Economic news

India gives companies $20.5 billion tax break to try to revive growth India’s government slashed corporate taxes giving a surprise $20.5 billion break at reviving private investments and lifting growth from a six-year low that has caused job losses and fueled discontent in the countryside. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had told reporters the effective corporate […]

U.S., Chinese trade talks commence in Washington despite differences U.S. and Chinese trade deputies were set to resume face-to-face trade talks on Thursday after the two of the world’s largest economies attempted to bridge deep policy differences and find a way out of a bitter and already-prolonged trade war. The negotiations scheduled for Thursday and […]

Bank recovery lifts European stocks higher A rally in bank stocks for the first time in four sessions lifted European shares on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates but set a higher bar for further reductions. European banks rose the highest among major sectors, which benefitted from investors rotating into underperforming stocks. […]

Ireland said on Thursday that the United Kingdom had failed to supply credible Brexit proposals, adding that there had been no breakthrough at talks with the Northern Irish party siding with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government. “We need to get credible proposals that we simply haven’t seen yet,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveny said, adding […]

UK inflation fell to its lowest level in almost three years after the end of summer sales held clothing prices down. Annual rate had dipped to 1.7% in August according to the Office for National Statistics, taking inflation down to the lowest level since December 2016. Marking the drop as the biggest fall in the […]

Cash spending overtaken by credit cards for the first time Credit card spending has taken over cash for the first time, according to data from UK retailers, demoting notes and coins to the third most popular method of payment. The figures come from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – whose members are responsible for £180bn […]

Britain will investigate national security impacts of the purchase of defense company Cobham by U.S. private equity firm Advent International, which would potentially delay or block the $5 billion deal. Business minister Andrea Leadsom’s move on Wednesday is not unusual where there are potential security concerns and follows British government intervention in the pending acquisition […]

Dollar sits at seven-week high vs Yen ahead of Fed meeting The dollar held near a seven-week high against the Japanese yen on Wednesday before the outcome of a Federal Reserve meeting where officials are widely expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. “The focus will be on the policy […]

Britain hopes for trade deal with Australia after Brexit Britain’s Trade Minister Liz Truss said on Wednesday she expects to complete a wide-ranging trade deal with Australia within months of exiting the European Union. In efforts to reduce the economic impact of Brexit, the government is looking to line up a series of trade deals […]

KPMG forecasts no-deal Brexit recession in 2020 Britain could plunge into its first recession in a decade should the government quit the EU without a deal, according to the latest in a string of gloomy forecasts made by the Bank of England and the Treasury’s independent forecasting unit, the Office for Budget Responsibility. Economists at […]