Month: May 2019

The United States will soon require pharmaceutical companies to disclose the price of their drugs during television commercials, a measure which President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed as “historic transparency.” It is part of a US government policy to fight the high price of prescription drugs, which often exceeds those in neighboring Canada and Mexico. The price will have to be displayed at the end of the ads, in the same manner as side effects which already must be mentioned. United States television prominently features ads for medicines — and not just common cold and similar remedies but treatments for complex conditions. The requirement will take effect in 60 days. It covers drugs priced at least $35 for a normal treatment or a month’s supply. “American patients deserve to know the prices of the healthcare they receive,” said Alex Azar, the Health and Human Services Secretary. The 10 most viewed drugs on television cost between $488 and $16,938 a month, according to the government. About half of Americans have health insurance with a high deductible which can reach thousands of dollars a year, in many cases more than $5,000 or $6,000 anually. This means they usually have to pay the full displayed drug price until they have spent the their annual deductible amount. Those with better coverage pay a fraction of the list price, and the situation can vary enormously from one person to another. On Twitter, Trump hailed the “big announcement.” “Drug companies have to come clean about their …

Mozambique Scrambles to Contain Cholera Outbreak

VOA U.N. correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Officials in Mozambique are scrambling to contain a cholera outbreak in the north of the country after Cyclone Kenneth devastated the area last month. Kenneth, the second cyclone to hit the country in five weeks, destroyed health clinics and contaminated the water supply. The World Health Organization estimates there are “nearly 190,000 people in need of health assistance or are at risk of diseases in Mozambique,” U.N. spokeswoman Stephane Dujarric said. Kenneth struck while Mozambique was still struggling to deal with the impact of Cyclone Idai, which hammered the country’s central region just weeks earlier, flattening the port city of Beira and killing more than 1,000 people across Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. According to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, cholera cases in Cabo Delgado Province have risen almost five-fold to 64 since the outbreak was declared last week. Medical relief agencies such as Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, are supporting the Ministry of Health by providing materials such as tents, water and sanitation equipment for a cholera treatment center in Pemba. “We have two essential goals now: saving the lives of severely sick patients and containing the outbreak,” said Danielle Borges, MSF project coordinator in Pemba. “We need to isolate and treat sick people so they recover, and so that they do not contaminate others.” About half a million cholera vaccines are expected to arrive in the region in the next few days. …

UN Chief: ‘Total Disaster’ if Warming Not Stopped

The United Nations Secretary-General said the world must dramatically change the way it fuels factories, vehicles and homes to limit future warming to a level scientists call nearly impossible. That’s because the alternative “would mean a catastrophic situation for the whole world,” Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. Guterres said he’s about to tour Pacific islands to see how climate change is devastating them as part of his renewed push to fight it. He is summoning world leaders to the U.N. in September to tell them “they need to do much more in order for us to be able to reverse the present trends and to defeat the climate change.” That means, he said, the world has to change, not in small incremental ways but in big “transformative” ways, into a green economy with electric vehicles and “clean cities.” Guterres said he will ask leaders to stop subsidizing fossil fuels. Burning coal, oil and gas triggers warming by releasing heat-trapping gases. He said he wants countries to build no new coal power plants after 2020. He wants them to put a price on the use of carbon. And ultimately he wants to make sure that by 2050 the world is no longer putting more greenhouse gases into the air than nature sucks out. Global temperatures have already risen about 1.8 degrees (1 degree Celsius) since the industrial age began. The issue is how much more the thermometers will rise. In 2015, the world’s nations set a …

