Global Business & Economy
Friday, 17 May 2013 09:59
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TOKYO: Japan's finance minister trumpeted bright economic news on Friday as figures showed firms were ramping up investment in a possible sign that government stimulus was working."Capital spending will increase from now on," Taro Aso told reporters after official data showed core machinery orders soared 14.2 percent on-month in March.The jump is the highest increase since April 2005 when comparable data started to be collected.Core orders are regarded as a leading indicator of corporate capital spending. Economists say movements in the figure may reflect the outlook for the broader economy.The data is good news for Japan's aggressive-spending government, who have unleashed a vast stimulus plan intended to help turn around an economy that has been treading water for years.It came the day after the Cabinet Office said the economy expanded by 0.9 percent on quarter in the three months to March, giving a respectable annualised growth rate of 3.5 percent.The ...
WARSAW: Hit by drag from the eurozone crisis, growth in Central European heavyweight Poland will slow to 1.2 percent this year before an uptick to 2.2 percent in 2014, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday. "We do expect the economy to recover in the second half of the year, as Europe itself begins to recover and as the effects of monetary policy begin to be felt," IMF official Julie Kozack said, urging "monetary easing ...
OSLO: Economic growth in oil and gas-rich Norway grew by 0.7 percent in the first quarter, the Norwegian statistics office said on Thursday.This was an acceleration from growth in the previous quarter when mainland gross domestic product, which excludes the highly cyclical offshore oil and shipping sectors, grew by 0.2 percent in the latest revised figure.The result was in line with analysts' expectations, and came on the back of solid household demand, export growth and ...
ANKARA: The Turkish central bank cut its main interest rate by half a percentage point on Thursday in an effort to give a boost to a slowing economy and stamp down a surging Turkish lire.In an expected decision, the bank said it cut its benchmark rate to 4.5 percent in order to maintain financial stability. The move reflected similar rate cuts across the region.Turkish Finance Minister Zafer Caglayan praised the cut, hoping the move would ...
SAO PAULO: Economic activity in Brazil accelerated in the first quarter, central bank data showed on Thursday, adding to signs that a gradual recovery has gained steam after massive stimulus by President Dilma Rousseff's government.The improvement happened even though retail sales, one of the main pillars of recent economic growth, had its weakest quarter in five years as inflation jumped. This suggests Brazil relied less on consumers and more on industrial output and private investments ...
BERLIN: Germany will not publicly criticise France over economic policy, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble insisted on Thursday, amid differences between the two main eurozone countries over growth versus austerity in battling the debt crisis."We work really well together," Schaeuble said about Berlin and Paris when asked whether Germany was losing patience with its neighbour, during a panel discussion about Europe. "We only talk positively about each other. With one another, we speak openly," he ...
WASHINGTON: US retail sales unexpectedly rose in April as households bought automobiles, building materials and a range of other goods, pointing to underlying strength in the economy.The Commerce Department said on Monday retail sales edged up 0.1 percent after a revised 0.5 percent decline in March.Economists polled by Reuters had expected retail sales, which account for about 30 percent of consumer spending, to drop 0.3 percent last month after a previously reported 0.4 percent decline ...
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