Classifieds
Egypt Says It Reached Deal With IMF to Increase Bailout Loan
CAIRO — Egypt said Wednesday it has reached a deal with the International Monetary Fund to increase a bailout loan to $8 billion. Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly announced the news in televised comments on Wednesday. Egypt has for months negotiated with the IMF to increase a $3 billion bailout loan that both parties reached in 2022. Madbouly said the new deal will enable the government to receive loans from other financial institutions, including the World Bank. The announcement came hours after Egypt’s Central Bank raised its main interest rate and floated …
China Unveils Ambitious Economic Growth Target Despite Weak Public Confidence
Taipei, Taiwan — China’s top leaders set an ambitious economic growth target of 5% for 2024 Tuesday, vowing to “seek progress while maintaining stability” amid a sluggish economy and weak confidence among investors and consumers. Delivering his first work report since assuming the second-most powerful position in China last October, Chinese Premier Li Qiang acknowledged that China faces an environment characterized by opportunities, risks, and challenges but emphasized that favorable conditions still outweigh unfavorable factors, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency. In the face of weak economic growth worldwide and …
China Unveils 5% Growth Target During Ceremonial Meeting of Parliament
China kicked off its annual session of parliament Tuesday in Beijing. VOA’s Bill Gallo, who attended the event, says Chinese leaders are trying to put a positive spin on the many economic problems they face. …
Federal Reserve’s Preferred Inflation Gauge Picked Up Last Month in Sign of Still-Elevated Prices
WASHINGTON — An inflation gauge favored by the Federal Reserve increased in January, the latest sign that the slowdown in U.S. consumer price increases is occurring unevenly from month to month. The government reported Thursday that prices rose 0.3% from December to January, up from 0.1% in the previous month. But in a more encouraging sign, prices were up just 2.4% from a year earlier, down from a 2.6% annual pace in December and the smallest such increase in nearly three years. The year-over-year cooldown in inflation is sure to be …
Facing Chinese EV Rivals, Europe’s Automakers Squeeze Suppliers on Costs
London — Europe’s automakers and their already-stretched suppliers face a tough year as they race to cut costs for electric models to counter leaner Chinese rivals which are bringing cheaper vehicles to challenge them on their home turf. A big question is how much more Europe’s automakers can squeeze out of suppliers that have already started laying off workers, with many smaller companies hard hit by supply chain issues during the pandemic. The difference between Europe’s legacy automakers and more EV-focused Chinese manufacturers will be on stark display this week at …
Tax-Free Status of Movie, Music and Games Traded Online Is on Table as WTO Nations Meet in Abu Dhabi
Geneva — Since late last century and the early days of the web, providers of digital media like Netflix and Spotify have had a free pass when it comes to international taxes on films, video games and music that are shipped across borders through the internet. But now, a global consensus on the issue may be starting to crack. As the World Trade Organization opens its latest biannual meeting of government ministers Monday, its longtime moratorium on duties on e-commerce products — which has been renewed almost automatically since 1998 — …
Consumers Pushing Back Against Price Increases — And Winning
Washington — Inflation has changed the way many Americans shop. Now, those changes in consumer habits are helping bring down inflation. Fed up with prices that remain about 19%, on average, above where they were before the pandemic, consumers are fighting back. In grocery stores, they’re shifting away from name brands to store-brand items, switching to discount stores or simply buying fewer items like snacks or gourmet foods. More Americans are buying used cars, too, rather than new, forcing some dealers to provide discounts on new cars again. But the growing …
Ukraine’s War-Battered Economy Shows Signs of Recovery
Ukraine’s economy shrank 29% in 2022, the year Russia launched its full-scale invasion. In addition, Ukrainian businesses were destroyed, exports were halted and millions of people were displaced. But in 2023, Ukranian officials’ say, the economy actually grew 5%. Eastern Europe Bureau Chief Myroslava Gongadze reports from Kyiv. …
Nigeria Grapples with Soaring Inflation, Plummeting Currency
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigerians are facing one of the West African nation’s worst economic crises in years triggered by surging inflation, the result of monetary policies that have pushed the currency to an all-time low against the dollar. The situation has provoked anger and protests across the country. The latest government statistics released Thursday showed the inflation rate in January rose to 29.9%, its highest since 1996, mainly driven by food and non-alcoholic beverages. Nigeria’s currency, the naira, further plummeted to 1,524 to $1 on Friday, reflecting a 230% loss of …
Foreign Minister Says Cutting China Out of Trade Would Be Historic Mistake
MUNICH — China’s foreign minister told a gathering of international security policy officials Saturday that trying to shut China out of trade in the name of avoiding dependency would be a historic mistake. Wang Yi spoke at the Munich Security Conference. Host Germany wants to avoid over-reliance on trade with an increasingly assertive China and diversify its supply of key goods in an approach it calls “de-risking.” That’s in line with the approach of other industrial powers in the Group of Seven, which has stressed that it doesn’t seek to harm …
Algeria’s Black Market for Foreign Currency Underlines Its Economic Woes
ALGIERS, Algeria — In a square near the center of Algiers, currency traders carry wads of euros, pounds and dollars, hoping to exchange them to those worried about the plummeting value of the Algerian dinar. This black market for foreign currencies is among the signs of the economic woes plaguing Algeria. The state, reluctant to allow the exchange rate to adjust fully, has proven incapable of limiting demand among the population as confidence in the dinar remains low. The widening parallel exchange rate underscores how everyday Algerians have lost buying power …