Worldwide, Obesity Rising Faster in Rural Areas

Obesity worldwide is increasing more quickly in rural areas than in cities, a study reported Wednesday, challenging a long-held assumption that the global epidemic of excess weight is mainly an urban problem. Data covering 200 countries and territories compiled by more than 1,000 researchers showed an average gain of roughly five to six kilos per woman and man living in the countryside from 1985 to 2017. City-dwelling women and men, however, put on 38 and 24 percent less, respectively, than their rural counterparts over the same period, according to the findings, published in Nature. “The results of this massive global study overturn commonly held perceptions that more people living in cities is the main cause of the global rise in obesity,” said senior author Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial College London’s School of Public Health. “This means that we need to rethink how we tackle this global health problem.” The main exception to the trend was sub-Saharan Africa, where women gained weight more rapidly in cities. Obesity has emerged as a global health epidemic, driving rising rates of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and a host of cancers. The annual cost of treating related health impacts could top a trillion dollars by 2025, the World Obesity Federation estimated in 2017. To date, most national and international policies to curb excess body weight have focused on cities, including public messaging, the redesign of urban spaces to encourage walking, and subsidized sports facilities. Body-mass index To factor health status into the comparison …

НБУ анонсує скасування всіх обмежень на валютному ринку

05/08/2019 sellbiz

Національний банк України продовжить поступову лібералізацію валютного ринку, розпочату у 2016 році після стабілізації фінансової системи і повернення економіки України до зростання. Про це йдеться в оприлюдненому 8 травня звіті Національного банку про запровадження заходів захисту, підготовленого відповідно до вимог Закону України «Про валюту і валютні операції». Регулятор відзначає, що обмеження, які досі зберігаються на валютному ринку, були введені до 2016 року. Цьому передували, «накопичення суттєвих макроекономічних дисбалансів упродовж 2010‒2013 років, зокрема, через підтримку фіксованого курсу гривні за рахунок міжнародних резервів в умовах стрімкого зростання зовнішнього боргу і значного перевищення імпорту над експортом»; «анексія Росією Криму та розгортання воєнного конфлікту на Сході у 2014–2015 роках, що призвело до руйнування економічних зв’язків із непідконтрольними територіями і значних втрат ВВП»; «запровадження торговельних обмежень з боку РФ». «Ці події стали причиною кількох хвиль значної девальвації гривні з одночасним підвищенням попиту на іноземну валюту і поглибленням її дефіциту впродовж 2014–2015 років. Для відновлення макрофінансової стабільності Національний банк розширив перелік заходів захисту на валютному ринку, спрямованих на запобігання відпливу капіталу, стабілізацію попиту на іноземну валюту і валютних надходжень. Запровадження цих заходів дало змогу відновити економічний розвиток держави. Упродовж 2016‒2018 років ВВП України стійко зростав. Споживча інфляція скоротилася з 43,3% на кінець 2015 року до 9,8% на кінець 2018 року. Міжнародні резерви за цей період суттєво зросли і утримуються на рівні понад 20 мільярдів доларів США», – вказує НБУ. Українська гривня 7 травня продовжила посилення щодо долара США, офіційний курс НБУ на 10 травня став рекордним у 2019 році – 26 гривень 25 копійок за долар. …

Trump Hails GM Plan to Invest $700 mn in Ohio, Sell Shuttered Plant

President Donald Trump said Wednesday U.S. automaker General Motors will invest $700 million in Ohio and create 450 jobs, selling one of its shuttered plants to a company that will produce electric trucks. “GREAT NEWS FOR OHIO!” Trump tweeted. Trump said he had talked to GM chief Mary Barra who told him of plans to sell the Lordstown, Ohio plant to Workhorse, a company that focuses on producing electric delivery vehicles. In November, GM shuttered five U.S. plants, including auto assembly plants in Michigan and Ohio, as part of a 15 percent cut in its workforce worldwide — cutting around 14,000 employees — a move which drew Trump’s wrath on Twitter. But in March, GM announced plans to invest $1.8 billion in U.S. operations creating 700 new jobs. About $300 million will be geared towards production of electric vehicles at the auto giant’s Orion plant in Michigan, creating 400 jobs, the company said in a statement. “I have been working nicely with GM to get this done. Thank you to Mary B, your GREAT Governor, and Senator Rob Portman. With all the car companies coming back, and much more, THE USA IS BOOMING!” Trump said. The U.S. president has repeatedly berated companies by name to pressure them into investing more or reversing decisions on job cuts. …

