Japanese household spending posted first rise in six months in July
Households increased spending for the first time in six months in July, government data showed Friday, providing a positive sign in the world's third-largest economy despite it being just a slight uptick in expenditures. Spending by households with two or more people edged up 0.1 ...
Trump tariff fight adds to China's economic challenges as retail, other sectors sag
China faces bigger economic challenges than its trade war with the U.S. Even before tit-for-tat tariffs, growth in the world's No. 2 economy was already forecast to cool from 6.8 percent last year to a still-robust 6.5 percent this year. Communist leaders who are trying to ...
Maduro buys gold to boost savings amid Venezuela's five-digit inflation but few other takers seen
President Nicolas Maduro said he is investing part of his personal savings in a gold-backed certificate as part of a much-questioned plan to crush hyperinflation and reactivate Venezuela's moribund economy. Maduro and first lady Cilia Flores were the first in line at the central bank ...
Japan saw capital spending rise at fastest pace in over a decade in April-June quarter
Investment by all nonfinancial sectors for purposes such as building factories and adding equipment increased by 12.8 percent from a year earlier, with spending reaching ¥10.66 trillion.
China Party journal warns of trade war's impact on financial stability
A Chinese Communist Party journal has said that the country may experience near-term pain from trade friction with the United States, including a negative impact on financial stability, but China's stable growth trend would not change. A commentary published Saturday in the ideological journal Qiushi, ...
RCEP negotiators agree on package of trade objectives to be reached by year-end
Meeting in Singapore, the 16 participants hammered out a road map of sorts for creating the world’s largest free trade area.
BOJ chief Haruhiko Kuroda rules out hiking interest rates for 'quite a long time'
As its U.S. and European peers tighten monetary policy, the chief of Japan’s central bank clarifies that its July policy phrase “an extended period” means “quite a long time.”
Japan's government budget requests for fiscal 2019 hit record high
Budget requests from government ministries and agencies for fiscal 2019 reached a record-high ¥102.5 trillion ($923 billion) amid snowballing social security costs and increasing defense spending, officials said Friday. The figure suggests that the initial general account budget for the year beginning next April could ...
Predicting Trump: Chinese turn to fortune tellers to divine trade war
As analysts crunch trade data and political commentators dissect official statements for signs of how the Sino-American trade war will develop, some ordinary Chinese are using different sources to predict U.S. President Donald Trump's next moves: fortune tellers. Armed with photos of Trump and his ...
Japan's factory output declines due to natural disasters and slowing exports, raising growth worries
The country's industrial output fell for a third straight month in July, as factory activity struggled to pick up due to slowing exports and flooding that disrupted production. This was compounded by global trade tensions that cloud the export-reliant economy's outlook. Trade ministry data, released ...
Trump threatens to pull U.S. out of WTO if it doesn't 'shape up'
U.S. President Donald Trump said he would pull out of the World Trade Organization if it doesn't treat the U.S. better, targeting a cornerstone of the international trading system. "If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO," Trump said Thursday in an ...
Trump reportedly ready to back $200 billion in China tariffs next week
President Donald Trump wants to move ahead with a plan to impose tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese imports as soon as a public-comment period concludes next week, according to six people familiar with the matter. Asked to confirm the plan in an interview with ...
