Category: Business

There is no end to demand for what many consider to be Italy’s white gold, the marble from the Tuscan town of Carrara, a name synonymous with the very best money can buy in the world today. It is no secret, and it is not new. The quarrying in these mountains has been going on for more than 2,000 years. The Romans were the first to be lured by the stone's beauty and millions of tourists to this day still flock to admire some of the most magnificent ancient monuments made with this special stone, the likes of the Pantheon and Trajan’s Column in the Eternal City. And then there are famous statues like the David and the Pietà by Renaissance master Michelangelo. So what is happening in Carrara today?…

The European Central Bank will on Thursday weigh when and how to end its bond-buying stimulus program — an exit that will have far-reaching consequences across the economy, from long-suffering savers to Europe's indebted governments.   The bank, which sets monetary policy for the 19 countries that use the euro, has been buying 30 billion euros ($35.5 billion) a month in government and corporate bonds from banks. The purchases are slated to run at least through September, and longer if necessary.   Analysts say that decisions on the exit path, which could include several intermediate steps, might come Thursday or at the July 26 meeting. Scenarios include reducing the purchases past September, and then stopping them at the end of the year.   An end to the stimulus would be part…

The separatist campaign in Indian-administered Kashmir broke out into major violence in 1989. More than 60,000 people are estimated to have died and 10,000 to have disappeared in the disputed Himalayan region. That has pushed their families into poverty. For the region's youth, earning a living has been a challenge, especially educated young women. However, one group of young entrepreneurs is taking matters into their own hands. Yusuf Jameel has more, in this report narrated by Bezhan Hamdard. ...

The United States will not lift the ban on doing business with Chinese telecommunications giant ZTE until ZTE pays a $1 billion fine for trade violations and places $400 million more in escrow.   The U.S. Commerce Department released details of its settlement it made with ZTE, under President Trump's orders, to let the crippled company get back in business again. "Today, BIS (Bureau of Industry and Security) is imposing the largest penalty it has ever levied and requiring ZTE adopt unprecedented compliance measures," U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Monday. The White House has already threatened that ZTE will be shut down again if it engages in just one more bad activity. Last week, the Chinese company agreed to the $1 billion fine for putting U.S. built components in…

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde led an attack by global economic organizations on U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" trade policy Monday, warning that clouds over the global economy "are getting darker by the day." Trump backed out of a joint communique agreed by Group of Seven leaders in Canada over the weekend that mentioned the need for "free, fair and mutually beneficial trade" and the importance of fighting protectionism. The U.S. president, who has imposed import tariffs on metals, is furious about the United States' large trade deficit with key allies. "Fair trade is now to be called fool trade if it is not reciprocal," he tweeted Monday. In response, Lagarde unleashed a thinly veiled attack on Trump's trade policy, saying challenges to the way trade is conducted…

South Sudan's central bank said Monday it will issue higher denomination banknotes, enabling citizens to carry fewer notes as rampant inflation continues to devalue the local currency. The bank said it would introduce a 500-pound bill, worth $1.5 U.S. dollars, into circulation this month. Currently the largest note in circulation is a 100-pound bill. South Sudan's economy is close to collapse after a 2015 peace deal with Sudan failed to stick and fighting between rival soldiers has continued. The conflict has hurt the country's crude oil output, which is at less than half of its pre-war level of 245,000 barrels per day. "The Bank of South Sudan would like to inform the general public that it is introducing a new banknote of 500 South Sudanese pounds as legal tender in…

President Donald Trump tweeted out more criticism of U.S. trade partners Monday, including allies in Europe and Canada, adding to his declarations that the United States will no longer tolerate what he has called "trade abuse." "Sorry, we cannot let our friends, or enemies, take advantage of us on Trade anymore. We must put the American worker first!" Trump said. That was part of a string of messages in which the president asserted the United States "pays close the the entire cost of NATO" while other member countries take advantage of the U.S. on trade. "We protect Europe (which is good) at great financial loss, and then get unfairly clobbered on Trade," he said. "Change is coming!" NATO members, in general, make financial contributions based on their economic output, and…