In the US, Death Is More Certain Than Taxes

In the U.S., there’s an old saying that there are only two things that are certain in life: death and taxes. But as it turns out, death is way more certain than taxes in the United States. Corporations and some wealthy individuals, including President Donald Trump, are able to legally avoid any federal taxation in some years by deducting business expenses such as capital investments, charitable donations, interest on their home loans, health care costs and numerous other write-offs from their corporate or personal income. In a report late Tuesday, The New York Times said from 1985 to 1994, Trump lost more than $1 billion in his real estate business operations and paid no federal income taxes in eight of those 10 years. Trump called the report inaccurate but did not dispute any specific facts. He said it was “sport” for developers to game the U.S. tax code so they did not have to pay taxes. Unlike U.S. presidents for the past four decades, Trump has balked at releasing his tax returns, although opposition Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives are seeking, so far unsuccessfully, to get him to divulge his returns for the last six years. A court fight over the dispute is possible. The independent Tax Policy Center estimates that in 2018, 44% of Americans paid no federal income tax under the country’s progressive sliding scale of taxation, where those making the most money, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, pay a higher percentage tax than …

Vietnam Braces for Hard Landing Amid World Trade Tensions

If a rising tide lifts all boats, then Vietnam may find that there is a related saying in economics: when the tide goes out, you will see who was swimming naked. The Southeast Asian country has fared fairly well amid the trade frictions around the world, with its foreign investment and gross domestic product continuing to grow. But even Vietnam is not immune if a recession hits the global economy, as some are expecting, which is why they are bracing for a hard landing. News this week that U.S. President Donald Trump plans to increase tariffs on Chinese goods has just added to the frictions, sending Asian stock markets plummeting. An economic downturn — in other words, the tide going out — could expose vulnerabilities for Vietnam, the equivalent of those swimming naked. Most analysts are forecasting slower GDP growth for Vietnam in the year ahead. Economic slowdown ahead It “is important to recognize that the region continues to face heightened pressures that began in 2018 and that could still have an adverse impact,” said Andrew Mason, who is acting as the chief economist for the World Bank in the East Asia and Pacific region. “Continued uncertainty stems from several factors, including further deceleration in advanced economies, the possibility of a faster-than-expected slowdown in China, and unresolved trade tensions.” His office projects the Vietnamese economy will expand 6.6 percent in 2019, while researchers at Capital Economics peg growth at an even lower rate of 6 percent year-on-year. That compares with the annualized …

US to Raise Tariffs on Chinese Imports as Vice Premier Visits Washington

Chinese Vice Premier Liu He arrives in Washington this week for trade talks as the United States prepares to raise tariffs on Chinese goods in the middle of his visit. The U.S. will boost tariffs from 10 percent to 25 percent on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports on Friday, according to a notice published Wednesday in the Federal Register from the U.S. Trade Representative’s office. The increase takes effect on the second day of Liu’s visit, but it will not dampen hopes for an agreement, at least in the mind of U.S. President Donald Trump. “China has just informed us that they (Vice-Premier) are now coming to the U.S. to make a deal,” Trump said Wednesday in a post on Twitter. Trump said he would be “happy” to maintain tariffs on Chinese imports, and added that Beijing would be mistaken if it hopes to negotiate trade later with a Democratic presidential administration. The Chinese Commerce Ministry reacted to the announced tariff increase, vowing to take “necessary” countermeasures if the tax is implemented. The ministry said escalating trade tensions are not beneficial to either country or to the world. Trump set the new Friday deadline to raise tariffs after the U.S. accused China of reneging earlier this week on commitments made during months of talks to end their trade war. The administration hopes the new tariffs will force changes in China’s trade, subsidy and intellectual property practices. The two sides have been unable to reach a deal due, in part, …

