MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian draft law proposes punishment of up to seven years in prison and heavy fines for the public disclosure of information about the supply chains of sanctioned goods imported into Russia and about payment systems.

Russia still relies on many high-tech goods produced in the West, such as microchips, which are banned for export to Russia. These goods are essential for keeping many Russian industrial enterprises operational, including in the defence sector.

To bypass Western sanctions, including those imposed over the conflict in Ukraine, Russia has established complex logistical schemes through intermediaries in third countries and an international transactions infrastructure.

“In the current context of external sanctions pressure, maintaining the established production and technological chains that ensure the strategic development of the Russian economy acquires special significance,” said an explanatory note for the draft submitted to parliament by the government.

Many Russian officials and businesspeople have been calling for logistics and payments information to be classified as a state secret.

The authors of the draft referred to websites disseminating leaked customs data, as well as information appearing in traditional media or on social media about logistics schemes for delivering sanctioned goods.

The draft’s explanatory note said the objective of such items was “to harm specific economic entities, sectors of the economy, and, more broadly, the economic interests of Russia.”

By Howard Schneider

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – At their last meeting in December, U.S. Federal Reserve officials were worried about inflation getting stuck above their 2% target and had watched job gains seesaw in what seemed an emerging decline.

When they meet on Jan. 28-29, the mood around the most recent economic data at least will have shifted back towards more faith that inflation will continue to fall and a further easing of concern about the state of the job market.

The usual caveat among economists – “all things equal” – may prove especially important given the uncertainty about how the edicts of the new Trump administration may influence import prices, the size of the labor force, and the regulatory landscape.

Measures of policy uncertainty have spiked since Donald Trump’s election win in November. But the data since December remains helpful to the bulk of Fed officials who feel the job market and the economy overall are in healthy shape, with inflation expected to ebb further in coming months.

After cutting its benchmark rate a full percentage point in the final three meetings of 2024, the Fed is expected to pause and leave it unchanged in January in the 4.25%-to-4.50% range as policymakers assess how much longer “tight” monetary policy is needed and how much they would need to cut to reach a “neutral” rate of interest.

INFLATION SEEMS SET TO IMPROVE

The latest Consumer Price Index report showed inflation rising slightly in December but was driven by volatile energy prices, something the Fed tries to factor out in its analysis of underlying price trends.

The core rate of inflation, excluding food and energy, fell slightly. More significantly for the Fed, CPI and other components of the separate Personal Consumption Expenditures price index suggest it rose at a roughly 2% annual rate through December and has been near the Fed’s target on a three-to-six month basis.

Moreover, Fed officials feel the data are primed to turn in their favor this year. Since inflation was unexpectedly hot at the start of 2024, as those strong months fall from the annual calculations so-called “base effects” will help anchor inflation lower, all else equal.

JOB GAINS STILL HOLDING UP

“Downside risks to the labor market do appear to have diminished,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said after the December meeting. While the job market was still cooling, he said, it remained “solid,” a situation the Fed hoped to maintain.

Data since then has held up, with the economy adding an estimated quarter of a million jobs in December and the unemployment rate falling to 4.1% – another reason officials feel comfortable pausing rate cuts at least for now.

By Lewis (JO:LEWJ) Krauskopf

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve’s first meeting of 2025 in the coming week stands to test the resurgence in U.S. stocks as investors gauge the extent of more equity-friendly interest rate cuts in the months ahead.

Stocks swooned after the Fed’s last meeting in December, when the central bank downgraded its forecast for rate cuts as it braced for firmer inflation this year.

Since then, monthly data that showed underlying inflation moderated set off relief on Wall Street, helping drive a rebound in stocks with the benchmark S&P 500 hitting a record high this week.

The Fed is broadly expected to pause its easing cycle when it gives its monetary policy statement on Wednesday, with investors instead focused on “what would need to happen for them to start talking about resuming the rate cuts,” said Angelo Kourkafas, senior investment strategist at Edward Jones.

Given recent data indicating strong economic activity, Kourkafas said, “there’s wide expectations that the Fed has no urgency to continue cutting until we get potentially more encouraging inflation data.”

