Category: Бізнес

New Brazilian Minister: Even Military Must Compromise on Pensions

Every Brazilian, including current and former members of the armed forces, will have to compromise under the next administration’s pension reform plan, a former general set to become government minister said in an interview. Retired General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz told Reuters in Brasilia last week that it was “inadmissible” in today’s world for …

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Greek Lawmakers Approve New Budget — With More Austerity

Greek lawmakers approved the heavily indebted country’s budget for 2019 late Tuesday, the first since Greece exited an eight-year bailout program. The budget lawmakers passed with a 154-143 vote still is heavy on austerity measures to ensure Greece registers a hefty surplus, in compliance with its debt relief deal with international creditors. Earlier Tuesday, government …

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Mexico Budget Plan Races Past First Congressional Hurdle

The finance committee of Mexico’s lower house of Congress on Tuesday rapidly approved the revenue section of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador’s 2019 draft budget, auguring speedy passage in the legislature his party controls. Lopez Obrador’s leftist government only unveiled the budget proposal on Saturday night. It met with a positive initial response from financial …

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Ukraine’s Poroshenko: World Bank Approves $750 Million Loan Guarantee

The World Bank has approved a $750 million loan guarantee for Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko said on Twitter on Tuesday, calling it proof of his nation’s “tangible progress on the reform path.” The World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other bodies support Ukraine with loan agreements conditional on Kiev passing reforms and tackling corruption. The …

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Saudi 2019 Budget Boosts Spending to Spur Sluggish Economy

Saudi Arabia plans to increase state spending by 7 percent next year in an effort to spur economic growth that has been hurt by low oil prices, according to a 2019 state budget announced by King Salman on Tuesday. Spending is projected to rise to an all-time high of 1.106 trillion riyals ($295 billion), from …

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EU Urges Kosovo to Drop Tariffs as Political Tensions Mount

The European Union’s top diplomat called Tuesday on Kosovo to lift tariffs on goods from Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina as tensions rise between the former Serbian territory, and the EU and NATO. Kosovo last month slapped a 100-percent tax on Serbian imports, apparently in retaliation after its bid to join the international police organization, Interpol, failed …

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Dow Takes Second Straight Two-Percent Plunge

Another day of big losses knocked U.S. stocks to their lowest levels in more than a year Monday. Investors dumped high-growth technology and retail companies as well as steadier, high-dividend companies. Oil fell below $50 a barrel for the first time since October 2017.   Hospitals and health insurers slumped after a federal judge in …

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Trump Approves 2nd Round of Trade Aid Payments for US Farmers

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he has authorized the second round of payments from a $12 billion aid package for farmers stung by the U.S. trade war with China, but did not specify an amount. “Today I am making good on my promise to defend our Farmers & Ranchers from unjustified trade retaliation by …

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Burnout, Stress Lead More Companies to Try Four-day Work Week

Work four days a week, but get paid for five? It sounds too good to be true, but companies around the world that have cut their work week have found that it leads to higher productivity, more motivated staff and less burnout. “It is much healthier and we do a better job if we’re not …

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Guinea Bissau Women Entrepreneurs Share Ideas, Expand Business

A group of young female business owners in Guinea Bissau have banded together to learn more about the business world and increase sales. A year later, their efforts appear to be paying off. Ricci Shryock reports from the west African nation. …

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Debt Threat: Business Debt, Worries About it, Are up

Homeowners appear to have learned the lesson of the Great Recession about not taking on too much debt. There is some concern that Corporate America didn’t get the message.   For much of the past decade, companies have borrowed at super-low interest rates and used the money to buy back stock, acquire other businesses and …

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Governments Agree on Rules for Implementing Climate Accord

After two weeks of bruising negotiations, officials from almost 200 countries agreed Saturday on universal, transparent rules that will govern efforts to cut emissions and curb global warming. Fierce disagreements on two other climate issues were kicked down the road for a year to help bridge a chasm of opinions on the best solutions.    …

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Stocks Plunge to 8-month Lows on Growth Fears; J&J Nosedives

Stocks staggered to eight-month lows Friday after weak economic data from China and Europe set off more worries about the global economy. Mounting tensions in Europe over Britain’s impeding departure from the European Union also darkened traders’ moods. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped as much as 563 points. On the benchmark S&P 500 index, …

