2 Min Read
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan would agree on a new allocation of special drawing rights (SDR) as long as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank help ensure transparency in providing the increased money for poor countries, Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday.
“There would be no point to it if SDR expansion is used for paying back debts to China,” Aso told reporters after a cabinet meeting, repeating tacit criticism against China’s lending practice to low-income countries.
Japan has backed a $650 billion increase in IMF monetary reserves.
Speaking on the eve of a virtual gathering of financial leaders from the Group of Seven rich nations and the G20 major economies this week, Aso welcomed U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s calls for the introduction of a global minimum corporate tax rate.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone unemployment was unchanged in February compared to an upwardly revised reading for January, data showed on Tuesday, as European furlough schemes limited the impact of the second wave of the pandemic in the fourth quarter on jobs.
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said the jobless rate in the 19 countries sharing the euro was 8.3% in February, unchanged from the revised data for January.
“The unemployment rate now shows a tiny second wave effect as January is now reported to have seen a small tick up in unemployment from 8.2 to 8.3%,” said Bert Colijn, euro zone economist at ING bank.
By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
South African bank notes featuring images of former South African President Nelson Mandela (R) are displayed next to the American dollar notes in this photo illustration in Johannesburg August 13 2014. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand stabilised near a five-week high early on Tuesday, as a weaker dollar and a pullback in U.S. bond yields lifted demand for riskier but high-yielding currencies.
At 0610 GMT, the rand traded at 14.5600 against the U.S. dollar, largely unchanged from its previous close. The currency hit a five-week high of 14.5250 on Monday.
TreasuryONE currency strategist Andre Cilliers attributed the gains to weakness in the U.S. dollar.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz welcomed on Tuesday a pledge by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to work on a global corporate minimum tax rate, adding that a deal among more than 140 countries could be possible by summer.
By Reuters Staff
(Adds comments from central bank’s deputy governor)
JAKARTA, April 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia’s rupiah currency is “too cheap” against the U.S. dollar and should strengthen on brightening prospects of the country’s economic recovery, a senior Indonesian central bank official said on Tuesday.
The rupiah, down about 3% versus the dollar in 2021 and at around 14,500 currently, was not reflective of its fundamentals and its weakness was attributable to a spillover effect of U.S. fiscal policies, Bank Indonesia’s deputy governor Dody Budi Waluyo told an online economic forum.
“It is our duty at BI to try stabilising the rupiah and steer it toward its fundamental value,” he said.