A radical plan to transform Switzerland's financial landscape by barring commercial banks from electronically creating money when they lend was resoundingly rejected by Swiss voters on Sunday. More than three quarters rejected the so-called Sovereign Money initiative, according to the official result released from the Swiss government. All of the country's self-governing cantons also voted against in the poll, which needed a majority from Switzerland's 26 cantons as well as a simple majority of voters to succeed. Concerns about the potential risks to the Swiss economy by introducing a "vollgeld" or "real money" system appear to have convinced voters to reject the proposals. The Swiss government, which had opposed the plan because of the uncertainties it would unleash, said it was pleased with the result. "Implementing such a scheme, which…

Italy's new coalition government has no intention of leaving the euro and plans to focus on cutting debt levels, Economy Minister Giovanni Tria said on Sunday, looking to reassure nervous financial markets. Italian government bonds have come under concerted selling pressure on fears the government will embark on a spending splurge that Italy can ill-afford and markets are wary that euro-skeptics within the coalition might try to push Italy out of the eurozone. In his first interview since taking office a week ago, Tria told Corriere della Sera newspaper that the coalition wanted to boost growth through investment and structural reforms. "Our goal is [to lift] growth and employment. But we do not plan on reviving growth through deficit spending," Tria said, adding that he would present new economic forecasts…

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)is holding its first summit since India and Pakistan joined the bloc which is widely seem by observers as a means for blocking American influence in Central Asia.  The founding members of the alliance are China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.  The summit is being held in the eastern Chinese coastal city of Qingdao.  Chinese President Xi Jingping told the group in opening remarks Sunday, "We should reject selfish, short-sighted, narrow and closed-off policies.We must maintain the rules of the World Trade Organization, support the multilateral trade system and build an open global economy." Political analysts see the Chinese leader's remarks as a thinly veiled reference to the chaos at the recent G-7 summit in Canada where the U.S. and its allies were divided by…

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Saturday that nearly $3 billion in pledges has been raised to help fund the education of vulnerable girls and women around the world. Canada will contribute $300 million to the campaign. Germany, Japan, Britain and the World Bank are among the additional supporters.  The prime minister made the announcement on the last day of the G-7 summit which was held in Quebec.  Women's groups that had met with Trudeau on the sidelines of the summit welcomed the news of the generous pledges that exceeded the groups' expectations.  "It gives young women in developing countries the opportunity to pursue careers instead of early marriage and child labor," said Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head in Pakistan because of her campaign…

Prime Minister Theresa May will gather together squabbling British ministers at her country residence after this month's European Union summit to settle on details of a much-anticipated Brexit policy paper. May has yet to agree on some of the fundamental details of what type of trading relationship she wants to have with the European Union after Britain leaves next March. As a result, talks with the EU have all but ground to a halt, raising fears among businesses and in Brussels that Britain could end up crashing out of the bloc without an agreed-upon deal. "There's going to be a lot happening over the next few weeks. You know, people want us to get on with it, and that's exactly what we're doing," May told reporters on her way to a G-7 summit in Canada. May will look to the June…

French President Emmanuel Macron's economic policy is viewed as favoring the rich and must change to address inequalities, according to a memo written by three economists who worked on his campaign program, Le Monde newspaper said on Saturday. The criticism is the latest sign of the trouble created by Macron's economic reforms among the center-left supporters who propelled him to power last year. In the confidential memo sent to Macron and plastered across Le Monde's front page, the economists said his policy was failing to convince "even the most ardent supporters." "Many supporters of the then-candidate express their fear of a lurch to the right motivated by the temptation to steal the political space left vacant by a struggling conservative party," the economists wrote. Jean Pisani-Ferry, the Sciences Po Paris…

Australia's Commonwealth Bank has agreed to pay a $530 million fine for breaching anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing laws. The scandal relates to more than 53,000 suspect transactions that the bank did not immediately report to authorities. If approved by the Federal Court, this will be the largest civil penalty in Australian corporate history. At the heart of the case were so-called smart cash machines that allowed customers to anonymously deposit and transfer money. Thousands of suspect transactions of more than $7,600 each were not referred to the authorities as required by law. An investigation by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (AUSTRAC), the federal financial intelligence agency, along with state and federal police found the machines were being used to launder the proceeds of crime.  Australian Treasurer Scott…

