By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
JAKARTA, May 21 (Reuters) - Indonesia’s current account swung back to a deficit of $1 billion, or 0.4% of gross domestic product, in the first three months of 2021, after two straight quarters of surpluses, central bank data showed on Friday.
There was a surplus in the country’s financial and capital accounts in the January-March period, taking its balance of payments to a surplus of $4.1 billion, compared with a $200 million deficit in the previous quarter. (Reporting by Tabita Diela and Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Ed Davies)
Indonesia has drawn up proposals to bring in a carbon tax to curb greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to raising VAT rates and reforming income tax, as part of a major overhaul of the tax system, a finance ministry document showed.
Russian rouble comes off over 2-month high EM stocks edge higher, eye near 2% weekly gain
May 21 (Reuters) - Most emerging market currencies were muted on Friday, although they were set to notch weekly gains as fears over immediate policy tightening by the Federal Reserve were abated by mixed U.S. employment data.
The MSCI’s index of EM currencies strengthened about 0.1%, and was poised to close slightly higher this week. The dollar was headed for a weekly loss, as somewhat hawkish signals from the minutes of the Fed’s last meeting were offset by data that tempered expectations for a rise in employment growth this month.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde addresses European lawmakers during a plenary session at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium February 8, 2021. Olivier Matthys/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
LISBON (Reuters) -It is still too early for the European Central Bank to discuss winding down its 1.85 trillion euro emergency bond purchase scheme, ECB President Christine Lagarde said on Friday, less than two weeks ahead of a crucial policy meeting.
Lagarde’s comments are likely to be aimed at fighting market speculation that ECB policymakers will decide to, or least discuss, slowing the pace of the ECB’s Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP) when they meet on June 10. [GVD/EUR]
Canadian banks are expected to beat analysts' estimates for quarterly earnings as strength in capital markets and wealth management overrides sluggish non-mortgage loan growth, and as they release some reserves on relatively few loan losses, investors said.