Japan Unexpectedly Slips into Recession
TOKYO — Japan unexpectedly slipped into a recession at the end of last year, losing its title as the world’s third-biggest economy to Germany and raising doubts about when the central bank would begin to exit its decade-long ultra-loose monetary policy. Some analysts are warning of another contraction in the current quarter as weak demand in China, sluggish consumption and production halts at a unit of Toyota Motor Corp all point to a challenging path to an economic recovery. “What’s particularly striking is the sluggishness in consumption and capital expenditure that …
Zimbabwe Will Attempt to Establish Gold-Backed Currency
Harare, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s government said Monday it is introducing a gold-backed currency to replace the country’s nearly worthless dollar, which most businesses have shunned, preferring the U.S. dollar or South African rand. Minister for Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube told reporters in an online press conference that Zimbabwe was making the move to ensure sustained growth. “Really this is a quest for currency stability,” Ncube said. “What has emerged over the years is the U.S. [dollar] being the most dominant. “Going forward, we want to make sure that the …
US Inflation Slows as Price Pressures Ease Gradually
WASHINGTON — Annual inflation in the United States cooled last month yet remained elevated in the latest sign that the pandemic-fueled price surge is gradually and fitfully coming under control. Tuesday’s report from the Labor Department showed that the consumer price index rose 0.3% from December to January, up from a 0.2% increase the previous month. Compared with a year ago, prices are up 3.1%. That is less than the 3.4% figure in December and far below the 9.1% inflation peak in mid-2022. The latest reading is well above the Federal …
Consumers Have Fewer Choices as Brands Prune Their Offerings
NEW YORK — How much choice is too much? Apparently for Coca-Cola, it’s about 400 different types of drinks. That’s why the beverage company recently decided to discontinue half of them, shedding brands like Tab, Zico coconut water, Diet Coke Fiesty Cherry and Odwalla juices but still leaving about 200 others to choose from. It’s a move that other businesses are making as well, reducing the variety of offerings from mayonnaise to cereals to cars and instead focusing on what they think will sell best. Stew Leonard’s, a supermarket chain that …
Yellen to Visit Pittsburgh, Detroit to Tout Biden’s Economic Wins
WASHINGTON — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will travel to the battleground states of Pennsylvania and Michigan this week as part of an election-year push aimed at showcasing what she calls “the strongest economic comeback of our lifetimes.” Yellen will visit Pittsburgh on Feb. 13 and Detroit on Feb. 14 for events with elected officials and community leaders focused on the Biden administration’s efforts to lower health care costs, support small businesses and boost economic opportunity, the Treasury said. The trips build on Yellen’s visits to Illinois and Wisconsin in January …
IMF Chief: Mideast Growth to Slow in 2024 on Oil Cuts, Gaza
Dubai, United Arab Emirates — The International Monetary Fund said on Sunday Middle East economies were lagging below growth projections due to oil production cuts and the Israel-Gaza conflict, even as the global economic outlook remained resilient. Despite uncertainties, “the global economy has been surprisingly resilient,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva told the Arab Fiscal Forum in Dubai, while warning of a potential wider impact on regional economies of continued conflict in Gaza. In a regional economic report last month, the IMF revised its GDP growth forecast for the Middle East …
Cuba Charges 30 Over Massive Chicken Heist
HAVANA — Cuba has charged 30 people with stealing 133 tons of chicken and selling them on the street in a rare major heist at a time of food shortages in the communist-run nation. Thieves took the meat, in 1,660 white boxes, from a state facility in the capital, Havana, and used the sale proceeds to buy refrigerators, laptops, televisions and air conditioners, according to a Cuban state TV broadcast late Friday. The chicken had been earmarked for Cuba`s “rationbook” system introduced after the late Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution to provide …
Will Immigrants Save US Economy as Baby Boomers Retire in Droves?
About 10,000 people born between 1946 and 1964 leave the workforce each day …
Kenyan Farmers Embrace Chinese-Engineered Grass for Fodder
Having enough feed for livestock is critical to the food security of many African countries. Some farmers are considering adopting a Chinese-engineered grass called Juncao, advertised as high-yielding and fast-maturing. Some scientists advise caution. Francis Ontomwa has more from Kajiado, Kenya. Video: Amos Wangwa. …
Iraq Bans 8 Local Banks From US Dollar Transactions
Baghdad, Iraq — Iraq has banned eight local commercial banks from engaging in U.S. dollar transactions, taking action to reduce fraud, money laundering and other illegal uses of U.S. currency days after a visit by a top U.S. Treasury official. The banks are banned from accessing the Iraqi central bank’s daily dollar auction, a main source of hard currency in the import-dependent country that has become a focal point of a U.S. crackdown on currency smuggling to neighboring Iran. A rare ally of both the United States and Iran with more …
IMF Predicts China Economy Slowing Over Next Four Years
washington — The International Monetary Fund says China’s economic decline is likely to continue over the next four years as the world’s second largest economy deals with a range of challenges from a rapidly aging population, higher unemployment and a property crisis. In a report released on Friday, the global financial policy body – also known as the IMF – projected China’s economic growth would drop to 4.6% this year, down from its 5.2% growth in 2023, and fall further to 3.4% by 2028. The property market, which has historically represented …