Headlines

Canada’s central bank chief is blaming President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff war for “violently” damaging the economy of America’s northern neighbor, Politico reported. “The Canadian economy ended 2024 in good shape,” Governor Tiff Macklem said Wednesday during an interest rate announcement that preserved the status quo. “Since January, we’ve had a seismic shift in U.S. trade policy and a sharp increase in uncertainty. New tariffs are now in place on key Canadian industries and on every other U.S. trade partner.

Japan recorded a trade deficit in its March-April fiscal year but racked up a surplus with the U.S., the Finance Ministry reported Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Japan’s global trade deficit totaled 5.2 trillion yen ($37 billion) for the fiscal year through March, for the fourth straight year of deficits, according to the provisional statistics. The surplus with the U.S. ballooned to 9 trillion yen ($63 billion). Exports to the U.S. are a contentious issue for U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese negotiators are in Washington to argue their case against higher U.S. tariffs.

The European Central Bank cut interest rates Thursday for the seventh time to counter worries about economic growth fueled by President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught, the Associated Press reported. The bank’s move should support economic activity in the 20 countries that use the euro currency by making credit more affordable for consumers and businesses.

Falling petrol prices drove U.K. inflation down by more than expected in the year to March, the BBC reported. Inflation was 2.6%, down from a rate of 2.8% in February, according to official data. But the fall may only be temporary as analysts say it's expected to spike from April as rising bills and higher business costs take hold. "The only significant offset came from the price of clothes which rose strongly this month," said Grant Fitzner, chief economist at the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The global economy will grow more slowly as a result of the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Trump and counter measures taken by other countries, but it will avoid a recession, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a speech ahead of a twice-yearly meeting of the Fund’s government membership, Kristalina Georgieva added that a breakdown of trust sparked this “reboot of the global trading system,” which could be remedied if the U.S.

The Supreme Court of Canada says a person must wait seven years after completely finishing their post-secondary studies before they may be released from student loan debt under the federal bankruptcy law, The Canadian Press reported. The top court's decision comes today in the case of a woman who received government student loans in the course of three university programs from 1987 to 2003. She later returned to school and earned a master's degree in 2009 without the help of additional student loans.

Turkey’s central bank raised its key interest rate Thursday, reversing a previous course of rate reductions as political conflict threatens to stymie the bank’s efforts to tame high inflation, the Wall Street Journal reported. The bank said it will raise its one-week repo rate to 46% from 42.5% previously. It had been expected to keep rates on hold, according to economists polled by FactSet. Recent developments in financial markets are likely to lead core goods inflation to rise this month, the bank said in a statement.

Nearly five months after emerging from court-supervised reorganization, Minas Gerais-based dairy producer Laticínios São Vicente is laying out ambitious growth plans, Valor International reported. During the court-supervised reorganization process — which began in 2020 and was extended due to the pandemic — the company underwent an aggressive restructuring, including a 40% workforce reduction and a portfolio overhaul. When São Vicente filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors over debts totaling R$23 million, its annual revenue was R$70 million.

Hamas is facing a new problem in Gaza: coming up with the cash it needs to pay its rank and file, the Wall Street Journal reported. Israel last month cut off supplies of humanitarian goods to the enclave, some of which Hamas had been seizing and selling to raise funds, according to Arab, Israeli and Western officials. Its renewed offensive has targeted and killed Hamas officials who played important roles in distributing cash to cadres and sent others into hiding, Arab intelligence officials said.

China’s economy grew faster than expected in the first three months of this year, as government stimulus measures helped to boost consumption, The Irish Times reported. The 5.4 percent increase of gross domestic product (GDP) compared to the same quarter last year came ahead of Donald Trump’s imposition of crippling tariffs on Chinese goods. Retail sales grew by a bigger than expected 5.9 per cent in March compared to a year ago and industrial output was up by 7.7 per cent, the fastest growth since June 2021, according to data released on Wednesday.