
