The Fed’s benchmark rate stands at 4.25% to 4.5% after the central bank lowered it by a full percentage point last year. The Fed’s easing cycle began after rate hikes had helped bring down inflation from 40-year highs, although it remains above the Fed’s 2% annual target.

Fed funds futures are pricing in about 40 basis points more of easing — or nearly two more cuts — by December, according to LSEG data.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) economists expect Fed Chair Jerome Powell will keep the possibility of a cut at the Fed’s March meeting “on the table.”

“If we are right in our assessment of the incoming data flow, then we think the Fed can stay on hold in January and retain its easing bias,” the Morgan Stanley economists said in a note.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wants the Fed to cut rates, even as the central bank is expected to pause for an uncertain duration.

Stocks have started the year strongly, with the S&P 500 up about 4% so far in January, following back-to-back years of gains of over 20%.

Investors this week digested a flood of activity by Trump after his second term began on Monday, including his announcement of private sector investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure that propelled a broad tech stock rally.

Some investors were surprised that Trump has not yet moved to enact new tariffs on foreign imports, a key part of his expected agenda that could set off broad market volatility. The president, however, is threatening an array of tariffs, which continues to keep investors on edge about the potential to increase inflation.

With the Fed meeting for the first time since Trump’s presidency, the possibility of tariffs could factor into the central bank’s outlook, said Larry Werther, chief U.S. economist of Daiwa Capital Markets America.

“If there’s any hint that the Fed is perhaps taking a more solid view on tariffs… and it’s unfavorable how they’re viewing it with respect to potential inflationary pressures, I think it could potentially be a negative for equities,” Werther said.

Stocks will also take their cues in the coming week from a slew of earnings results, especially from megacap tech companies. Reports are due from Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Facebook owner Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) — four of the “Magnificent Seven” companies whose shares have led equity indexes higher over the past two years.

The Magnificent Seven in general have put up stronger earnings growth than the rest of the S&P 500, but their valuations are also higher. The group trades at an average forward price-to-earnings ratio of 43 times expected 12-month earnings, and a median of 31.5 times, compared to 22 times for the S&P 500, according to LSEG data.

“If we start to see the Mag 7 struggle to meet some of these lofty expectations, we wouldn’t be surprised to see if the valuations take a meaningful hit,” said Michael Reynolds, vice president of investment strategy at Glenmede.

By Howard Schneider

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers meeting next week are expected to keep interest rates on hold but the larger story unfolding will be how the central bank confronts early moves by President Donald Trump that are likely to shape the economy this year, including demands the Fed continue lowering borrowing costs.

Trump was already complicating the Fed’s job with moves to restrict immigration and raise import taxes, and on Thursday told global business leaders he would call on the Fed to cut interest rates.

“I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately, and likewise they should be dropping all over the world,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, revisiting a form of pressure he regularly applied to the Fed with little apparent effect in his first term.

In the first days of his new term, Trump tightened immigration rules with an increase in deportations expected, and threatened higher import taxes on Feb. 1, the first of what are anticipated to be a series of steps that could play out in ways that are still unknown.

The challenge for Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues will be in determining how much to allow uncertainty over what’s ahead to influence decisions on monetary policy now, and how much guidance to give about the Fed’s outlook.

Go too far and it starts to sound political, said Vincent Reinhart, a former top Fed staff member and now chief economist at BNY Investments, but hold back and it risks misleading the public about what to expect if imported goods become more expensive or the labor force has fewer workers than would otherwise be available.

Guidance from the Fed “is about a forecast, and today any forecast is about political economy. It is hard to do for an independent agency,” said Reinhart. “You cannot move monetary policy on the assumption that there will be tariffs or tax legislation by the end of this year. Right now there are a lot of moving parts.”

How fast and in what direction Trump’s policies spool out in coming months are likely to influence what the Fed hopes will be the last phase of its fight to contain inflation that erupted to a 40-year high in 2022 but is now within about half a percentage point of its 2% target.

After cutting the benchmark interest rate a full percentage point last year, the Fed meets on Tuesday and Wednesday with policymakers likely to keep it in the current 4.25%-to-4.50% range. Data since the Fed’s last meeting on Dec. 17-18 has kept intact the core view among Fed officials that inflation will continue to move steadily, if slowly, towards 2%, with a low unemployment rate and continued hiring and economic growth.

