Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, attempts to reach a deal with the European Commission over the 2016 budget before the economy tumbles further, according to Reuters. Italy faces a barrage of economic setbacks, including a shortage of revenue and a postponement of privatization initiatives. The government expected 1.6-percent growth for 2016, but such a goal seems unattainable now.
For the past five years, Christine Lagarde’s face has been splashed across the media above headlines pertaining to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Lagarde has been one of the most visible leaders of an international economic organization in recent history, and the leadership of the IMF has noticed. As a result, Lagarde has been nominated to serve a second five-year term as the head of the International Monetary Fund.
Americans are buying more goods as importers continue seeing lower prices.
Retail sales rose 0.2% on a month-over-month basis in January, according to a new report by the Census Bureau. They rose 3.1% from a year ago, with an 8.7% increase in non-store retailers. Sporting goods, hobby, book and music stores showed a surprisingly strong increase, rising 9.1% from the same period a year ago.
Popular Party (PP) Madrid chapter president Esperanza Aguirre resigned amid allegations of questionable funding sources, according to the Associated Press. She has been a long-time member of the party did not have a direct implication, but is taking full responsibility. The scandal is the latest in a string of charges against the PP, a center-right party that has faced considerable heat from critics over stagnant economic growth. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy currently resides over a transition government as he attempts to form a new parliament.
Anyone familiar with quantifying gross domestic product (GDP) knows that at times it is more an art than a science. This is often particularly true in developing nations, where limited access to sophisticated technologies and practices make reporting difficult and the chances of “rigging” quite prominent.
However, the World Bank’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Kaushik Basu, has come to the defense of India in particular, saying that their self-reported GDP estimates are beyond reproach.
More investors are running away from stocks and seeking safe havens as job data weakens, signs of a recession intensify, and Janet Yellen reverses her bullish position on the U.S. economy. Gold hit its 1-year high on Thursday while U.S. Treasury prices continued to soar as investors crowded into both assets to escape an increasingly volatile stock market.
Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori, daughter of convicted ex-president Alberto Fujimori, leads her rivals with 39 percent of the vote in a recent poll, according to AFP. Alberto Fujimori, who ruled from 1990 to 2000, is serving a 25-year prison sentence for human rights violations and corruption, but he retains popularity among many Peruvians. Julio Guzman, Keiko’s closest rival, has 20 percent of the vote.
The Eastern European country of Serbia is trying to make the difficult transition into the digital economy model of the 21st Century. After decades under communism, the nation has struggled to expand its economy through traditional goods and services. Now, it wishes to take on the digital marketplace, seeing that as a way to quickly grow in a modern world.
The Federal Reserve warned that continued market volatility was threatening America’s economic recovery. Janet Yellen said before markets opened that the Fed continues to look closely at market volatility and would raise interest rates gradually, with the pace depending on market conditions. Equity futures rose on the news.
A report from the Chamber of Mines highlights that copper production in the Democratic Republic of Congo dropped to its lowest level in six years in 2015, and, according to Reuters, 2016 could yield lackluster results. The Central African country relies on mining for 20 percent of GDP, with such minerals as cobalt and copper comprising over 70 percent of exports alone. The government expects the economy to improve in the coming years as new mining operations come online.