Pope Francis has told the world's oil executives that a transition to less-polluting energy sources "is a challenge of epochal proportions." On the last day of a two-day conference Saturday, the Roman Catholic leader urged the executives to provide electricity to the one billion people who are without it, but said that process must be done in a way that avoids "creating environmental imbalances resulting in deterioration and pollution gravely harmful to our human family, both now and in the future." Reuters reports the unprecedented conference was held behind closed doors at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. The news agency says the oil executives, investors and Vatican experts who attended the summit, believe, like the pope does, that science supports the notion that climate change is caused by human activity…

Emotions were on display when U.S. President Donald Trump met other G-7 leaders at their annual summit in Canada on Friday, but the discussions were civilized and diplomatic, according to sources.  Trump held firm on asserting the United States is disadvantaged when it comes to trade with its European allies.  “The other leaders presented their numbers and Trump presented his,” a G-7 official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Reuters news agency. “As expected he did not budge. This is probably not because he does not understand, but because of domestic reasons.” At a bilateral meeting later with the summit's host, Justin Trudeau, the U.S. president joked that the Canadian prime minister had agreed to “cut all tariffs.”  Despite the two leaders exchanging criticism of each other’s trade…

The Senate Agriculture Committee on Friday released a bipartisan farm bill that makes mostly modest adjustments to existing programs and, unlike the House version of the bill, doesn't pick a fight over food stamps. The Senate bill, dubbed the “Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018,” is budget-neutral and aims to renew subsidy, conservation, nutrition, rural development and commodity programs set to expire on Sept. 30. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the bill also includes a measure to legalize industrial hemp. In April, McConnell introduced a hemp legalization bill, which he said in a news release has garnered support of 24 other senators. The farm bill will go to the committee for a vote next week and sets up a possible confrontation with the House, whose bill went after the Supplemental…

An Ohio gardening company where immigration agents arrested 114 workers this week in one of the largest workplace raids in the U.S. in recent years says it doesn't know if workers used fake documents to get jobs. Corso's Flower & Garden Center said Friday in a statement that it demands proper documentation from employees and ensures they pay taxes. The arrests had occurred Tuesday at the company's northern Ohio locations in Sandusky and nearby Castalia. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they expect to charge workers for crimes including identity theft and tax evasion. Authorities say Corso's is under investigation. No criminal charges have been filed against the company. Corso's says if mistakes were made or fake identification documents were used by workers, it wasn't aware. ...

Ukraine's parliament has voted to establish an anti-corruption court in an effort to meet the criteria to receive $17.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund.   Before the IMF releases the funds needed to shore up Ukraine's struggling economy, it will have make sure the court's laws are IMF compliant. The West has repeatedly called on Ukraine to reform it political system and establish an independent body to fight corruption.   "What we'll be looking to see is that it ensures the establishment of an independent and trustworthy anti-corruption court that meets the expectation of the Ukrainian people," IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said at a briefing Thursday.   President Petrol Poroshenko said the court was in line with Western recommendations and Ukrainian law.     Last year Poroshenko rejected the…

The Trump administration said Thursday it would spend $4 million on construction projects in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in preparation for oil drilling in the nation’s biggest wildlife park. In an announcement that touted planned improvements to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service visitor facilities, the Department of the Interior said it has approved spending on projects for “Oil Exploration Readiness” in the coastal plain of the Arctic refuge. The Trump administration is pushing for an oil lease sale in the refuge as early as next year. The tax-overhaul bill passed by the U.S. Congress last December includes a provision mandating two oil lease sales, each offering at least 400,000 acres (161,874.26 hectares), within seven years. True wilderness refuge The 19-million-acre (7.7 million-hectare) Arctic refuge, the largest in the U.S.…

Argentina and the International Monetary Fund said Thursday that they had reached an agreement for a three-year, $50 billion standby lending arrangement, which the government said it sought to provide a safety net and avoid the frequent crises of the country's past. Argentina requested IMF assistance on May 8 after its peso currency weakened sharply in an investor exodus from emerging markets. As part of the deal, which is subject to IMF board approval, the government pledged to speed up plans to reduce the fiscal deficit even as authorities now foresee lower growth and higher inflation in the coming years. The deal marks a turning point for Argentina, which for years shunned the IMF after a devastating 2001-02 economic crisis that many Argentines blamed on IMF-imposed austerity measures. President Mauricio Macri's turn to the lender has led to protests in…