Гривня встановила рекорд 2019 року

05/08/2019 sellbiz

Українська гривня 7 травня продовжила посилення щодо долара США, офіційний курс НБУ на 10 травня став рекордним у 2019 році – 26 гривень 25 копійок за долар. Це на шість копійок менше від рівня 26 гривень 31 копійка, встановленого 12 березня. Національна валюта впритул наблизилася до річного максимуму. Наступні орієнтири – 26 гривень 23 копійки (це офіційний курс на 9 липня 2018 року), 26 гривень 19 копійок (25 червня 2018 року) та 26 гривень 11 копійок (21 травня 2018 року). «Торги по долару активні від самого початку сесії. Тривають операції по лотах до 1 мільйона доларів при перевищенні пропозиції над попитом. НБУ вийшов в «анонімному» форматі через Matching із викупом долара по 26,26 – 26,27 гривні. Купив поки свої стандартні 20 мільйони доларів», – інформував у розпал торгів на міжбанківському валютному ринку профільний сайт «Мінфін». До завершення торгів на міжбанку котирування встановилися на рівні 26 гривень 20 – 23,5 копійки за долар. Аналітики називають серед причин посилення гривні розміщення цього тижня Міністерством фінансів облігацій внутрішньої державної позики. Для купівлі номінованих у гривні цінних паперів нерезиденти виходять на ринок із пропозицією валюти. …

В АМКУ прокоментували дозвіл компанії Ахметова на купівлю 2 обленерго

05/08/2019 sellbiz

Дозвіл компанії олігарха Рената Ахметова «ДТЕК Нафтогаз» на придбання акцій «Київобленерго» та «Одесаобленерго» не дає компанії контроль над понад 35% ринку електропостачання – таке роз’яснення надав Антимонопольний комітет на запит Радіо Свобода. Як пояснили в АМКУ, ринки розподілу електроенергії є природньою монополією. При цьому «Київобленерго» та «Одесаобленерго», згідно з заявою, здійснюють «виключно транспортування електричної енергії місцевими (локальними) електромережами в Київській та Одеській областях відповідно» і не продають електроенергію споживачам. «Це (заборона на продаж операторами систем розподілу діяльності з постачання електроенергії – ред.) – вимоги Третього енергопакету, які були імплементовані в законі України «Про ринок електричної енергії» та підзаконних актах… Отже, ствердження про те, що придбання товариством з обмеженою відповідальністю «ДТЕК Нафтогаз» акцій приватного акціонерного товариства «Київобленерго» та акціонерного товариства «Одесаобленерго» дозволить перевищити частку у 35% на ринку постачання електричної енергії, є хибним», – стверджують у АМКУ. Читайте також: Коболєв назвав головний виклик для Зеленського в енергетиці і прокоментував ціни на газ Водночас у комітеті зазначили, що при ухваленні рішення про надання дозволу на купівлю було враховано, що покупець – «вертикально інтегрована група компаній «ДТЕК», яка здійснює діяльність на суміжних ринках електричної енергії». Тому дозвіл супроводжувався додатковими зобов’язаннями для покупця «з метою зниження потенційно негативного впливу концентрації на конкуренцію на ринках електричної енергії». 25 квітня проект журналістських розслідувань «Наші гроші» повідомив, що Антимонопольний комітет дозволив компанії «ДТЕК Нафтогаз», яка належить олігарху Ренату Ахметову, купити акції «Київобленерго» і «Одесаобленерго». Газовидобувна компанія «ДТЕК Нафтогаз» входить до енергетичного холдингу «ДТЕК», який є частиною фінансово-промислової групи СКМ, що належить Ренату Ахметову. …

Uber, Lyft Drivers Strike to Press Demands on Rideshare Firms

Thousands of Uber and Lyft drivers turned off their apps Wednesday in a series of job actions across US cities protesting pay and working conditions at the big ride-hailing services. An estimated 10,000 New York drivers heeded a strike call, according to the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, an organizer of the action. Around 100 people joined a protest outside a Queens building with New York offices of both Uber and Lyft, some carrying signs reading “Hard work = Fair pay” or “Solidarity.” A separate group protested outside the New York Stock Exchange, where Uber is set to list shares, some signs reading “Invest in our lives — Not their stocks” while some drove in a procession across the Brooklyn Bridge with protest signs on their vehicles. Similar actions were being held in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington. The demonstrations come weeks after Lyft made its Wall Street debut and days ahead of a massive share offering from Uber that will give the global leader an estimated valuation of $90 billion. The drivers are protesting arbitrary “deactivations” or firing and a shifting revenue-sharing model that critics say leaves drivers behind. Cesar Guerrero, a 57-year-old Uber driver who attended the Queens rally, said the platform is taking advantage of its drivers. “I don’t think the drivers are taking a fair share of the profits that are big in corporations like Uber and other apps,” Guerrero said. Some drivers said much of the money they take in is eaten …

