2024-04-12 13:20
BERLIN, April 12 (Reuters) - German inflation eased in March, adding to the signs that euro zone price pressures are abating and increasing the pressure on the European Central Bank to start cutting interest rates. Inflation in Europe's largest economy slackened to 2.3% helped by lower food and energy prices, final data from the federal statistics office showed on Friday. This is its lowest level since June 2021. German consumer prices, harmonised to compare with other European Union countries, had risen by 2.7% year-on-year in February. "Inflation is weakening. We should therefore continue our fiscal policy, including the debt brake," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on social media platform X. The debt brake, enshrined in the German constitution, restricts the public deficit to 0.35% of gross domestic product. "In the United States it is clear that expansionary public finances with high levels of new debt can drive inflation up again," Lindner said. The European Central Bank kept interest rates at record highs on Thursday but sent an even clearer signal that it may be preparing to cut them in June. That decision may now be complicated by uncertainty as to whether the Federal Reserve will be able cut its own rates in June as U.S. inflation stays stubbornly above its goal. Core inflation in Germany, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was at 3.3% in March, down from 3.4% in February. Underlying inflation is closely watched by the European Central Bank to gauge the durability of price pressures. "In March 2024, food was cheaper for consumers than a year before for the first time since February 2015," said Ruth Brand, president of the statistics office. Food prices went down 0.7% year-on-year. Energy prices were 2.7% lower in March than in the same month of the previous year. Since the beginning of the year, energy prices have consistently fallen, dragging headline inflation down. However, core inflation has barely slowed. Germany's inflation is supported by a rising trend in services, whose prices are increasingly dominated by a sharp jump in wage costs, as well as a rise in rents. Prices for services overall were 3.7% higher in March on the year. Rents, with a price increase of 2.1% on the year, were significant for the price development for services. This is due to some extent to a boost from an early Easter, as inflation in airfares jumped to 10%, Pantheon Macroeconomics chief eurozone economist Claus Vistesen said. "We think services inflation will take a meaningful step back in April as early Easter effects reverse," Vistesen said, adding that this should pull core inflation down significantly. While services prices showed a strong increase, the prices for goods increased by 1.0% on the year, below the increase seen in overall inflation. Get a look at the day ahead in European and global markets with the Morning Bid Europe newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/german-inflation-eases-lowest-almost-three-years-2024-04-12/
2024-04-12 13:20
MUMBAI, April 12 (Reuters) - India's foreign exchange reserves (INFXR=ECI) New Tab, opens new tab rose for the seventh straight week to hit a record high of $648.56 as of April 5, data from the central bank showed on Friday. The reserves rose by $2.98 billion in the reporting week, after having risen by a total of $29.45 billion in the previous six weeks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) intervenes in the foreign exchange market to curb excess volatility in the rupee. Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the RBI's intervention as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves. Foreign exchange reserves also include India's reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund. In the week that the foreign exchange data pertains, the rupee gained 0.1% against the dollar after rebounding from a record low of 83.4550 hit earlier in the week. The domestic currency settled at 83.4125 on Friday, down 0.1% week-on-week. FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES (in million U.S. dollars) April 05 March 29 2024 2024 Foreign currency assets 571,166 570,618 Gold 54,558 52,160 SDRs 18,170 18,145 Reserve Tranche Position 4,669 4,660 Total 648,562 645,583 ---------------------------------------------------------- Source text: (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/BS_PressReleaseDisplay.aspx New Tab, opens new tab) ((India Headline News Team; +91 80 6749 1310)) The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-forex-reserves-rise-seventh-consecutive-week-record-high-2024-04-12/
2024-04-12 12:48
ORENBURG, Russia, April 12 (Reuters) - The roaring sound of water pumps filled the deserted streets of the flood-stricken Russian city of Orenburg on Friday as people heeded official warnings to escape. The city of 550,000, about 1,200 km (750 miles) east of Moscow, is grappling with a historic deluge after Europe's third-longest river, the Ural, burst its banks. Swiftly melting snow has already forced more than 120,000 people to evacuate in Russia's Ural Mountains, Siberia and Kazakhstan. It is the worst flooding seen in the areas in nearly a century. The Ural River, which cuts through Orenburg, rose to 11.43 metres (37.5 ft) on Friday, up from 10.87 metres (35.5 ft) a day earlier. Mayor Sergei Salmin called the situation "critical". Drone footage showed much of the city has turned into a vast lake, dotted with the roofs of houses - at least 12,000 of which have been flooded - peeking up above the brown water. For many in low-lying homes, little can be done to save their belongings. "Everything flooded, everything's lost, everything," said Dmitry Dragoshantsev as he waded through the waist-high water that had ruined his home in Viktoriya, a hamlet just outside Orenburg. He heaved his washing machine up his basement stairs with the help of a neighbour, trying to save what he could. Another resident, Vyacheslav, sat in an idling motorboat and surveyed his two-storey brick home, partially submerged in brown water. He said everything inside had risen 50 cm (1.5 ft) in the flood. "Judging by the water levels, all the furniture, some household appliances and interior decorating materials are ruined," he said. "It's a colossal amount of money." A local animal shelter found itself hosting over 350 animals, a mix of strays and family pets dropped off by owners fleeing for dry ground. "We're like Noah's Ark," shelter director Yulia Babenko told Reuters, rows of animal cages holding cats behind her. Volunteers from other Russian regions have organised aid for the animals, but Babenko said she had so far received scant assistance from authorities. Streets in another district of Orenburg had become fast-flowing rivers. Water pumps roared outside a now-empty medical clinic whose furniture had been stacked high to stay dry. Director Svetlana Sudareva said she had tried to prepare for the disaster, discharging patients, cancelling upcoming appointments and removing key medical equipment. "We mobilised in time," she said. "I think everything is going to recover. And I think that we, after the epidemiological measures - I hope that we will also recover." The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/were-like-noahs-ark-says-animal-shelter-flooded-russian-city-2024-04-12/
