Although most French companies still favoured a proposed free-trade pact between the European Union and the U.S., France’s trade minister Nicole Bricq warned on Monday that the agreement was being too “hurriedly put together”; and that issues such as culture and agriculture were being overlooked in the process.
The South Korean government on Monday announced the creation of a $1.35 billion fund that will help low-income households restructure or repay overdue loans, the Associated Press reported.
The main group representing supermarket chains in Brazil has pledged to discontinue sales of meat from cattle raised in the Amazon rainforest, reported the Associated Press, after years of deforestation caused by farmers cutting down trees for pasture.
Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) are expected to give the go-ahead for the creation of a common Development Bank – rivalling the IMF and the World Bank – during their joint summit in Durban on March 26-27, claimed several reports over the weekend.
According to the Wall Street Journal, citing a Brazilian official, the new bank could launch with a starting capital of $ 50 billion, with each of the five countries contributing an equal $10 billion share.
Billionaire Bill Gates will provide up to $1 million to anyone who can develop the “next generation condom”, said his charitable foundation this month, in the hopes of reducing unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases across the world, particularly in developing countries.
Cyprus leaders in the early hours of Monday morning clinched a last-minute deal with international lenders for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout, reported Reuters, effectively shutting down the island’s second biggest bank in the process, while bank deposits above 100,000 euros will also be frozen and be used to resolve debts.
India’s government will unveil its shale gas policy within the next two weeks, said oil minister Veerappa Moily on Sunday, with the world’s fourth largest oil consumer hoping to reduce its energy imports and rein in a widening current account deficit.
Moily, who was speaking in New Delhi, said that the government saw shale gas as a “game changer”; and pointed to how the U.S. was gradually cutting its gas imports to demonstrate the potential of shale.
China’s growth is likely to accelerate this year and next even as it navigates a fragile global recovery, but a “renewed reform momentum” is necessary if the world’s second largest economy is to sustain vigorous and socially inclusive growth over the longer run, said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Brazil has signed a $17 million deal with the United Nations, one of the clearest signs yet that the hosts of the 2014 World Cup are running behind on the construction of stadiums and other key infrastructure for the upcoming sporting event.
The Indonesian economy could grow to be among the world’s top ten largest by 2025 if more investments are placed in manufacturing, infrastructure development and urbanisation, said a report by Citi Research on Thursday, noting a 128 percent jump in foreign direct investment from 2009-2012.