Wall Street Slips as US-China Trade Fears Rise

U.S. stocks slid Tuesday as escalating trade tensions between the United States and China triggered global growth fears and drove investors away from riskier assets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its second-biggest daily percentage drop of the year, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq registered their third-biggest percentage drops, even as the major indexes pared losses to end off their session lows. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said late Monday that China had backtracked from commitments made during trade negotiations. Those comments followed President Donald Trump’s unexpected statement Sunday that he would raise tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent. Beijing said Tuesday that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will visit the United States Thursday and Friday for trade talks. Additional tariffs are set to take effect Friday if a trade agreement is not reached by then. Investor concerns Monday’s comments from Lighthizer and Mnuchin raised concerns among some investors that trade talks between China and the United States could take much longer to resolve than previously thought. “Week after week, we’ve heard there has been progress and that a deal would be reached,” said Kate Warne, investment strategist at Edward Jones in St. Louis. “Now the goalposts have moved. There’s been quite a shift in expectations.” Investors expressed concern that additional tariffs, if imposed, could interrupt supply chains and hamper economic growth. “The threat of tariffs has not been trotted out since the end of December,” …

Small T-Rex Cousin Predates Rise of Giant Predators

05/07/2019 sellheal

About 20 million years before the massive Tyrannosaurus Rex roamed the earth, a distant cousin was hunting in the prehistoric jungle. But this T-Rex was very different from the famous version of the giant predator. VOA’s Kevin Enochs reports. …

Heart Failure Deaths Rising in US, Especially in Younger Adults

05/07/2019 sellheal

More U.S. adults are dying from heart failure today than a decade ago, and the sharpest rise in mortality is happening among middle-aged and younger adults, a new study suggests. Researchers examined data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on deaths from heart failure between 1999 and 2017 among adults 35 to 84 years old. Between 1999 and 2012, annual heart failure death rates dropped from 78.7 per 100,000 people to 53.7 per 100,000, the researchers found. But then mortality rates started to climb, reaching 59.3 fatalities for every 100,000 people by the end of the study period. “Up until 2012, we saw decline in cardiovascular deaths in patients with heart failure and this was likely due to advances in medical and surgical treatments for heart failure,” said senior study author Dr. Sadiya Khan of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “However, this study demonstrates for the first time that the cardiovascular death rate is now increasing in patients with heart failure and this increase is especially concerning for premature death in people under 65,” Khan said by email. Heart failure by the numbers About 5.7 million American adults have heart failure, according to the CDC, and about half of the people who develop this condition die within five years of diagnosis. Heart failure happens when the heart can’t pump enough blood and oxygen to supply vital organs. In the study, African Americans were more likely to die of heart failure than whites, and …

US Lawmakers Alarmed by New Trump Tariffs on Chinese Goods

U.S. President Donald Trump’s intention to further hike U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods has alarmed American lawmakers of both parties who fear dire economic consequences from escalating tensions between the United States and its trading partners. “I’m anxious for the tariff war to come to an end,” Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of agriculturally rich Kansas told VOA on Tuesday. “Exports are very important to the economy of my state. I would encourage the rapid resolution between the United States and China, because it has an immediate and consequential effect on the livelihoods of lots of people.” “The [president’s] whole tariff policy has been dangerous folly,” New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez said. “I hear it from New Jersey companies that recently, just this past week, told me about tariffs they have to pay on particular products that they can’t get anywhere else [but foreign suppliers].” Who’s paying? On Sunday, Trump announced that tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods would rise from 10% to 25% as of Friday. He tweeted that “China has been paying” U.S. tariffs and that China’s “payments are partially responsible for our great economic results.” Such assertions are disputed by many lawmakers, including Republicans who, on other matters, often come to the president’s defense. “Currently, U.S. importers have paid the U.S. government over $16 billion in tariffs on imports from China,” Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Lankford said via Twitter. “This tax is not paid for by Chinese exporters, this is all paid by U.S. importers.” Trade …

