1 Venezuela raises fuel price 6,000% (Sibylla Brodzinsky in
The Guardian) Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has announced the first
rise in petrol prices in 20 years and a sharp devaluation of the currency which
he said aimed to shore up the flailing economy, hard hit by falling oil prices
which make up 95% of foreign income.
Prices at the pump in
Venezuela will jump as much as 6,086% for 95 octane gasoline, from 0.097
bolivars to 6 bolivars, or 1,300% for 91 octane as of Friday. The official
exchange rate used for food and medicine imports will weaken to 10 bolivars per
dollar from 6.3, while a second rate will be allowed to float.
The socialist
government’s announcement revealed some of the free market reforms that
analysts have been clamouring for in the oil-dependent nation although critics
say they don’t go far enough to right the country’s crisis-hit economy. “This
is a necessary measure, a necessary action to balance things, I take
responsibility for it,” said Maduro in a five-hour televised speech in which he
announced the measures.
Maduro said the new
fuel prices would help support social programmes such as housing, health
services and education, which had won his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, a broad
following when he set the country on a socialist path 17 years ago.
Maduro said he hoped
the measures “will be understood by the people on the streets”, alluding to the
1989 wave of violence known as the “Caracazo” that left hundreds dead, sparked
by a rise in fuel prices. Maduro also announced a 20% increase to the country’s
minimum wage, effective 1 March.
But even with the
rises, Venezuela’s petrol will still be the cheapest in the world, allowing
Venezuelan’s to fill their tanks with high-octane gasoline for the equivalent
of the price of three beers. Wall Street analysts previously said Venezuela
needed a sharp currency devaluation, spending cuts and a rise in fuel and
electricity prices to avoid further economic meltdown. But local analysts said
the changes announced by Maduro had not gone far enough.
2 Japan exports slump the most since 2009 (Straits Times)
Japan's annual exports in January fell the most since the global financial
crisis as demand weakened in China and other major markets, leaving the economy
in a precarious position after a fourth-quarter contraction.
Ministry of Finance
data showed exports fell 12.9 per cent year-on-year in January versus a median
market estimate for a 11.3 per cent drop, with the fourth straight month of
declines led by a slump in shipments of steel and oil products. It was the
biggest decline since October 2009 when the global financial crisis knocked
demand across the world.
The latest data adds to growing concerns that Japanese
authorities are left with few options to revive a stumbling economy even as the
Bank of Japan remains proactive in policymaking, shocking markets last month by
adopting negative interest rates to spark momentum.
The slowdown in China, Japan's biggest trading partner,
remains a big drag on the domestic economy as well as globally, hurting exporters
of commodities and a wide swathe of consumer products. In January, Japanese
exports to China fell 17.5 per cent from a year earlier, down for a sixth
straight month due to declines in shipments of liquid-crystal device and
organic compounds.
The world's
third-largest economy contracted an annualised 1.4 per cent in
October-December. While analysts expect a return to moderate growth in the
current quarter, sluggish exports and weak consumer spending underscore the
difficulty policy makers have in putting the economy back on track.
Japan is not alone in suffering a rough start for its
exporters, with the chill in China rippling across trade-reliant regional
economies such as South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. Shipments to Asia, which
account for more than half of Japan's overall exports, fell 17.8 per cent in
January, marking a fifth consecutive month of annual declines.
3 Bombardier to cut 7,000 jobs (BBC) Canadian plane and
train maker Bombardier will cut its workforce by about 7,000 over the next two
years, it has said. Job losses will be partially offset by hiring for the
production of its CSeries commercial jets, it said.
Bombardier will also cut 270 management and contractor jobs
at its trains business in the UK, with 44 permanent positions to go. The UK
rail business employs 3,500 people. The firm said it had made a net loss of
$5.3bn (£3.7bn) in 2015, and had revenues of $18.2bn - 10% lower than the year
before.
Bombardier also forecast lower revenues for 2016, saying it
expects to generate between $16.5bn and $17.5bn. The 7,000 posts to be cut will
include 2,000 contractors, and will fall mainly on the transportation and
aerostructure parts of the business.
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