BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday gave Lebanese politicians until the end of October to start delivering on reforms, saying financial aid would be withheld and sanctions imposed further down the line if corruption gets in the... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron marked Lebanon’s centenary on Tuesday by planting a cedar tree, the emblem of the Middle East country that is collapsing under the weight of a crippling economic crisis. In his second trip to Lebanon in less ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – The option of a one-time payment holiday during times of intense crisis might enable countries to pandemic-proof their bonds, a prominent debt fund believes. Economic fallout from COVID-19 has triggered a record number of sovereign defaults ... More »
TUNIS (Reuters) – Tunisia has asked four countries to delay debt repayments, it said on Monday as it announced more pessimistic economic and budget forecasts for 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. It is negotiating with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France and I... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor said it was encouraging commercial banks to lend more to sustain businesses during the coronavirus crisis. Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) Governor Ahmed al-Kholifey was speaking at a virtual econo... More »
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah’s leader hailed the Lebanese government’s crisis plan as a “big, important step” on Monday and said any talks with the IMF must not blindly surrender the country to terms it can not bear. In a televised speech, Sayyed Hassan Nasral... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund said on Monday the relaxation of the euro zone’s fiscal rules and support from the European Central Bank and the European Stability Mechanism is critical to a strong regional response to the coronavirus pa... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s economy is beginning to show some signs of normalization following the full-blown shock caused by the coronavirus, but stark risks remain, International Monetary Fund officials said in a blog on the economic impact of the pandemi... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund estimates that Kuwait’s financing needs will amount to some $180 billion over the next six years given the Gulf state’s “modest” fiscal measures and expectations of lower oil prices. Kuwait said earlier this mo... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran would need oil priced at $194.6 a barrel to balance its budget next year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. Hurt by tighter U.S. sanctions, Iran – a key member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) – i... More »
DUBAI (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is assessing an emergency reform package announced by Lebanon’s government last week and stressed reforms should be implemented urgently given the country’s high debt levels and fiscal deficits. L... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The collateral damage of the United States’ trade wars is being felt from the fjords of Iceland to the auto factories of Japan. Central bank governors and finance ministers traded grim tales of suffering economies at the International Mo... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China’s top central banker said on Saturday that potential escalation of trade tensions and policy uncertainty were the major risk factors facing the world economy, and market forces were keeping China’s yuan at an appropriate level. Yi ... More »
HELSINKI (Reuters) – France and Germany said on Friday that Facebook Inc’s (FB.O) Libra currency posed risks to the financial sector that could block its authorization in Europe, and backed the development of an alternative public cryptocurrency. The criticism... More »
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s government authorized currency controls on Sunday in an about-face by President Mauricio Macri, who had previously lifted many protectionist practices of his predecessor, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The central bank is ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – China is unlikely to face serious consequences from the Trump administration’s decision to label it a currency manipulator given the apparent lack of G7 and IMF support for the move, former and current U.S. and G7 officials said. The U.S... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Croatia has submitted a formal bid to join the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM-2), an early stage on the path to membership of the euro currency, the head of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers said on Monday. The move could... More »
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s opposition conservatives returned to power with a landslide victory in snap elections on Sunday, and Prime Minister elect Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he had a clear mandate for change, pledging more investments and fewer taxes. The win... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A shrewd negotiator who has run the IMF but has little monetary policy experience, Christine Lagarde will face the challenge as the European Central Bank’s new chief of having to revive the euro zone economy with a largely depleted policy... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – After almost three years of successfully predicting a global economic revival, world bond markets are furiously flagging the risk of yet another recession, as well as low inflation for a generation. Spooked by the escalating U.S.-China trade... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An internal European Central Bank model indicates the euro zone’s economic growth could slow further in the second quarter, suggesting the projected recovery may be delayed even further, two sources familiar with the discussion said on F... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Greece is looking to strike a deal this weekend to repay early about half of the loans it received from the International Monetary Fund, in a bid to lower the euro zone member’s burden of debt servicing, a senior official said on Friday.... More »
NOVOVOLYNSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukrainian police are investigating two companies and a factory over a coal deal which some anti-corruption campaigners say epitomizes the difficulties of doing business in the east European country. The sums involved in the dea... More »
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s central bank is likely to maintain interest rates at its meeting on Thursday, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, although some analysts predicted a cut ahead of expected fuel price increases this summer. Eight out of 12 economists polle... More »