‘MAXIMAL OPTIONALITY’

The personal consumption expenditures price index the Fed uses for its inflation goal is already nearing 2% on a three- and six-month basis. Policymakers expect solid progress to resume over the next few months but want confirmation in data.

“We view the January Fed meeting as mostly a placeholder,” Bank of America analyst Mark Cabana and others wrote. With so much uncertainty “we expect (the Fed) to retain maximal optionality” to resume cuts in March or continue a pause.

Fed officials have already nodded to potential effects from Trump’s trade, immigration and other policies, with staff at the December meeting penciling in assumptions for slightly slower growth, higher unemployment and little further progress on inflation for the coming year.

Minutes of that meeting showed “a number” of policymakers went through a similar exercise, with a freshened median projection from them showing less progress on inflation and a slower pace of rate cuts through 2025 – just half a percentage point versus the full point seen back in September.

That could come into question as well if expected progress on inflation is not realized in the first part of the year, though in his final public comments before the meeting Fed Governor Christopher Waller said policy could also tilt towards more and faster cuts if inflation behaves.

The impact of tariffs is far from certain, and Trump asserts that they will raise federal revenue and shift production to the U.S. Steps toward deregulation, meanwhile, would keep inflation in check.

‘STAGFLATIONARY POLICY MIX’

Trump’s November election victory, meanwhile, has been felt in other ways at the Fed. Governor Michael Barr resigned as Fed vice chair for supervision effective Feb. 28, and the Fed withdrew from an international central bank consortium on climate change – reversing a decision to join the group just before Democrat Joe Biden’s arrival in office four years ago.

Yet the scope of his plans for tariffs, tax and regulatory policy, and immigration is only beginning to take shape, and even the impact of his initial moves may take time to become clear.

Measures of general economic and monetary policy uncertainty spiked after the election. Trump left little doubt in the opening days of his second term that he intends to follow through on his campaign promises – and even extend on them with announcements of at least temporary limits on what national health agencies can say to the public, for example, alongside standing promises to send U.S. troops to the Mexican border and put an initial 10% tax on imports from China next month.

Bradley Saunders, North America economist for Capital Economics, said he expected the Fed to cut rates again at its March and June meetings, but with any further cuts in doubt as policies on immigration cut labor force growth to zero and tariffs lead to renewed goods inflation.

“We expect a stagflationary policy mix from the new Trump administration,” Saunders wrote this week, with the risk “tilted to fewer cuts depending on the exact timing of Trump’s policy implementation.”

By William Schomberg and Sumanta Sen

LONDON (Reuters) – The Bank of England must contend with a slowdown in Britain’s economy but also stubborn inflation pressures when it considers whether to cut interest rates in early February as well as its message about the outlook for the rest of the year.

Inflation is stuck above the BoE’s 2% target and looks set to rise further while the economy has stagnated since the middle of 2024, offering conflicting signals for the central bank’s rate-setters.

The graphics below illustrate the challenge facing the BoE at a time when investors are on edge over high borrowing and what some see as “stagflation” in the economy against a backdrop of global uncertainty about U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans.

Investors are putting a roughly 80% chance of the BoE cutting its benchmark Bank Rate to 4.5% from 4.75% on Feb. 6, and a similar chance that there will be two further quarter-point reductions before the end of 2025. 

INFLATION 

Britain’s consumer price inflation rate has been above the BoE’s 2% target every month since July 2021 with the exception of May, June and September 2024. The most recent reading of 2.5% is well below the four-decade peak of 11.1% in October 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But the BoE expects it to rise this year and some private economists think it could hit 3% in data for January. Price growth for services, a key BoE gauge of future price pressures, fell sharply in December but remains too high to bring headline inflation back to target.

INFLATION EXPECTATIONS

The BoE monitors expectations about future inflation which can embed price pressures into the economy, for example through higher wage demands. A survey conducted by Citi and polling firm YouGov showed expectations for inflation in five to 10 years’ time rose to 3.9% in December from 3.6% in November and also increased for the year ahead. Citi said inflation expectations still seemed anchored but the latest survey was concerning. 

WAGE GROWTH    

Employers have sped up the pace of raising pay for their staff in recent months despite signs of a slowdown in hiring, according to official data that offered little immediate relief for the BoE. A separate survey of businesses published by the central bank suggests pay growth pressure would come down in 2025 but only slowly. 

