Finland the world’s happiest country, Biden goes after Chinese semiconductor firms
As Fed policymakers stuck to their path of lowering rates this year, the Bank of England also moved closer to cuts. Here are some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week on the latest developments in the global economy:
Europe
Officials in Zurich lowered their benchmark to 1.5%, the first such reduction for one of the world’s 10 most-traded currencies since the pandemic abated. The central bank’s revised down inflation forecast suggests “a fundamental reassessment of the momentum of inflation,” said George Moran, European economist at Nomura International Plc.
The Bank of England took another step toward cutting interest rates in the coming months after two of its most ardent hawks dropped their demands for hikes. Catherine Mann and Jonathan Haskel joined an 8-1 majority on the Monetary Policy Committee to keep rates at a 16-year high of 5.25%, the latest sign that the BOE was edging toward easing policy later this year.
Euro-area labor-cost increases slowed at the end of last year, an outcome that is likely to provide encouragement for European Central Bank policymakers who are studying the strength of wages as a key input for their decision on when to cut interest rates.
Asia
Now that Japan increased interest rates for the first time since 2007, investors and economists are divided over how long it will take before the central bank opts for another hike. Governor Kazuo Ueda repeatedly said that real interest rates in Japan remain deeply negative, and renewed weakness in the yen may also spark
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