2025-07-25 18:23

TIRANA, July 25 (Reuters) - A wildfire injured three people and forced the evacuation of about 2,000 residents near the southern Albanian town of Delvina on Friday. "Three people have sustained burns and suffered asphyxiation," Delvina Deputy Mayor Brunilda Meleqi told Reuters by phone. Sign up here. Six villages were evacuated, and a church and 10 uninhabited houses were destroyed by the blaze, she said. The fire's intensity eased in the evening after two helicopters were deployed to assist firefighting efforts. The Defence Ministry said around 60 soldiers had been dispatched to help contain the fire. Greece and the wider Balkans sweltered under the third heatwave of the summer this week, with laborers barred from work, tourists kept away from the ruins, and firefighters battling blazes scattered across the arid countryside. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/wildfire-albania-injures-three-people-forces-evacuation-2000-2025-07-25/

2025-07-25 16:48

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he liked a strong dollar but "you make a hell of a lot more money" with a weaker one. "So when we have a strong dollar, one thing happens: It sounds good. But you don't do any tourism. You can't sell tractors, you can't sell trucks, you can't sell anything," Trump said at the White House before leaving on a trip to Scotland. Sign up here. "It is good for inflation, that's about it." The dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab, which measures the greenback's strength against six major currencies, steadied on Friday after hitting two-week lows earlier in the week. It is still down roughly 10% over the six months Trump has been in office. Trump has often complained that dollar strength blunts U.S. export competitiveness and hurts U.S. manufacturing and jobs. Trump told reporters on Friday that manufacturers would be the first to benefit from a falling dollar, citing construction and mining equipment maker Caterpillar (CAT.N) , opens new tab, whose shares have risen 16% over the last month. Japan and China fought for weaker currencies for decades and were able to dominate markets over the years, Trump said. "Now it doesn't sound good, but you make a hell of a lot more money with a weaker dollar - not a weak dollar but a weaker dollar - than you do with a strong dollar," he said. At the same time he acknowledged that pushing for a weaker dollar wasn't a good look, saying a strong dollar is good psychologically. "It makes you feel good," he said. "I love strong dollars." https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-strong-dollar-sounds-good-you-make-hell-lot-more-with-weaker-one-2025-07-25/

2025-07-25 16:31

BOGOTA, July 25 (Reuters) - Colombia's central bank will cut its benchmark interest rate next week, a Reuters poll suggested on Friday, although analysts expect the bank to act cautiously for the rest of the year due to the worsening state of the government's finances. Sixteen of 20 analysts surveyed said the bank would reduce the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 9%, following a sharper-than-expected slowdown in inflation in June. One analyst forecast a 50-basis-point cut, while the remaining three expected the bank to hold the rate steady, as it did in June. Sign up here. Analysts said the decision is unlikely to be unanimous. "Our expectation (of a 25-basis-point cut) is largely explained by the downward surprise in June's inflation and its effect on expectations for the coming months," said investment firm Corfi. Consumer prices rose 0.10% in June, bringing 12-month inflation to 4.82%, below market expectations, though still well above the central bank's long-term target of 3%. Some analysts who expect a pause cited inflation that is likely to remain above the central bank's 3% target through 2025, as well as growing fiscal concerns. Latin America's fourth-largest economy is facing lower tax revenue, high debt and difficulty reducing spending. "Concern over the fiscal issue continues to increase due to both lower government revenue collection and expectations of a higher fiscal deficit," Colombian bank Davivienda said in a note. "It is also important to mention that the economy is not performing poorly in terms of growth." The central bank's meeting will take place a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve meets on July 29-30, when it is expected to hold U.S. rates steady. Meanwhile, analysts raised their year-end expectation for Colombia's benchmark rate to 8.50% from 8.25%. The forecast for the end of 2026 remains unchanged at 7%. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/colombia-central-bank-expected-cut-rate-after-inflation-dip-2025-07-25/