PRICES AHEAD 

The BoE survey showed companies’ intentions to raise prices over the coming year were higher in the three months to December than at any point since the three months to June. Over half of firms intended to raise prices to offset a 25 billion-pound increase in social security contributions announced by finance minister Rachel Reeves in her first budget in October.

GROWTH STAGNATION    

Economic output has largely flatlined since the time of last July’s election that brought the Labour Party to power, due at least in part to uncertainty about the new government’s tax plans and then the social security hike in Reeves’ budget. A survey of businesses published on Friday showed that the slow growth in private sector activity barely edged up at the start of 2025, corporate optimism contracted again and price growth remained strong. Forecasters including the BoE expect overall economic growth will pick up in 2025 but largely as a result of higher government spending.

HIRING AND INVESTMENT PLANS ARE WEAK    

Large British businesses intend to cut hiring this year at the fastest pace since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by Deloitte which linked the plans to the new government’s increase in the corporate tax burden. Investment plans were the weakest in more than a year although Britain was more attractive for capital expenditure than the euro zone, the same survey showed.

Investing.com — A study by Begbies Traynor, a U.K. business recovery, financial advisory and property services consultancy, has revealed a significant increase in financial distress among U.K. firms.

The study was published on Friday and indicates a challenging year ahead for businesses across all sectors in the country.

The firm’s latest Red Flag Alert report highlighted a concerning surge in the number of U.K. businesses entering a state of “critical” financial distress in the final quarter of 2024.

The report showed a rise of 50.2% in financial distress, affecting 46,853 companies. This significant increase underscores a deteriorating business outlook across the U.K., according to the study.

The report, which monitors the health of U.K. companies, pointed to a historic jump in financial distress, indicating that businesses across all sectors of the country are set for a challenging period. The findings of the report suggest a tough year ahead for U.K. firms as they grapple with increased financial distress.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

LONDON (Reuters) – It’s a big week ahead as the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of Canada hold their first meetings of 2025.

Into the mix go earnings from heavyweights including Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), and likely market spikes from comments by new U.S. President Donald Trump – especially any on tariffs.

Here’s your guide to the week ahead in global markets from Lewis (JO:LEWJ) Krauskopf in New York, Kevin Buckland in Tokyo and Amanda Cooper, Lucy Raitano and Yoruk Bahceli in London.

1/ FED AHEAD The Fed holds its first meeting of the year, just over a week after Trump’s return to the White House. The central bank is widely expected to pause its easing cycle on Wednesday, after cuts totalling 100 basis points (bps) last year. Investors want to know how many more reductions are likely this year. Remember, the Fed rattled markets in December when it lowered projected rate cuts for 2025 as it braced for firmer inflation than it had previously estimated. Since then, data showing slower underlying inflation brought relief, especially after a blowout jobs report. Earnings reports will also take centre stage, with megacap companies Apple, Tesla and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) headlining a busy earnings week, while the advanced reading of Q4 U.S. economic growth is out Thursday.

2/ CUT? WHY NOT

The ECB is set to cut rates again by another 25 bps on Thursday as tariff threats from the Trump administration cast a shadow over the euro zone’s sluggish economy.

Trump did not impose day-one tariffs and said the U.S. is not ready for universal ones, but Canada, Mexico and China are in the firing line, as is the European Union.

Traders are watching for further clues from ECB chief Christine Lagarde that could move the needle for the three further cuts they expect this year after Thursday’s move.

Some policymakers have also signalled agreement that rates will fall towards 2%, within the estimated range of the “neutral” rate that neither boosts nor restricts the economy.

The question is whether tariffs will change that. That depends on how they impact inflation.

3/ TICK TOCK TO TARIFFS

The United States’ biggest trade partners face a nervous wait until the turn of the month, when Trump has threatened new tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico.

What maybe surprising is the 10% levy faced by Beijing is dwarfed by the 25% duties promised for Trump’s neighbours, and well below the 60% blanket tariff on Chinese imports previously mooted.

Perhaps the rekindled Trump-Xi Jinping bromance has something to do with it. Or maybe Trump is just starting slow.