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Nigerian Governor: Buhari Says Economy in ‘Bad Shape’

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said the country’s economy was in “bad shape,” the governor of a northwestern state told reporters Friday after a meeting with governors from across the country.  Buhari will seek a second term in an election to be held in February in which the economy is likely to be a campaign issue.  Africa’s top oil producer last …

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US Budget Deficit Hits Record $204.9B for November 

The federal budget deficit surged to a record for the month of November of $204.9 billion, but a big part of the increase reflected a calendar quirk.    In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said Thursday that the deficit for November was $66.4 billion higher than the imbalance in November 2017.    But …

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Stocks Lose Steam as Nerves Persist, Euro Dips

A gauge of world equities was little changed after giving up early gains on Thursday, continuing a pattern seen for the past several sessions, while the euro eased after the European Central Bank formally ended its bond purchasing scheme. In the United States, the S&P and Nasdaq finished in the red while the Dow closed …

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Apple Deepens Austin Ties, Expands Operations East and West

Apple will build a $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, break ground on smaller locations in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City, California, and over the next three years expand in Pittsburgh, New York and Colorado. The tech giant said Thursday that the new campus in Austin, less than a mile from existing Apple facilities, …

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Wall Street Gains on Better Signs in US-China Trade Talks

Wall Street stocks finished higher on Wednesday due to improved hopes for the US-China trade talks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6 percent at 24,527.27. The broad-based S&P 500 advanced 0.5 percent to 2,651.07, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.0 percent to 7,098.31. Wall Street stocks have been volatile in recent weeks …

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Sustainable Tree Farming Means Better Lives for Kenyan Farmers

Wood consumption — including logging and the production of charcoal — is a leading cause of forest degradation in Africa. In some of Kenya’s coastal regions, recurring droughts have made the problem even worse.  Now, farmers in those regions are planting trees, putting their once-barren land to use in a venture that enables them to earn …

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Malaysian Ex-PM Slapped with New Charge Over 1MDB Scandal

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was charged Wednesday with tampering with the final audit report into a defunct state investment fund, adding to a long list of corruption allegations against him since his ouster in May elections. Najib was charged along with Arul Kanda Kandasamy, the former head of the 1MDB fund, which is …

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Avianca Brasil Airline Declares Bankruptcy

Cash-strapped Avianca Brasil, the country’s fourth-largest airline, on Tuesday sought bankruptcy protection from creditors but reassured passengers that flights will continue. “Due to resistance from the lessors (of their aircraft) to reaching a friendly settlement, we have filed seeking protection from creditors, to protect clients and passengers,” a company statement said. Operations are not expected …

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As Finances Improve, Greece Scraps Pension Cuts


Greece’s parliament on Tuesday voted to scrap plans to cut state pensions, in a motion led by the left-led governing coalition hoping to shore up its flagging support ahead of a general election next year. Athens agreed two years ago to cut pensions in 2019, in an attempt to placate lenders and get the International …

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Big Drop Reported in Child Labor in Cambodia Fashion Factories 

While the United Nations says child labor has fallen sharply in Cambodia’s garment factories, many informal subcontractors using children are escaping scrutiny, activists said Tuesday.    Better Factories Cambodia, a U.N. International Labor Organization and World Bank initiative, found just 10 cases of child labor, down from 74 in 2014, in its latest survey of almost 500 …

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Macron’s Concessions Set to Blow Out French Deficit

France will overshoot the European Union’s budget deficit ceiling next year without deeper spending cuts after President Emmanuel Macron caved in to anti-government protests. Macron announced wage increases for the poorest workers and a tax cut for most pensioners on Monday in an effort to quell a near month-long public revolt. But the measures will …

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Disney Again Makes History with Earning Above $7B for 2018

Walt Disney Studios is again ending the year on a high note, posting more than $7 billion in global box office earnings, thanks to hits such as “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War.” “This is only the second time in history any studio has surpassed the $7 billion mark, after Disney’s own industry-record 2016 global …

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China, US Discuss Next Stage of Trade Talks

China and the United States discussed the road map for the next stage of their trade talks on Tuesday, during a telephone call between Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. Earlier this month in Argentina, U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed …

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