1 China’s first trade deficit since 2014 (BBC) China
has reported its first monthly trade deficit in three years, after imports
surged and a slowdown during the Lunar New Year holidays hit output.
Higher
commodity prices and domestic demand were credited with pushing February's
imports up 38.1% on a year earlier. But exports unexpectedly fell 1.3%, giving
a trade deficit of $9.2bn for the month.
China's monthly imports last exceeded exports in
February 2014. The country's economic data from January and February can be
distorted by the long holidays, which see businesses slowing down and often
cutting back operations or closing completely. And most analysts agree that the
latest data is just a blip, with a surplus inevitable again once the impact of
the holidays tails off.
With the Chinese economy expanding at its slowest
pace in 26 years in 2016, Beijing is likely to be heartened by the latest
import figures, as it looks for signs of improvement. Leaders are trying to
rebalance the economy, reducing reliance on state investment and exports, and
growing more through domestic consumption.
2 Oil tumbles over 5% to 2017 low (Straits Times) Oil
prices slumped to their lowest level of 2017 on March 8 following a bearish US
supply report that also dented American petroleum-linked shares. The US oil
benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, slid more than five per cent to $50.28 a
barrel, its lowest price since December. International oil benchmark Brent also
ended the day at a low for 2017.
The retreat in oil prices came on a choppy day for
global stocks, with US equities finishing mostly lower, Asian markets mixed and
European equities close to flat. US investors also have questions about an
expected Federal Reserve interest rate hike next week, and doubts about whether
President Donald Trump can rapidly enact tax cuts and other key aspects of his
agenda.
Oil prices have held solidly above $50 a barrel
throughout the first part of 2017, a move that has incentivized US shale
producers begin to ramp production back up after a two-year slump in oil
prices. But US Energy Department's inventory report showed a hefty increase of
eight million barrels in petroleum stocks in the latest week.
3 Iceland asks firms to prove equal pay (San
Francisco Chronicle) Iceland will be the first country in the world to make
employers prove they offer equal pay regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexuality
or nationality, the Nordic nation's government said on the International
Women's Day.
The government said it will introduce legislation to
parliament this month, requiring all employers with more than 25 staff members
to obtain certification to prove they give equal pay for work of equal value.
While other countries, and the US state of
Minnesota, have equal-salary certificate policies, Iceland is thought to be the
first to make it mandatory for both private and public firms. The North
Atlantic island nation, which has a population of about 330,000, wants to
eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022. Social Affairs and Equality Minister
Thorsteinn Viglundsson said "the time is right to do something radical
about this issue."
Iceland has been ranked the best country in the
world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum, but Icelandic women
still earn, on average, 14 to 18 percent less than men. In October thousands of
Icelandic women left work at 2:38 p.m. and demonstrated outside parliament to
protest the gender pay gap. Women's rights groups calculate that after that
time each day, women are working for free.
Iceland has introduced other measures to boost
women's equality, including quotas for female participation on government committees
and corporate boards. Such measures have proven controversial in some
countries, but have wide support across Iceland's political spectrum.
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