The Japanese government is propping up the nation’s whaling industry with millions of dollars a year in taxpayers’ money, revealed research by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) this week, despite weak demand for whale meat domestically and little scientific value to its so-called “research.”
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it projects the federal deficit will total $845 billion this year, a modest improvement compared to last year’s $1.1 trillion. However, the CBO warned that national debt will deepen and swell to unsustainable levels through 2023 unless lawmakers take remedial action.
On Tuesday, the CBO projected that the economy will grow just 1.4 percent this year, hindered by the tax rise on incomes over $400,000 passed January as well about $85 billion in automatic spending cuts due to take effect from March 1.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa will step down on March 19, almost three weeks ahead of schedule, reported Reuters on Tuesday, accelerating Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push for more aggressive monetary easing, which Shirakawa had staunchly opposed.
China’s ruling State Council on Tuesday released sweeping policy reforms towards its income distribution mechanisms, reported Xinhua, in the hopes of narrowing the nation’s widening wealth gap, amid growing public discontent.
China’s central bank pumped a record 450 billion yuan ($72 billion) into money markets on Tuesday after the benchmark borrowing rate climbed to a three-week high as the demand for cash spiked ahead of the weeklong Lunar New Year festivities.
The short-term liquidity injection was carried out via regular open market operations using a 14-day reverse bond repurchase agreement, which means the money will drain out of the system in two weeks.
The U.S. Justice Department is preparing to file civil charges against the nation’s largest credit-ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s, for over-inflated mortgage ratings leading to the 2007 subprime crisis, reported the New York Times on Monday.
The European Central Bank has been advised to hire around 2,000 additional bank supervision staff, if it wishes to properly fulfil its new role as the bloc’s top banking watchdog, reported the Financial Times on Monday.
The recommendation was reportedly based on a consultancy study, submitted to ECB President Mario Draghi and the ECB executive board last month, that called on Frankfurt to rapidly expand its resources and clout in order to protect its own reputation.
United States Vice-President Joe Biden said a free-trade zone between the US and Europe is gaining traction and could soon become a reality, after both sides of the Atlantic showed “lots of interest” in furthering deeper economic cooperation.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, Biden called for a bolstering in transatlantic ties, dispelling rumours that the U.S. had moved its focus away from Europe.
The European Union holds its first summit for the year this week and European leaders are expected to carve out a new budget deal for the next seven years, after failing to reach an agreement in November.
Monday, February 4
German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with her Italian and Spanish counterparts for talks in Berlin, in preparation for the year’s first European Union summit on Thursday.
South African government announces new daily minimum wage for farm workers.
Tuesday, February 5
The Japanese government hopes to triple its annual supply capacity of wind-powered electricity to 7.5 million kilowatts in the next decade, through development of transmission grids in Hokkaido and the Tohoku region, reported the Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday.