2025-07-25 15:13

OTTAWA, July 25 (Reuters) - Canada recorded a sharply higher C$6.50 billion ($4.71 billion) budget deficit for the first two months of the 2025/26 fiscal year as government expenditures grew but revenues stalled, the finance ministry said on Friday. By comparison, the deficit in the same period a year earlier had been just C$3.82 billion, it said in a statement. Sign up here. Program expenses rose 4% on increases across all major categories of spending. Public debt charges increased by 3.8% largely because of higher rates of government bonds. Year-to-date revenues marginally increased by C$26 million, largely reflecting lower corporate income tax and lower revenues from GST. This was partly offset by higher income from customs import duties and personal income tax revenue. Canada's government has been earning higher import duty revenues because of counter-tariffs on the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs. The data showed that customs import duties for the first two months of the fiscal year jumped 180% from the same period a year ago. On a monthly basis, Canada posted a deficit of C$228 million in May, compared to a C$1.17 billion surplus in May 2024. ($1 = 1.3701 Canadian dollars) ((Reuters Ottawa bureau; [email protected] , opens new tab)) Keywords: CANADA BUDGET/ https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-budget-deficit-over-first-two-months-202526-jumps-c650-bln-2025-07-25/

2025-07-25 14:58

WASHINGTON, July 25 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday he had a good meeting with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and got the impression that the head of the U.S. central bank might be ready to lower interest rates. The two men met on Thursday when Trump made a rare visit to the U.S. central bank to tour the ongoing renovation of two buildings at its headquarters in Washington. The White House has criticized the cost of the project, and the president and Powell sparred over the issue during the visit. Sign up here. Trump also took the opportunity to again publicly call on Powell to slash rates immediately. "We had a very good meeting ... I think we had a very good meeting on interest rates," the president told reporters on Friday. "He (Powell) said, 'Congratulations, the country is doing really well,' and I got that to mean that I think he's going to start recommending lower rates because of that conversation," Trump said. The Fed is widely expected to leave its benchmark interest rate in the 4.25%-4.50% range at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting next week. Powell has said the Fed should wait for more data before adjusting rates. The visibly tense exchange between Trump and Powell at the Fed's massive construction site on Thursday marked an escalation of White House pressure on the central bank as well as Trump's efforts to get Powell to lower rates. The U.S. central bank said on Friday it was "grateful" for Trump's encouragement to complete the renovation of its buildings in Washington and that it "looked forward" to seeing the project through to completion. Trump, who called Powell a "numbskull" earlier this week for failing to heed the White House's demand for a large reduction in borrowing costs, also said on Thursday he did not intend to fire the Fed chief, as he has frequently suggested he would. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-suggests-fed-may-be-ready-lower-interest-rates-2025-07-25/

2025-07-25 13:49

Inflation edges up to 5.3% in 12 months through mid-July Central bank has signaled a prolonged pause in rates SAO PAULO, July 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's inflation remained well above the central bank's target range in its mid-July reading, official data showed on Friday, as policymakers gather next week for a meeting at which they are widely expected to hold interest rates at a two-decade high. Inflation in Latin America's largest economy hit 5.30% in the 12 months through mid-July, statistics agency IBGE said, up from 5.27% a month earlier and slightly above the 5.26% expected by economists in a Reuters poll. Sign up here. Brazil's central bank targets inflation at 3%, plus or minus 1.5 percentage points, and policymakers have pledged to bring it back to that level. The bank delivered 450 basis points in interest rate hikes between September and June, taking the benchmark Selic rate to 15%, the highest since July 2006. It signaled last month a "very prolonged" pause to assess the effects of the hikes. "The mid-month inflation figures give policymakers no reason to consider raising rates again," said Capital Economics' emerging markets economist Kimberley Sperrfechter, who expects conditions to allow for rate cuts around the turn of the year. The central bank's rate-setting committee, known as Copom, is scheduled to meet on July 29 and 30. In the month to mid-July alone, consumer prices as measured by the IPCA-15 index rose 0.33%, up from 0.26% in the previous month. The index had been expected to rise 0.30%, according to the median forecast in a Reuters poll. The monthly increase was driven by higher housing costs as electricity prices climbed, IBGE said, as well as higher transport prices, with airfares jumping. Closely watched food and beverage prices, however, dropped for the second straight month. "Today's result will not influence Copom's decision," Inter senior economist Andre Valerio said. "It should keep interest rates unchanged, reaffirm its commitment to meeting the inflation target, and offer no indication of when it might begin a rate-cutting cycle." https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazil-inflation-hits-53-central-bank-set-hold-rates-next-week-2025-07-25/