Science Says: Why Biodiversity Matters to You

05/07/2019 sellheal

Scientists say you may go your entire life without seeing an endangered species, yet the globe’s biodiversity crisis threatens all of humanity in unseen ways. A massive United Nations report Monday said that nature is in trouble and that 1 million species are threatened with extinction if nothing is done about it. The report says nature is essential for human existence. It spells out 18 ways nature helps keep people alive. Those include food, energy, medicine, water, protection from storms and floods, and slowing climate change. The report said 14 of those are on long-term declining trends. Duke University ecologist Stuart Pimm says if you destroy nature it bites you. …

Компанію з орбіти депутата Микитася, яка будує Шулявську розв’язку, оштрафували за змову на інших тендерах

05/07/2019 sellbiz

Антимонопольний комітет України оштрафував дві компанії з орбіти народного депутата та столичного забудовника Максима Микитася – «Північно-український будівельний альянс» і «Спецбуд-плюс» – за антиконкурентні узгоджені дії під час тендерів на будівництво лікарні Амосова та гімназії у Києві на загальну суму майже 150 мільйонів гривень із забороною брати участь у тендерах строком на три роки. Про це повідомляє журналіст Радіо Свобода. Про участь цих двох компаній у тендері на реконструкцію Шулявської розв’язки у центрі Києва, розіграному з порушеннями, раніше розповідали журналісти програми «Схеми: корупція в деталях» (спільного проекту Радіо Свобода і телеканалу «UA:Перший») у розслідуванні «Навели мости». «Сьогодні нарешті ми ухвалили рішення щодо змови двох компаній корпорації «Укрбуд», а саме: ТОВ «Спецбудплюс» і компанії «Північно-український будівельний альянс» щодо змови на торгах – це лікарня Амосова і торги щодо реконструкції гімназії Бойченка на загальну суму порядка 3 мільярдів гривень. Київським обласним територіальним відділенням було зібрано докази, цих доказів достатньо, в сукупності доказів було повністю доведено вину та змову цих двох компаній», – заявив голова Київського територіального відділення Антимонопольного комітету Олексій Хмельницький. Присутні на засіданні представники «Північно-українського будівельного альянсу» в коментарі журналістам заявили, що оскаржуватимуть це рішення. В АМКУ також підозрюють змову між двома вищезгаданими компаніями під час проведення тендеру на ремонт Шулявського мосту. Раніше комітет вже відкрив справу за ознаками «антиконкурентних узгоджених дій». За словами Хмельницького, рішення АМКУ може бути наприкінці травня. «Там докази схожі, але є ще докази, які нам надали правоохоронні органи. По Шулявському мосту надіслані подання з попередніми висновками, це є проекти рішень, одна компанія вже їх отримала, іншій компанії або …

Porsche Fined 535 Million Euros Over Diesel Cheating

German sports car maker and Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche will pay a 535-million-euro ($598 million) fine over diesel vehicles that emitted more harmful pollutants than allowed, Stuttgart prosecutors said Tuesday. “The Stuttgart prosecutor’s office has levied a 535-million-euro fine against Porsche AG for negligence in quality control,” the investigators said. Porsche “abstained from a legal challenge” against the decision, the prosecutors office added. Tuesday’s levy against Porsche is the latest in a string of fines against VW over its years-long “dieselgate” scandal. The auto behemoth admitted in 2015 to manipulating 11 million vehicles worldwide to appear less polluting in laboratory tests than they were in real driving conditions. Following fines against VW, high-end subsidiary Audi and now Porsche, no further investigations over “administrative offences” remain open against the group, a spokesman told AFP. But legal proceedings against individuals, including former chief executive Martin Winterkorn, remain open. Meanwhile, thousands of investors are suing the company for the losses they suffered on its shares when news of the scandal broke, while hundreds of thousands of drivers are also demanding compensation. In its own statement, Porsche said the negligence punished by prosecutors was identified “several levels below the board.” The firm also said that the cost of the fine was included in a provision of around one billion euros booked by the VW group in the first quarter. So far the total costs of “dieselgate” for the Wolfsburg-based behemoth have mounted to 30 billion euros. Shares in VW were down 2.2 percent around 2:00 …

