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Brazil created a net 277,018 formal jobs in May, Labor Ministry figures showed on Tuesday, above market expectations, but workers' pay has declined, Reuters reported. According to the ministry, the average monthly salary of new jobs created in May decreased 0.94% from April to 1,898 reais ($363.59), after having posted a gain in the previous month. Job openings happened across the board, led by the service sector, which alone created 120,294 new jobs, recovering from the blow suffered from the coronavirus pandemic.
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Spanish 12-month inflation rose to 10.2% in June, the first time it has surpassed 10% since April 1985, from 8.7% in the previous month, preliminary data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Core inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, rose to 5.5% year-on-year from 4.9% a month earlier, the highest since August 1993, the INE data showed. Spanish European Union-harmonised inflation was 10.0% in the 12 months through June, up from 8.5% a month earlier.
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Britain's economy is struggling under the strain of two major risks in the form of double-digit inflation and a possible recession, leaving the Bank of England in a dilemma about how much further it should raise interest rates, Reuters reported. The BoE has raised borrowing costs five times since December and its next scheduled rates announcement is on Aug. 4. The central bank has said that it will act "forcefully" - in other words, increase rates more steeply - if inflation pressures turn more persistent.
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Council leaders in England have said a multibillion-pound financial crisis caused by rising inflation could make local services unviable and even lead to local authorities going bankrupt, unless the government offers emergency funding, the Guardian reported. The cross-party Local Government Association (LGA) said local services that were seemingly secure just three months ago were now at risk of closure or cuts as councils scramble to manage an unforeseen £2.4bn rise in energy and pay costs.
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Edible oil firm Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd on Tuesday said the name of the company has been changed to Patanjali Foods Ltd with effect from June 24, the Economic Times of India reported. In 2019, Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved acquired Ruchi Soya for Rs 4,350 crore through an insolvency process.
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Embattled businessman Vijay Mallya, who is based in Britain for over five years, is pursuing appeals in the UK courts in an attempt to overturn a bankruptcy order imposed on him by the High Court in London in July last year, the Economic Times of India reported. At a case management hearing at the Chancery Division of the High Court in London on Monday, Justice Tom Leech concluded that a set of interlinked hearings in the matter would be heard together.
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The Kremlin pushed back on claims that Russia defaulted on its foreign-currency debts on Monday, placing the country at odds with creditors. "Claims that Russia is in debt default are wrong. A foreign-currency payment was made back in May, and the fact that funds were not transmitted to recipients is not our problem,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Russia missed payments on two foreign-currency bonds as of late Sunday, the day that marked the expiration of a 30-day grace period, according to bondholders.
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European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said the bank would raise interest rates gradually over the coming months, veering from a global push toward faster rate increases as inflation broadens and intensifies around the world, the Wall Street Journal reported. Speaking at the ECB’s annual economic policy conference in Portugal on Tuesday, Ms. Lagarde said Europe’s inflation problem was deepening, but warned that the region also faced weaker growth prospects related to the war in Ukraine.
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After years of building their foreign-exchange reserves, central banks in Asia are tapping into their stockpiles to bolster their weakening currencies against a rising US dollar, Bloomberg News reported. Thai reserves slid to $221.4 billion as of June 17, in data released late last week. That was the lowest in more than two years. Monthly figures show that Indonesia’s stash is at the smallest since November 2020. Reserves in South Korea and India are at their lowest in more than a year. Malaysia’s stockpile, meanwhile, has fallen the most since 2015.
China's economy has recovered to some extent, but its foundation is not solid, state media on Tuesday quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying, Reuters reported. China will strive to drive the economy back onto a normal track and bring down the jobless rate as soon as possible, Li was quoted as saying. "Currently, the implementation of the policy package to stabilise the economy is accelerating and taking effect. The economy has recovered on the whole, but the foundation is not yet solid," Li was quoted as saying.
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