Turkish budget deficit widens in March after quakes

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s central government budget recorded a deficit of 47.22 billion lira ($2.46 billion) in March, the Finance Ministry said on Monday, while the cumulative deficit for 2023 so far widened to 250 billion lira, mainly due to devastating earthquakes. The primary balance, which excludes interest payments, logged a deficit of 2.15 billion…

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IKEA lookalike ‘Swed House’ opens in Moscow to mixed reactions

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Belarusian furniture company Swed House, which sells items intended to look like those made by Swedish giant IKEA, opened its first store in Moscow on Saturday to a mixed initial reaction from consumers. IKEA halted all retail and production operations in Russia soon after Moscow started its “special military operation” against Ukraine,…

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Australia nears wide-ranging shake up of its central bank

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s Treasurer on Monday said he was close to announcing details of a wide-ranging review into the country’s central bank which would require legal changes for some steps, underlining the scope of the shake-up. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the independent review had provided 51 recommendations for changing how the Reserve Bank of…

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Sudan’s army pounds paramilitary bases with air strikes in power struggle

By Khalid Abdelaziz and Nafisa Eltahir KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s army appeared to gain the upper hand on Sunday in a bloody power struggle with rival paramilitary forces, pounding their bases with air strikes, said witnesses. At least 97 civilians had been killed and 365 injured since the fighting in Sudan started, said one doctor’s…

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