WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy has floated a plan that would pair $4.5 trillion in spending cuts with a $1.5 trillion increase in the U.S. debt ceiling. His proposal does not include some of the more dramatic fiscal ideas floated by Republicans who control the House. Here are some possibilities…
By Suban Abdulla and William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) -British businesses reported their busiest month in a year and consumers turned more confident, according to surveys published on Friday that added to signs of a recovery in the economy that has so far defied forecasts of a recession. The preliminary reading of the S&P Global/CIPS UK…
HELSINKI (Reuters) – The European Central Bank should maintain a tightening monetary policy that restricts demand, Finnish central bank Governor Olli Rehn said in a speech on Friday. “In monetary policy, we have moved into an area that restricts aggregate demand, and there is no reason for us to abandon it or exit it prematurely,”…
By Howard Schneider WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve officials remain set to raise interest rates at their May 2-3 meeting but key data between now and then, particularly a survey of bank lending officers, may shape how they weight the risks facing the U.S. economy and whether they decide to pause further increases. Since…
(Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Friday it was monitoring reports of a possible ban on exports to Russia by Western countries, and that new sanctions would damage the global economy. “We are carefully monitoring this, we are aware that both the U.S. and the EU are actively considering new sanctions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov…
By Nell Mackenzie PARIS (Reuters) – The biggest threat to the economic outlook is a credit squeeze that has not finished filtering through the financial system, a senior official at Fidelity International told a European equities conference on Wednesday. For asset managers, hedge funds and traders gathered in Paris for the Tradetech equity trading conference,…
By Libby George and Jorgelina do Rosario LONDON (Reuters) -Brazil’s central bank Governor Roberto Campos Neto said on Friday that the bank’s independence is crucial for the country’s economy, as political pressure mounted for it to reduce borrowing costs. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and other politicians have pressured the bank to lower benchmark…
HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s economy could grow 6% this year, better than a previous forecast for 3.8% growth, thanks to a strong performance by agriculture and easing power shortages, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said on Friday. “We are saying 3.8% growth is an underestimate. The growth should be higher than that and close to 6%,”…
By Rowena Edwards LONDON (Reuters) -Oil prices were on track for a hefty weekly loss as economic and interest rate uncertainty weighed, though prices were stable on Friday as the euro zone recovery gathered pace unexpectedly. Brent futures for June delivery edged down by 4 cents, or 0.05%, to $81.06 a barrel at 0932 GMT….
OSLO (Reuters) -Norway’s $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of the world’s largest investors, on Friday posted a 5.9% return on investment for the first quarter boosted by rising equity markets. “It’s actually one of the strongest quarters we ever had,” Deputy CEO Trond Grande said in a video posted on LinkedIn. Despite market turmoil…