Either way, the self-proclaimed dealmaker looks as if he wants to bring Beijing to the negotiating table, with TikTok as the centrepiece.

So the lead up to Feb. 1 could be busy with backroom conversations, though China breaks for the Lunar New Year on Wednesday.

Beijing made sure it acted before that, fortifying its stock market against tariff shocks with plans to channel tens of billions of dollars of investment from state-owned insurers into equities.

4/ ROLLER-COASTER RIDE

For all the hand-wringing leading up to the inauguration, Trump’s first week in office was mostly benign for markets.

Volatility across stocks, bonds and currencies has retreated, and demand for hedging risk around the Mexican peso, the Canadian dollar and the Chinese yuan has shrunk from the extremes hit on inauguration day.

Analysts expect there will be more detail on what tariffs Trump will apply and where on April 1.

Before then, there is plenty of time for more of Trump’s off-the-cuff comments, such as remarks to journalists on Jan. 21 that he was considering duties on China from Feb. 1. Investors should brace for more roller-coaster price action.

5/ EUROPE INC Europe’s earnings season is overshadowed by uncertainty over Trump’s policies, although Q4 numbers are expected to be marginally positive. According to LSEG I/B/E/S estimates, Q4 earnings, on average, rose 1.9% from the same period in 2023, driven by growth in utilities and financials. Energy names are expected to drag. Geopolitics and weak euro zone business activity should be offset by a robust U.S. economy and falling euro, a tailwind to exporters, supporting earnings. After all, 40% of the STOXX 600 index revenue comes from outside Europe. Luxury bellweather LVMH reports Tuesday, Dutch computer chip equipment maker ASML (AS:ASML) Wednesday, and Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) Thursday. Danish weight-loss drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) reports the week after. European stocks attracted their second largest allocation in a quarter of a century in January, a BofA investor survey shows, a sign that sentiment is shifting even as Trump angst reigns.

(Graphics by Kripa Jayaram, Pasit Kongkunakornkul and Vineet Sachdev; Compiled by Dhara Ranasinghe; Editing by Barbara Lewis)

Investing.com — Taiwan’s economy experienced its fastest growth in three years in 2024, driven primarily by technology exports in the AI industry. The growth, however, is faced with uncertainty this year due to potential tariff threats by President Donald Trump.

The nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 4.3% on-year, as reported by the statistics bureau on Friday. This growth aligns with the median estimate put forth by a Bloomberg survey of economists.

The GDP for the fourth quarter of 2024 was recorded at 1.84%, falling slightly short of the estimated 2.0%. This marks the third consecutive quarter where the economic expansion has seen a slowdown, highlighting the challenges Taiwan faces in sustaining rapid growth.

Looking ahead, the statistics bureau has revised its growth prediction for the economy in 2025. The new forecast suggests a growth of 3.29%, a slight increase from the previously predicted 3.26%.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Investing.com – US stock futures pointed slightly lower on Friday, with traders assessing President Donald Trump’s recent statements on interest rates and tariffs. Meanwhile, Boeing (NYSE:BA) says it will report a deeper-than-anticipated loss in the latest quarter as the planemaker faces the impact of worker strikes and charges on some US government projects. Elsewhere, the Bank of Japan announces its third rate hike since it began scaling back its ultra-loose monetary policy in early-2024.

1. Futures edge down

US stock futures hovered below the flatline on Friday, after the benchmark S&P 500 notched a fresh record closing high in the prior session as investors digested comments from President Trump and eyed a raft of corporate earnings.

By 03:31 ET (08:31 GMT), the Dow futures contract had dipped by 21 points or 0.1%, S&P 500 futures had slipped by 7 points or 0.1%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had edged down by 40 points or 0.2%.

The main averages on Wall Street climbedon Thursday, with the S&P 500 in particular logging its first closing peak since December. All three of the indices clocked their fourth consecutive day of gains.

Influencing sentiment were statements made remotely by Trump to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he called for lower global interest rates. The Federal Reserve is tipped to leave borrowing costs unchanged at its upcoming gathering this month.

Trump also said in an interview with Fox News that he had a friendly conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping and adopted a hopeful tone towards a potential trade deal with China. Trump has previously threatened to slap harsh tariffs on China, but has stopped short of ordering the measure since returning to the White House earlier this week.