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgaria aims to join the EU’s banking union on the same day it enters the “waiting room” for euro zone membership, where it must spend at least two years before joining the single currency, its prime minister said on Friday. Boyko Borissov s... More »
AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan’s Prime Minister Hani Mulki submitted his resignation to King Abdullah on Monday, an official source said, to soothe widespread anger over economic policies that have sparked the largest protests in several years and dozens of arrests.... More »
AMMAN (Reuters) – Hani Mulki resigned from his post as Jordan’s prime minister in a meeting with King Abdullah on Monday, an official source said, a move aimed at defusing anger over economic policies that have sparked the largest protests in years. Source: ht... More »
AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan’s police chief said security forces had detained 60 people for breaking the law during major protests over tax hikes in recent days. Major General Fadel al-Hamoud said at a press conference that 42 members of the security forces were i... More »
AMMAN (Reuters) – Hundreds of Jordanians took to the streets of the capital Amman on Sunday in a fourth day of nightly protests against IMF-backed price increases that have shaken the kingdom, witnesses said. They said demonstrators who converged near the cabi... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave her most detailed response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to reform the euro zone in an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper published on Sunday. The followi... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Saturday he may travel to China, a move that could ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies, as international policymakers acknowledged Beijing needs to change its trade pract... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Spooked by brewing trade tensions and a broad reversal in technology shares, global investors have cut their equity exposure to a four-month low this month while reducing their holdings of U.S. stocks to the lowest in nearly two years. Reute... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – British investors rattled by global trade tensions are holding equity exposure near four-month lows, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, though they see emerging market assets as benefiting from dollar weakness. Reuters’ latest monthly asset ... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – European investors have raised their bond allocations in March while keeping their equity exposure at six-month lows, in a month marked by a sharp tech sector selloff and brewing trade tensions that threatened to dent world economic growth. ... More »
International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde (L) and Indonesian President Joko Widodo leave Tanah Abang market following their visit in Jakarta, Indonesia February 26, 2018. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside JAKARTA (Reuters) – International Monetary... More »
Protesters flee tear gas as they clash with riot police during a demonstration outside the parliament building against planned government reforms in Athens, Greece January 12, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis ATHENS (Reuters) – Greek police fired teargas at ... More »
Protesters clash with riot police during a demonstration outside the parliament building against planned government reforms in Athens, Greece January 12, 2018. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis ATHENS (Reuters) – Thousands of Greek protesters marched in central Ath... More »
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s central bank said on Monday a failure to cooperate with the International Monetary Fund and the inefficiency of state lenders were among the biggest risks to the country’s financial stability next year. Backtracking by the government... More »
International Monetary Fund headquarters building is seen during the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, U.S., October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran’s economy is starting to recover more rapidly from years of international sanc... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – Sudan’s president is wanted for crimes against humanity, the economy has lost much of its oil output and the government is in arrears with the IMF. And yet Osama Faisal’s target of boosting foreign investment tenfold is not quite as daunting... More »
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos arrives for a cabinet meeting at the parliament in Athens, Greece June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Costas Baltas ATHENS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Greece and its euro zone creditors reached a preliminary deal on Saturday on reforms Ath... More »
FILE PHOTO: A worker looks on as a drill breaks the pavement on a construction site next to Barangaroo building complex in Sydney’s central business district (CBD) Australia, November 9, 2017. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia’s economy is expe... More »
Greece's economy contracted by 0.2 percent last year, the head of statistics service ELSTAT said on Tuesday, releasing its second estimate of full-year 2016 gross domestic product. More »
Wages and inflation in the 19-country euro zone will eventually rise but more slowly than earlier thought, requiring continued patience from policymakers, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Saturday. More »
Greece does not expect it will need a precautionary credit line when it exits its bailout next year, a view that is in line with its official creditors, the finance minister said on Friday after a meeting of euro zone ministers in Tallinn. More »
FILE PHOTO: Customers push shopping trolleys on an escalator at the Bercy shopping centre in Charenton Le Pont, near Paris, August 29, 2013. Data in the coming week should confirm the euro zone economy is running hot, after the IMF upgraded growth forecasts an... More »
The HM Treasury name is seen painted on the outside of Britain’s Treasury building in central London, Britain November 25, 2015. Twenty-two mice scurrying around Britain’s finance ministry have fallen foul of the chief mouser to the Treasury since he took up r... More »
FILE PHOTO: A man rides his motorcycle past shipping containers at the Port of Shanghai February 14, 2011. The International Monetary Fund kept its growth forecasts for the world economy unchanged for this year and next, although it revised up growth expectati... More »
Indonesia’s Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati speaks during the International Tax Conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 12, 2017. Indonesia will sharply lift its tax collection and work with other nations to develop new rules to tackle the “aggressive” t... More »