President Donald Trump’s tariff on imported solar panels has led U.S. renewable energy companies to cancel or freeze investments of more than $2.5 billion in large installation projects, along with thousands of jobs, the developers told Reuters. That’s more than double the about $1 billion in new spending plans announced by firms building or expanding U.S. solar panel factories to take advantage of the tax on imports. The tariff’s bifurcated impact on the solar industry underscores how protectionist trade measures almost invariably hurt one or more domestic industries for every one they shield from foreign competition.  Trump announced the tariff in January over protests from most of the solar industry that the move would chill one of America’s fastest-growing sectors. ​Utility-scale projects Solar developers completed utility-scale installations costing a total…

India's central bank raised its benchmark lending rate Wednesday to tamp down rising inflation following an increase in oil prices. The increase of one-quarter percentage point to 6.25 percent is the first since January 2014 and comes at a time when consumer inflation is at a four-year high. The Reserve Bank of India said it expects inflation of 4.8 to 4.9 percent in the first half of the 2018-19 financial year, which started April 1. More rate hikes are likely in coming months, said Shilan Shah of Capital Economics in a report. The bank said crude oil prices have been volatile, causing uncertainty to the inflation outlook. There was a 12 percent increase in the price of Indian crude basket, which was sharper than expected. The bank forecast GDP growth…

 Britain, France and Germany have joined forces to urge the United States to exempt European companies from any sanctions the U.S. will slap on Iran after pulling out of an international nuclear agreement.   In a letter made public Wednesday, ministers from the three European countries told U.S. officials they "strongly regret" President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran deal to which their nations also were signatories.   The agreement was meant to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump argued that it was insufficiently tough and has said sanctions will be imposed on any company doing business with Tehran.   The ministers — British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and German Finance Minister Olaf…

Arms control experts estimate that the dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear program could take a decade to complete, and cost $20 billion, if a nuclear agreement is reached between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when they meet in Singapore on June 12. “The hard work has not yet begun, and it is gong to take sustained energy on the part of the United States, South Korea, Japan, China and North Korea. It’s going to be a multiyear long process,” said Daryl Kimball, the executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. President Trump has said he expects a "very positive result" from the North Korea nuclear summit, but he also said it will likely be the beginning of a process to resolve differences…

Mexico put tariffs on American products ranging from steel to pork and bourbon on Tuesday, retaliating against import duties on metals imposed by President Donald Trump and taking aim at Republican strongholds ahead of U.S. congressional elections in November. Mexico's response further raises trade tensions between the two countries and adds a new complication to efforts to renegotiate the NAFTA trade deal between Canada, the United States and Mexico. American pork producers, for whom Mexico is the largest export market, were dismayed by the move. Trump last week rattled some of the closest U.S. allies by removing an exemption to tariffs on imported steel and aluminum that his administration had granted to Mexico, Canada and the European Union. Meanwhile, Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow revived the possibility on Tuesday that…

U.S. President Donald Trump is "seriously contemplating" trying to reach separate trade deals with Canada and Mexico instead of reshaping the more than two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement with both neighbors, a White House economic adviser said Tuesday. Trump economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Fox News, "He prefers bilateral negotiations, and he is looking at two much different countries." The U.S., Canada and Mexico have for months engaged in talks to revise NAFTA, which has been in force since 1994. But Kudlow said separate deals "might be able to happen more rapidly." However, Kudlow said Trump does not plan to withdraw from the three-nation agreement. "He is seriously contemplating a shift in the NAFTA negotiations ... [and] he asked me to convey this," Kudlow said. The adviser said Trump…

Starbucks Corp, the world’s biggest coffee chain, said on Monday Executive Chairman Howard Schultz is stepping down, effective June 26. Schultz, who has been with Starbucks for nearly four decades, is credited with turning the company into a popular household name and growing it from 11 stores to more than 28,000 in 77 countries. Last year, Schultz stepped down as chief executive officer to become executive chairman, handing the top job to Kevin Johnson. Most recently, he was involved in steering the company through an anti-bias training program that was kickstarted after a Philadelphia cafe manager’s call to police resulted in the arrests of two black men who were waiting for a friend. Starbucks’ board named Myron Ullman, who was previously chairman and CEO of struggling retailer J.C. Penney Co,…