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Ghana strike ends but election campaign to test IMF deal further

ACCRA Ghana faced down the first major challenge to an IMF austerity program on Monday when doctors suspended a three-week strike but a bigger test of President John Mahama’s commitment will come next year as he fights for reelection. The International Monetar... More »

Traders see over 50 percent chance on October rate hike

NEW YORK Traders priced in a more than 1-in-2 chance the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in October after Atlanta Federal Reserve President Dennis Lockhart suggested the Fed could consider such a move. In over-the-counter trading, overnight ind... More »

ESM’s Regling says threat of Grexit is still there

BERLIN A Greek exit from the euro zone was a possibility and remains a threat if Athens does not fulfill the conditions of its third bailout agreement, the head of the European Stability Mechanism said on Thursday. “This threat as a possibility must always be ... More »

Fed ‘put’ no cause for relief: James Saft

(James Saft is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own) By James Saft (Reuters) – Future risk-adjusted returns look poor from here, but if the Federal Reserve deploys its safety net they will be worse still. Monday’s savage markets selloff inev... More »

Back from golf course, Obama tees up renewable energy, Iran

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama, fresh from vacation and nine rounds of golf in Martha’s Vineyard, launched into a busy two weeks promoting renewable energy and his nuclear deal with Iran. With the U.S. presidential election campaign and China’s slumping sto... More »

Japan finmin says yen rises ‘rough’, undesirable for economy

TOKYO Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso warned market players against pushing up the yen too much further, saying that its spike against the dollar overnight was “rough” and undesirable for the economy. Aso said that while there was no immediate plan for G20 ... More »

EU’s 2016 stress test will include 50-60 euro zone banks

FRANKFURT Between 50 and 60 euro zone banks will be included in next year’s stress test of top EU lenders, fewer than half of the number in the 2014 exercise, a European Central Bank spokeswoman said on Friday. The ECB is the supervisor for top banks in the si... More »

Factbox: Euro zone countries vote on Greek bailout

Here is a list of euro zone parliaments that must approve the new 86 billion euro ($96 billion) Greek bailout this week. Here is a list: TUESDAY, AUG. 18 AUSTRIA – Parliament subcommittee to meet on the bailout. ESTONIA – Parliament holds extraordinary session... More »

China lets yuan fall further, fuels fears of ‘currency war’

SHANGHAI China’s currency fell to a four-year low on Wednesday, slumping for a second day, after a central bank devaluation on Tuesday, and government sources believe the yuan may be allowed to slide even further to help the country’s exporters. The yuan trade... More »

China central bank under pressure to weaken yuan further

BEIJING China’s move to devalue its currency reflects a growing clamor within government circles for a weaker yuan to help struggling exporters, ensuring the central bank remains under pressure to drag it down further in the months ahead, sources said. The yua... More »

Indonesia’s president reshuffles economy team as growth sags

JAKARTA Indonesian President Joko Widodo put two experienced technocrats into economic management posts on Wednesday in a cabinet reshuffle designed to reassure investors worried about a policy drift that has allowed growth to slip to a six-year low. Widodo’s ... More »

Presidential candidate Trump: China devaluation will devastate U.S.

WASHINGTON Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday said China’s devaluation of the yuan would be “devastating” for the United States. “They’re just destroying us,” the billionaire businessman, a long-time critic of China’s currency policy, sa... More »

Global axis shifts as China reserves dwindle: James Saft

China’s massive foreign currency reserves are dwindling at a more than half-trillion-dollar annual pace, a trend which may tighten global credit conditions. China’s central bank said its reserves fell by $43 billion in July to $3.65 trillion, in the first ever... More »

Factbox: Reforms Greece must make for its bailout

ATHENS Greece and its international lenders reached a multi-billion euro bailout deal on Tuesday to keep the nation in the euro zone and prevent financial meltdown, officials said. Here are some of the details of what Greece is required to do for up to 85 bill... More »

Merkel’s Bavarian ally says Grexit would cause ‘utter chaos’

BERLIN A Greek exit from the euro zone would cause “utter chaos” but would have to be accepted if Athens was not willing to implement reforms, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian ally Horst Seehofer told German newspaper Die Welt on Wednesday. “No one can pred... More »

EU’s Moscovici optimistic on third Greek bailout talks

PARIS European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday that talks on a third bailout plan for Greece were taking place in “good conditions” and that the risk of an exit of Greece from the euro zone was gone. “Grexit is beh... More »

German advisers say euro zone exit should not be taboo

BERLIN The German government’s panel of independent economic advisers favors creating an insolvency mechanism for euro zone states and says countries should be able to leave the single currency as a last resort. The Greek crisis has called into question the fu... More »

Second half of 2015 begins on shaky note

LONDON/NEW YORK The global economy started the second half of the year on shaky ground with China’s factory sector activity contracting in July at the fastest pace in 15 months and euro zone manufacturing weaker than expected, although U.S. activity picked up.... More »

ECB’s Noyer says Grexit risk has subsided

PARIS The prospect of Greece being forced to leave the euro zone has lifted, ECB governing council member Christian Noyer said in an interview with Le Monde newspaper published on Friday. Noyer, who is also governor of the Bank of France, said that Greece repr... More »

Greece submits bill needed to start rescue talks

ATHENS The Greek government submitted legislation to parliament on Tuesday required by its international lenders to start talks on a multi-billion euro rescue package. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has until Wednesday night to get those measures adopted in the... More »