The International Monetary Fund logo is seen during the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, U.S., April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Overhauling land legislation will be key for Ukraine’s next review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and shou... More »
Ukraine could unlock some $50 billion of collateral for lending to the country’s agricultural industry by overhauling its land legislation, Francis Malige, Managing Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), said on Friday. More »
Customers peruse goods at Makola market in Accra, Ghana, June 15, 2015. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko/File Photo Ghana’s annual consumer price inflation fell to 12.6 percent in May from 13.0 percent the previous month, the statistics office said on Wednesday. More »
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attends a cabinet meeting at the parliament in Athens, Greece June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Costas Baltas Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said he is optimistic that a deal paving the way for new loans for Greece will be rea... More »
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) welcomes French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire at his office in Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece, June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Costas Baltas Euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund are likely to strik... More »
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos attends a eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium May 22, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir Euro zone finance ministers failed to agree on debt relief for Greece with the International Monetary Fund on Monda... More »
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel address the media after a private meeting in Mexico City, Mexico, May 19, 2017. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Monday urged euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund... More »
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday it would be possible to develop the euro zone’s European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund into a European monetary fund soon. More »
A security personnel stands next to International Monetary Fund logo at IMF headquarters in Washington, U.S., April 19, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas World finance leaders are gathering on U.S. President Donald Trump’s home turf on Thursday to try to nudge his sti... More »
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos speaks during a news conference at the Ministry of Finance in Athens, Greece March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis Euro zone deputy finance ministers have recommended that Greek bailout review talks continue in A... More »
A slogan reads ” The poor vote for NO” next to a mailbox outside a closed Hellenic Post branch in Athens, Greece, March 20, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis The European Central Bank and two senior euro zone officials were among the intended targets of booby... More »
A banner hangs at the facade of the Greek Finance Ministry during a protest of taxation officers in Athens, Greece March 20, 2017. The banner reads ‘A decrease of the tax income threshold means new salary and pension cuts. Stop austerity.’ REUTERS/Alkis Konsta... More »
An undated picture released March 16, 2017 of a 706-carat diamond discovered by pastor Emmanuel Momoh in eastern Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone State House/Handout via Reuters A Christian pastor has found one of the world’s largest uncut diamonds – weighing 706 ca... More »
File photo: Flags of G20 countries are seen outside the G20 venue before the start of the G20 Summit of major world economies in Cannes November 3, 2011. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez Global efforts to create a market for growth-linked bonds that could help avert deb... More »
Greek flags are displayed for sale for one Euro at a shop in central in Athens, Greece July 26, 2015. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou Around half of Germans are against granting debt relief to Greece and around three in 10 want the debt-laden country to quit the eu... More »
Emerging market equities have a spring in their step as an upswing in company profits extends a year-long 40 percent rally in the sector and allows investors to look past the threat of a global trade war. More »
Greek Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos talks to European Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici (R) during a eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium February 20, 2017. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir Greece and its international... More »
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble attends a presentation of a newly designed 2-Euro coin at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany February 10, 2017. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble denied on Sunday that he had said Gr... More »
FILE PHOTO:A Greek flag flutters in front of the ancient Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill archaeological site in Athens, Greece, June 26, 2015. REUTERS/Marko Djurica/File Photo It seems as if we have been here before: the euro zone fretting that a cris... More »
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras (L) welcomes European Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici at the Maximos Mansion in Athens, Greece February 15, 2017. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis European Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner... More »
The Greek (L) and European Union flags are seen behind a stop sign in front of the Greek embassy in Vienna, Austria, February 25, 2016. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger Germany on Monday voiced support for Greece to stay in the euro zone and the European Commission dis... More »
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde delivers remarks at the Atlantic Council in Washington, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Sunday that she... More »
A Greek flag flutters in the wind as tourists visit the archaeological site of the Acropolis hill in Athens, Greece July 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo Euro zone lenders and the International Monetary Fund have reached agreed between themselves to p... More »
FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/File Photo The euro zone must remain as one bloc, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, urging members of the single c... More »
