Headlines

Ukraine's monthly consumer price inflation quickened to 0.8% in January compared with the previous month, driven by higher food prices, the State Statistics Service said on Thursday, Reuters reported. It said in a statement that food prices rose by 1.4% last month because of increases in the price of fruits and vegetables. Monthly inflation stood flat at 0.7% in November and December 2022.

Some companies in Europe have said they may unwind price hikes introduced in recent years as soaring costs of energy and other raw materials have eased, potentially providing some relief to consumers, Reuters reported. The projected cuts are the latest sign that inflation in the euro zone has peaked and may encourage hopes of a soft landing for the region's economy, which have fuelled a stock market rally this year. They are not yet broad-based though.

The Bank of Canada wants to reinvigorate its interest-rate setting process, bringing an outside voice to the table next month amid a broader effort to bolster its credibility, Bloomberg News reported. HEC Montréal economics professor Nicolas Vincent will become the first “non-executive” member of the central bank’s six-person governing council ahead of its March 8 decision. He is set to serve as part-time deputy governor for two years, with an option for a third, instead of the longer, full-time terms typically given to policymakers.

A daunting economic landscape will exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe wrought by a pair of earthquakes on Turkey, as early estimates of the damage point to mounting inflation and budget risks, Bloomberg News reported. Turkey has suspended trade on its main stock stock exchange following a sharp drop and the lira remains propped up by support measures. Meanwhile, Turkish financial assets whose movements remain unrestricted largely stabilized, with some even appreciating on Thursday.

Polish banks are sounding increasingly sanguine about a looming European Union court ruling that the country’s financial regulator once warned may spell a full-blown crisis for the industry, Bloomberg News reported. In the latest chapter of the saga centered around $17 billion of mainly Swiss franc-denominated loans, EU judges are set to rule whether banks can sue clients, who got their mortgage contracts canceled in courts — a way for the industry to recover some losses and deter future litigation.

Three months after crypto exchange FTX collapsed, Argentina’s government is weighing creating oversight requirements on crypto companies, Bloomberg News reported. The country’s local regulator, known as the CNV, is studying launching requirements on crypto companies, such as proof of solvency, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing the plans. The CNV is planning as it awaits a congressional vote that could give it oversight authority of the crypto sector in coming weeks. “The regulation will focus on exchanges, not tokens.

Beijing is trying to kick-start economic growth after lifting its stringent Covid-19 restrictions. One challenge: Chinese citizens borrowed less and saved more last year and it isn’t clear how long it will take to return to freer-spending ways, the Wall Street Journal reported. Individuals in China took out the equivalent of $564 billion in new loans in 2022, down more than half from a year earlier, marking the lowest total since 2014 according to government data. The big drop was largely due to a decline in home sales, which translated into lower demand for new mortgages.

Governor Tiff Macklem said that the Bank of Canada needs to keep interest rates steady to avoid slowing the economy too much, defending his decision to pause hikes in remarks that were accidentally leaked, Bloomberg News reported. In his first speech since declaring a conditional pause on rate increases, Macklem said it can take 18 to 24 months to see the full effects of higher borrowing costs. Policymakers, he added, want to avoid overtightening. The central bank’s benchmark rate has risen from 0.25% to 4.5% since March. The two-year yield was at 3.975% as of 12:19 p.m.

Canada's federal government said Tuesday that it will provide an additional C$46.2 billion ($34.4 billion) in new funding for healthcare over 10 years, part of the latest healthcare deal as federal ministers meet with their provincial counterparts to hammer out a deal on healthcare funding, Reuters reported. The investment would be part of an overall C$196.1 billion increase in funding over 10 years, according to a statement from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office. Some of the new funds promised Tuesday are unconditional; others are earmarked for certain priority areas.

Public transport, schools and refinery supplies in France were disrupted on Tuesday as trade unions led a third wave of nationwide strikes against President Emmanuel Macron's plans to make the French work longer before retirement, Reuters reported. Tuesday's multi-sector walkouts come a day after pension reform legislation began its bumpy passage through parliament, and are a test of Macron's ability to enact change without a working majority in the National Assembly.