UK government targets spending cuts of up to 40 percent by 2020

LONDON Britain’s government is asking some departments to prepare to cut day-to-day spending by as much as 40 percent by the 2019/20 tax year, in a major spending review launched by Conservative finance minister George Osborne on Tuesday. The finance ministry ... More »

Slovak PM Fico: we will ask for Greek exit if conditions not met

BRATISLAVA Slovakia will be among the first to ask Greece to leave the euro zone if it fails to adhere to agreed conditions of further, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Tuesday. Fico told reporters that Slovakia was fundamentally against allowing any ... More »

Clinton’s capital gains tax plan aims at long-term investment

NEW YORK U.S. presidential contender Hillary Clinton’s proposed plan to overhaul capital gains taxes aims to foster long-term growth by taxing some short-term investments at higher rates, an aide for her campaign said on Monday. Although details of the plan ha... More »

Republican candidate Bush vows Washington culture shake-up

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush vowed on Monday to cut government spending and more tightly limit lawmakers’ connections with lobbyists if he reaches the White House, part of an attempt to separate himself from a large pack of R... More »

Hollande calls for the creation of a euro zone government

PARIS French President Francois Hollande called on Sunday for the creation of a euro zone government and for citizens to renew their faith in the European project, which has been weakened by the Greek crisis. Reviving an idea originally put forward by former E... More »

In Greek crisis, one big unhappy EU family

BRUSSELS The latest paroxysm of Greece’s debt crisis has exposed growing rifts in the euro zone which, unless addressed soon, could lead to the break-up of European monetary union, the EU’s most ambitious project. The most worrying sign for European leaders is... More »

German lawmakers back Greek bailout talks despite rebellion

BERLIN German lawmakers gave their go ahead on Friday for the euro zone to negotiate a third bailout for Greece, heeding a warning from Chancellor Angela Merkel that the alternative to a deal with Athens was chaos. The Bundestag lower house of parliament, whos... More »

Euro zone clinches deal with Greece after all-night haggle

BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders clinched a deal with Greece on Monday to negotiate a third bailout to keep the near-bankrupt country in the euro zone after a whole night of haggling at an emergency summit. “Euro summit has unanimously reached agreement. All ready t... More »

Greek PM says secured debt restructuring to avoid “Grexit”

BRUSSELS Greece has secured debt restructuring and medium-term financing in a growth package worth 35 billion euros in a deal with its creditors that will allow the country to stay in the euro, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in Brussels on Monday. He said ... More »

Clinton to propose capital gains tax reform: campaign document

NEW YORK Presidential contender Hillary Clinton will pledge to “reform” capital gains taxation in coming weeks as part of her plan to fight an excessive focus on quick profits in capital markets, according to a campaign talking points document seen by Reuters.... More »

In speech, Clinton to put wages at heart of economic policy

WASHINGTON Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton will put the fight for higher wages for “everyday Americans” at the heart of her economic agenda on Monday, when she makes the first major policy speech in her White House bid. Clinton will argue that ensuring ... More »

Euro zone leaders: Greece must do more to earn rescue

BRUSSELS Euro zone leaders told near-bankrupt Greece at an emergency summit on Sunday it must enact key reforms this week to restore trust before they will open talks on a financial rescue to keep it in the European currency area. Leftist Prime Minister Alexis... More »

Greece faces last chance to stay in euro as cash runs out

BRUSSELS/ATHENS Greece faces a last chance to stay in the euro zone on Tuesday when Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras puts proposals to an emergency euro zone summit after Greek voters resoundingly rejected the austerity terms of a defunct bailout. With Greek bank... More »

China stocks fall again despite support measures

SHANGHAI Chinese stocks fell on Tuesday, taking little comfort from a slew of support measures unleashed by Beijing in recent days, and unnerved by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s failure to mention the market chaos in a statement on the economy. Before the marke... More »

New Greek finance minister is a change of style, not substance

ATHENS Euclid Tsakalotos, the mild-tempered professor who was appointed as Greece’s new finance minister on Monday, is a clear change in style from his combative predecessor Yanis Varoufakis. The 55-year-old Tsakalotos studied at prestigious private London sch... More »

BlackRock’s Koesterich: Greece vote raises chances of euro exit

NEW YORK Greece’s sound rejection of a bailout at a referendum on Sunday increased the chances it may leave the euro zone, but Athens and its creditors could still reach a deal, said a top strategist for BlackRock Inc, the world’s largest asset manager. “It do... More »

Keeping Greece in euro zone still the aim: Dijsselbloem

THE HAGUE Greece’s ‘No’ vote has made discussions with its creditors more difficult, but the aim remains to keep the country in the euro zone, the head of the bloc’s finance ministers said on Monday. “It doesn’t bring us closer to a solution right away. In fac... More »

UK’s Osborne to hit BBC to fund welfare cuts: Sunday Times

LONDON British finance minister George Osborne plans to launch a 650 million pound raid on the BBC to help cover the country’s benefits bill, forcing the corporation to meet the cost of free television licences for the over-75s, the Sunday Times said. It quote... More »

Greek drama not likely to waylay Federal Reserve

WASHINGTON The fuse may be lit for a Greek exit from the euro zone but the fallout in the United States is expected to be modest and not enough to throw the Federal Reserve’s likely September rate hike off course, said former Fed officials and outside analysts... More »