2. Boeing warns of quarterly loss

Boeing has said it will post a bigger-than-anticipated loss of around $4 billion in its most recent quarter, as the embattled jetmaker grappled with a prolonged strike, charges related to US government projects and expenses linked to a slew of job cuts.

In an update released prior to the company’s results next week, Boeing said it would report a loss of $5.46 a share, equating to about $4 billion. Analysts had expected a per-share loss of $1.84, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

Boeing has faced both increased scrutiny over its safety record and the fallout from COVID-19 pandemic in recent years, while 2024 began with a dangerous mid-air panel blowout on one of its 737 MAX planes. The incident, coupled with a work stoppage by over 33,000 workers, weighed on the firm last year.

Losses for the first nine months of 2024 amounted to almost $8 billion and, based on Thursday’s announcement, the figure could expand further to nearly $12 billion for the year. CEO Kelly Ortberg flagged in a statement that Boeing has encountered “near-term challenges”, but added that it has taken “important steps” to stabilize the business.

The news comes as a host of firms are reporting their latest earnings, with American Express (NYSE:AXP), Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and NextEra Energy (NYSE:NEE) among those due to publish quarterly numbers on Friday.

3. Trump’s orders creation of new crypto working group

President Trump has ordered the creation of a working group tasked with devising new rules for the cryptocurrency industry and look into possibly establishing a national stockpile of digital tokens.

His actions also included protections for banking services for crypto-related firms, many who have claimed that they have been cut off by some lenders due to directives from US regulators. The creation of a central bank digital currency in the US was also barred.

The orders come as the crypto industry has been hoping for more favorable rules under the Trump administration. Trump has promised to upend a more stringent regulatory environment for digital assets during the tenure of former President Joe Biden, saying he would be a “crypto president”.

Elsewhere, the US securities regulator also scrapped accounting guidance which had increased the costs incurred by some listed companies for safeguarding crypto assets on behalf of third parties — a trend that industry proponents claimed had affected the adoption of digital tokens.

4. BOJ raises rates

The Bank of Japan raised interest rates by 25 basis points, as expected, marking the third hike by the central bank since it began scaling back its ultra-loose monetary policy in early-2024.

Officials also slightly trimmed their growth forecasts for fiscal 2024 and 2025, while raising their outlooks for inflation. The BOJ signaled that if its economic projection were met in the coming months, it could lift borrowing costs further.

“Given that real interest rates are at significantly low levels, if the outlook for economic activity and prices presented in the January Outlook Report will be realized, the Bank will accordingly continue to raise the policy interest rate and adjust the degree of monetary accommodation,” the BOJ said in a statement.

5. Crude on track for weekly losses

Oil prices remained on track for a weekly loss, with sentiment dampened by President Trump’s calls for lower crude prices and higher energy production in the US.

By 03:31 ET, the US crude futures (WTI) were mostly unchanged to $74.62 a barrel, while the Brent contract fell 0.1% to $78.22 a barrel.

Both benchmarks were trading more than 3% lower for the week — their worst performance since November — after Trump signed an executive order calling for increased US oil production, while also scaling back certain climate-related restrictions on the energy sector.

Additionally, Trump, during his speech on Thursday at Davos, said Saudi Arabia and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to should bring down oil prices.

Uncertainty has also swirled around his plans for trade tariffs against major economies, which could potentially disrupt global trade and weigh on oil demand.

(Reuters contributed reporting.)

Investing.com — The German government has significantly reduced its growth forecast for the year 2025 to just 0.3%, a sharp decrease from the previous estimate of 1.1%.

This information was reported on Friday by the newspaper Handelsblatt, citing government sources.

The move comes in the wake of a sluggish economy that has failed to recover from two consecutive years of contraction.

In 2021, Germany’s economy, which is the largest in Europe, experienced a decrease for the second year in a row. The economic downturn was due to a variety of factors, including foreign competition, high energy prices, persistently high interest rates, and uncertain business conditions.

Official statistics released last week showed that the German economy contracted by 0.2% over the course of the full year.

The state of the economy played a major role in the breakdown of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition last year. Disagreements over strategies to stimulate the economy were a primary cause of the coalition’s collapse.

As the national elections approach on Feb. 23, the economy is the most pressing issue for German voters, according to polls.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.