New bank loans in China rose more expected in March from the previous month due to strong corporate and household demand, as the central bank walks a tightrope between supporting the rapidly recovering economy and containing debt risks.
New bank loans in China rose more expected in March from the previous month due to strong corporate and household demand, as the central bank walks a tightrope between supporting the rapidly recovering economy and containing debt risks.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
WASHINGTON, April 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that a $650 billion increase in International Monetary Fund currency reserves will put significant resources into the hands of the world’s poorest countries facing the biggest pandemic needs.
Yellen told the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that many advanced economies which will get the biggest share of resources from the U.S.-backed Special Drawing Rights allocation have indicated a desire and willingness to loan or donate SDRs to poorer countries through IMF facilities.
Yellen also said that she doubted that Biden spending initiatives, including a $1.9 trillion relief package and a proposed $2 trillion infrastructure investment plan, would cause inflationary pressures because the true U.S. unemployment rate was still around 9% due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Reporting by David Lawder)
By Reuters Staff
4 Min Read
BEIRUT, April 2 (Reuters) - Lebanon will run out of money to fund basic imports by the end of May and delays in launching a plan to reduce subsidies are costing $500 million a month, the caretaker finance minister, Ghazi Wazni, said.
As Lebanon’s economy crumbles, the central bank has asked the caretaker cabinet to decide how to gradually lift subsidies to ration remaining foreign currency reserves, Wazni told Reuters on Thursday.
“The government must speed this up. The cost of wasting time is very high. With every delay, it becomes higher,” he said.
Lebanon’s financial meltdown is fuelling hunger and unrest in the country’s gravest crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
TOKYO, April 2 (Reuters) - The amount of money circulating in Japan soared by a fifth to hit a record in March as central bank pumped out cash to cushion blows to the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average balance of monetary base, or the amount of cash in circulation and deposits at the BOJ, rose 20.8% in March from a year earlier to 613.4 trillion yen ($5.5 trillion), marking the fastest annual gain since February 2017, central bank data showed on Friday.
The increase was driven largely by a surge in the BOJ’s purchases of short-term securities and demand for its loan scheme aimed at channelling funds to COVID-hit firms.