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The Bank of Canada lowered its key interest rate by half a percentage point today but signalled a slower pace of rate cuts moving forward, the Canadian Press reported. The decision marked the fifth consecutive reduction since June and brings the central bank’s key rate down to 3.25 per cent. Forecasters were widely expecting the jumbo interest rate cut after the November labour force survey showed the unemployment rate rose to 6.8 percent.
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China's top leaders and policymakers are considering allowing the yuan to weaken in 2025 as they brace for higher U.S. trade tariffs as Donald Trump returns to the White House, Reuters reported. The contemplated move reflects China's recognition that it needs bigger economic stimulus to combat Trump's threats of punitive trade measures. Trump has said that he plans to impose a 10% universal import tariff, and a 60% tariff on Chinese imports into the United States.
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France has a debt problem, but the European Union in aggregate does not. French lawmakers last week ousted a prime minister for the first time in more than a half-century, the Wall Street Journal reported. Central to the paralysis that has gripped French politics is the government’s rising debt, which the ousted prime minister was proposing to tame through a combination of tax rises and spending cuts. It would seem like an unusual time for investment manager Pimco to declare its preference for European over U.S. government bonds.
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The Reserve Bank of Australia is preparing to deal with the fallout resulting from a major international trade war in the coming years, but the central bank’s deputy governor, Andrew Hauser, said it’s best to avoid prejudging the consequences for Australia, the Wall Street Journal reported. The impact that higher tariffs around the world will have on Australia’s inflation is “ambiguous,” in large part because it depends on a far wider set of considerations than the imposition of U.S. trade restrictions alone, Hauser told a meeting of economists on Wednesday.
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The Biden administration transferred $20 billion to Ukraine on Tuesday, providing an urgently needed economic lifeline in the form of a loan that will be repaid using interest earned from Russia’s frozen central bank assets, the New York Times reported. The transfer of the funds comes as Ukraine is facing a period of grave uncertainty with President-elect Donald J. Trump poised to take office next month and Russia’s war continuing unabated. Mr.
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Egypt plans to offer stakes in at least 10 state-held companies next year, including four affiliated with the military, pressing forward with an International Monetary Fund-backed drive to reduce the government’s role in the economy, Bloomberg News reported. The firms, which include AlexBank and Banque du Caire, will either be offered to strategic investors or on the local stock market, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Wednesday in a televised press conference.
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GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. and Abra Group Limited have announced a key step in GOL’s financial restructuring journey, AviationSourceNews.com reported. The airline will file an initial proposed chapter 11 reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The filing marks a critical step in addressing its financial challenges and positioning the airline for future growth. This strategic move follows a comprehensive Plan Support Agreement (PSA) signed on November 6, 2024, which involves GOL, Abra Group, their affiliated entities, and the unsecured creditors committee.
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Europe’s bid to build a homegrown battery industry to break China’s dominance in electric vehicles is failing, Bloomberg News reported. The most high-profile setback yet came with the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Northvolt AB, a Swedish startup whose backers include Volkswagen AG and BMW AG. Fallout is spreading across the region as EV demand wanes and local manufacturers struggle to master the technology. Eleven out of 16 planned European-led battery factories have been delayed or canceled, according to a Bloomberg News analysis.
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Afiniti is set to exit chapter 15 bankruptcy following court approvals of a recapitalization transaction, CXToday.com reported. The company secured the transaction by working with lenders led by Vista Credit Partners and The Resource Group International Ltd., a significant shareholder. By doing so, Afiniti has bounced back from bankruptcy quickly, which it filed with the Delaware courts on November 3, 2024. That filing ensured protection from the U.S. courts as the contact center AI vendor evaluated how to pay back the money it owed, inside and outside the country.
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