Гривня наблизилася до рекорду 2019 року щодо долара, але не побила його – НБУ

05/07/2019 sellbiz

Українська гривня 7 травня продовжила посилення щодо долара США. Згідно з офіційним курсом НБУ, національна валюта впритул наблизилася до рівня 26 гривень 31 копійка за долар, встановленого 12 березня 2019 року, але не перевершила його. Регулятор встановив на 8 травня курс 26 гривень 34 копійки за долар, це на 15 копійок менше за попередній офіційний курс. «На торгах по долару пропозиція перевищує попит. НБУ вже виходив на ринок із купівлею валюти в «анонімному» режимі і купив свої стандартні 20 мільйонів доларів за 26,40 гривні. Як тільки він перестав скуповувати валюту – курс став просідати ще нижче», – інформував у розпал торгів на міжбанківському валютному ринку профільний сайт «Мінфін». Аналітики називають однією з причин посилення гривні чергове розміщення Міністерством фінансів облігацій внутрішньої державної позики. Для купівлі номінованих у гривні цінних паперів нерезиденти виходять на ринок із пропозицією валюти. Рекордний у 2019 році рівень 26 гривень 31 копійка за долар у цілому відповідає показникам липня 2018 року. …

US Commerce Secretary Urges India to Open Markets Further

U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday that American technologies and expertise could play an important role in developing India’s economy, but were facing significant barriers to accessing its markets. Ross told a gathering of business leaders in New Delhi that foreign companies were at a disadvantage due to India’s tariff and non-tariff barriers and myriad regulations. Ross said India was already the world’s third largest economy and by 2030 it would become the world’s largest consumer market because of the rapid growth of its middle class. “Yet today, India is only the U.S 13th largest export market due to overly restrictive market access barriers.” Meanwhile, the United States is India’s largest export market, accounting for something like 20 percent of the total. “That’s a real imbalance, and it’s an imbalance we must drive to counter,” he said. He noted that India’s average applied tariff rate is 13.8 percent, the highest of any major world economy. India’s Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said India would like to work with the United States to resolve such issues in a way that benefits both countries. “We will address the issues with the United States in a manner that will make this relationship better not just between the United States and India, but for the rest of the world as well,” Prabhu said. Ross said that American companies now have a unique opportunity to increase defense technology sales to India which in turn would help balance the …

Top Chinese Economic Official to Travel to US for New Round of Trade Talks

China has confirmed that its top trade negotiator will travel to the United States to conduct a new round of trade talks later this week, even after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened higher tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods after he complained the process is taking too long. The Commerce Ministry issued a statement Tuesday that Vice Premier Liu He, President Xi Jinping’s top economic advisor, will meet with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for two days of talks beginning Thursday. Trump’s Twitter comments on Sunday about the new tariffs sent Asian stocks and U.S. futures tumbling Monday and added uncertainty over the future of U.S.-China trade negotiations. Despite the market drop, China’s official media stayed silent on Trump’s comments all morning. Hours later, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters that China is “trying to get more information” about Trump’s comments about new tariffs but stressed that Beijing’s negotiating team is still preparing to travel to the U.S. for talks this week. Geng did not say whether Vice Premier Liu would lead the delegation. “The tweet is a big wrench in China’s foreign trade policy,” Nick Marro, analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit (The EIU), told VOA. “There were a lot of expectations that at least the groundwork for a deal will be finalized this week,” he said, explaining why Beijing should be upset by the new threat. Tweet with teeth In his tweet, Trump said he …

US to Impose Tariffs on Mexican Tomatoes as New Pact Remains Elusive