New Zealand committed to cutting spending, PM Hipkins says

By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The New Zealand government is committed to reducing spending even though severe weather events earlier this year caused asset damage of roughly NZ$9 billion ($5.51 billion) to NZ$14.5 billion, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said on Thursday. Flash floods hit Auckland, the country’s largest city, in January and Cyclone Gabrielle…

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US, South Korean leaders pledge to cooperate on forex market stability

(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol upgraded their commitment to cooperate on maintaining stability in foreign exchange markets at a summit on Wednesday, a senior South Korean economic official said. “It is meaningful that (the two leaders) expressed their willingness to actively cooperate for the financial stability at…

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Euro near one-year peak as US economic risks weigh on dollar

By Kevin Buckland TOKYO (Reuters) – The euro hovered near a one-year high versus the dollar on Thursday, as Europe’s resilient economy contrasted with banking contagion risks in the United States, the debt ceiling standoff and a potential recession. The risk-sensitive Aussie struggled to stay above the key 66 cent mark, while leading cryptocurrency bitcoin…

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ADB head: Developing Asia’s growth robust, tightening global finances a risk

(Reuters) – Asia’s developing economies have seen “very robust” growth but face risks from tightening global financial conditions due to rapid U.S. and European interest rate hikes, Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa said on Thursday. In an online event, Asakawa also said stronger-than-expected growth in China’s economy may put additional inflationary pressure on…

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US adds Belarus, Bulgaria to intellectual property watch list

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Trade Representative’s office added Belarus to an intellectual property rights watch list over a new law allowing the unauthorized use of copyrighted works from countries sanctioning Belarus for its support of Russia’s war in Ukraine. USTR’s 2023 Special 301 Report on U.S. trading partners intellectual property (IP)…

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Argentina govt to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than dollars

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina will start to pay for Chinese imports in yuan rather than dollars, the government announced Wednesday, a measure that aims to relieve the country’s dwindling dollar reserves. In April, it aims to pay around $1 billion of Chinese imports in yuan instead of dollars and thereafter around $790 million of monthly…

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Hyundai Motor to exit Russia, selling its plants – media report

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co plans to exit Russia and sell its manufacturing plants there to a Kazakh company, South Korean media reported on Wednesday. South Korean TV network MBC reported that negotiations to sell Hyundai’s factories in Russia are in the final stage, adding that the automaker has been waiting for…

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Geely’s EV brand Zeekr jumps on the ‘gigapress’ bandwagon

By Norihiko Shirouzu (Reuters) – Geely’s EV brand Zeekr is the latest to join a growing list of automakers that have turned to the “gigapress” die casting technique pioneered by Tesla to slash the cost of electric cars. Zeekr’s manufacturing technology chief Jiang Kehong told Reuters the Chinese carmaker had started using massive aluminium die…

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