By Reuters Staff
1 Min Read
FILE PHOTO: French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire attends a news conference for the launching of the 2020 income tax campaign at the Bercy Finance Ministry in Paris, France, April 8, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) - G7 finance ministers meeting in London are extremely close to a deal on higher global corporate taxation, but there is still disagreement on which companies a new minimum tax rate should cover, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday.
“We are just one millimetre away from a historic agreement,” Le Maire told reporters in a pooled interview after a day of talks.
Bulgaria will launch a new 2.5 billion levs ($1.55 billion) guarantee scheme to help small and medium businesses get bank loans and speed up its economic recovery, interim Economy Minister Kiril Petkov said on Friday.
Money market funds and equities saw almost similar inflows, BofA's latest fund flow statistics showed on Friday, in a puzzling investment trend amid rising concerns over a dialling back of stimulus by central banks.
South Africa's rand firmed on Friday and looked set for weekly gains, thanks to a rise in commodity prices and a weakening U.S. dollar as investors turned to riskier but high-yielding assets.
Stocks and gold rallied while the dollar fell on Friday, as a weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs report eased concerns that a strong recovery in the world's biggest economy could prompt the Federal Reserve to shut off the stimulus taps sooner.