Wolfgang Schaeuble, German Minister of Finance attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich Germany believes the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will remain on board with Greece’s bailout,... More »
Private citizens in Mongolia are donating cash, jewelry, gold and even horses to help the government make a near $600 million payment to bondholders next month. More »
Afghan men build a house on a hilltop overlooking Kabul, Afghanistan January 1, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail A new tax regime aimed at weaning Afghanistan off international aid has boosted government revenues but drawn complaints from some private businesses ... More »
The logo of Privatbank is pictured outside its branch in central Kiev, Ukraine, December 18, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko Ukraine declared the country’s largest lender PrivatBank insolvent on Monday and said bringing it under state ownership was the only wa... More »
Euro zone lenders put a short-term debt relief deal for Greece on hold on Wednesday after the Athens government proposed a one-off payout to pensioners, the euro zone bailout fund ESM said. More »
Euro coins are seen in front of a displayed Greece flag in this picture illustration, June 29, 2015. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo Euro zone finance ministers hope to reach a compromise on Greek reforms on Monday in a final bid to get International Monetary Fu... More »
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble takes questions from reporters during a press conference with Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei (not pictured) at the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group in Washington October 7, 2016. REUTERS/James Lawle... More »
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras arrives at a European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman Greece will continue talks with international creditors on fiscal and labor reforms, aiming to wrap up the second review o... More »
The euro zone economy is on a solid run, with a string of good data pointing to a consumption-led recovery, but investment is still lagging so it is far from clear if forecasts need to be revised, ECB policymaker Yannis Stournaras said. More »
IMF official Chris Jarvis at a news conference in Cairo, Egypt August 11, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed Egypt’s decision to float its pound currency on Thursday, it said in a statement, adding that the de... More »
Record global debt levels pose a clear risk to oil demand, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, citing figures from the International Monetary Fund last week that showed the world is awash with a record $152 trillion in debt. More »
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at a Remain in the EU campaign event attended by Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (not shown) at JP Morgan’s corporate centre in Bournemouth, southern Britain, June 3, 2016. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez Britain’s ... More »
Greek and EU flags flutter at an open air kiosk in Athens, Greece, June 22, 2015. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis Euro zone finance ministers are likely to approve on Monday the disbursement of much or all of the money from the 2.8 billion euro ($3.14 billion) tranche... More »
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi addresses the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee in Brussels, Belgium September 26, 2016. REUTERS/Yves Herman European Central Bank interest rates will stay low until euro zone econo... More »
A Japanese flag flutters atop the Bank of Japan building in Tokyo, Japan, September 21, 2016. REUTERS/Toru Hanai The International Monetary Fund said on Monday that a new monetary policy framework adopted by the Bank of Japan marked “progress”, but stuck to it... More »
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama discussed the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine at their meeting on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in China’s Hangzhou, Russian media cited the Kremlin spokesman as saying on Monday. More »
A Greek flag flutters in the wind as tourists visit the archaeological site of the Acropolis hill in Athens, Greece July 26, 2015. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun/File Photo The euro zone will not release additional bailout money for Greece at a meeting in Bratislava thi... More »
CAIRO Egypt has reached a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund after nearly two weeks of talks to secure a $12 billion lending program and will make an announcement on Thursday, two government sources said. The sources said no deal had be... More »
LONDON Economists from the International Monetary Fund have urged the European Central Bank to concentrate on asset purchases rather than cutting its already negative interest rates again, if it needs to stimulate the euro zone economy again. A blog published ... More »
CHENGDU, China The world’s biggest economies will work to support global growth and better share the benefits of trade, policymakers said on Sunday after a meeting dominated by the impact of Britain’s exit from Europe and fears of rising protectionism. Philip ... More »
AMSTERDAM Britain will not be able to dictate the terms of a new trade deal to the European Union after it leaves the bloc, the chair of the euro zone finance ministers’ council said, accusing leave campaigner Nigel Farage of “living in his own world.” Farage,... More »
ATHENS Greece got more than 7 billion euros in bailout funds on Tuesday after a review of the country’s progress in implementing economic reforms, the head of the euro zone’s bailout fund told reporters in Athens. Greece needs the money to pay off growing stat... More »
ATHENS Greece could lift most or all capital controls imposed at the height of the euro zone crisis by the end of the year, the head of the country’s banking association said on Saturday. The controls, which restricted the amount of cash that can be withdrawn ... More »
ATHENS Greece’s government trumpeted a debt relief deal with other euro zone countries on Wednesday as the beginning of the end of its bruising six-year financial crisis but Greeks remained skeptical and markets were cautious. After years of austerity demanded... More »
BRUSSELS The euro zone and International Monetary are struggling with Greece’s debt crisis – not with Athens this time, but with each other over when to give Greece a break on its future massive debt repayments. The euro zone has begun talks on debt relief for... More »
ATHENS Greece’s parliament will vote on a new package of tax hikes and reforms demanded by its international lenders on Sunday, two days before euro zone finance ministers assess whether Athens qualifies for much-needed bailout loans. The bill would increase v... More »