2024-04-12 12:09
STOCKHOLM, April 12 (Reuters) - Sweden will not reach its climate targets without further political action to cut carbon emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday. The authority said in a statement that based on current policies the country will miss both its 2045 net zero emissions target and its shorter-term goals, and will also not fulfill its emission commitments to the European Union. "We see strong policy decisions at EU level and a clear leadership for green transition within industry," said Stefan Nystrom, head of the agency's climate department. "Further political decisions are however needed to reduce emissions in Sweden if we are to achieve the climate targets," he said. A recent easing in the requirement to mix biofuel in petrol and diesel, and a tax cut on fossil fuels, is expected to increase emissions in 2024 and the coming years, the agency said. Mixing in biofuels from renewable sources is a way to reduce emissions from cars. The Swedish government said last year it would lower the required amount of biofuel, which the agency then warned could make meeting emission targets difficult. The EU has a target to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030. The environment agency said Sweden would need to cut its use of fossil diesel and petrol and increase the pace of electrification of transport to meet commitments to the bloc. The minority coalition government and its supporters in parliament fully agree on the goal to get to net zero by 2045, Sweden's Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari said in a statement to Reuters. "The climate action plan shows what we will implement this term, but all political decisions have not yet been made. There will be more budgets," she said. Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/sweden-will-miss-its-climate-goals-without-policy-changes-environment-agency-2024-04-12/
2024-04-12 12:08
Policymakers gather to brainstorm Kilkenny retreat to pave ground for June cut FRANKFURT, April 12 (Reuters) - European Central Bank policymakers will discuss green monetary policy and their upcoming strategy review at a retreat in Ireland next month, where they will also pave the ground for a likely interest rate cut in June, two sources told Reuters. The ECB is nearing the end of a two-year fight against high inflation, with the internal debate now focused on the path for borrowing costs beyond a well telegraphed reduction from record highs on June 6. Governors will likely lay some of the groundwork for their June move when they gather at the five-star Mount Juliet Estate in Kilkenny, Ireland, on May 21-22, the sources said. But they will also tackle some longer-term issues. One is the central bank's next review of its monetary policy strategy, scheduled for next year. Past reviews, the last of which wrapped up in 2021 New Tab, opens new tab after a pandemic-related delay, saw policymakers tweak the ECB's inflation goal, a highly consequential topic for traders at all times and even more so after the recent surge in prices. But the sources cautioned policymakers will simply be brainstorming at this stage, meaning there won't be specific proposals yet. An ECB spokesperson declined to comment. Some economists have speculated that the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve might choose or be forced to raise their 2% inflation goals in a new era of trade frictions, geopolitical tensions and climate change. But both central banks have generally dismissed this idea. Still, ECB President Christine Lagarde once said the euro zone central bank could discuss changing its 2% target once it had brought down inflation to that level, which is now expected to happen by the time the review starts next year. The other topic up for discussion in Kilkenny is how the ECB should take climate considerations into account when setting policy. This is a long-running debate New Tab, opens new tab that revolves around picking bonds from less polluting companies and giving banks incentives to do the same when they lend. Lagarde has been organising such retreatsaround the euro zone New Tab, opens new tab since the start of her presidency New Tab, opens new tab in late 2019, hoping to bring back harmony in the fractious Governing Council she inherited from her predecessor, Mario Draghi. Governors generally agree the atmosphere has improved under Lagarde, who has been credited with listening more than Draghi did to her colleagues from the 20 countries that share the euro. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ecb-discuss-new-strategy-green-policy-irish-retreat-2024-04-12/
2024-04-12 11:59
STOCKHOLM, April 12 (Reuters) - Greenpeace activists painted slogans on an Estonian-owned tanker in the middle of the Baltic Sea on Friday, and said the ship's supply of bunker fuel to vessels transporting Russian oil poses a danger to the environment. "Oil fuels war," the campaigners arriving in small boats wrote in large white letters on the side of the Zircone tanker, pictures provided by the group showed. The vessel, sitting in international waters off the Swedish island of Gotland, in the last two months supplied fuel to more than 50 oil tankers travelling to or from Russian ports, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported on Tuesday. Greenpeace said it was concerned that the Cyprus-registered ship could trigger an environmental disaster in the fragile Baltic Sea ecosystem. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenpeace-targets-russia-linked-baltic-sea-fuel-tanker-2024-04-12/
