Economy

Macroeconomic data, trends, and policy developments.

Coverage of key economic indicators, central bank policy decisions, inflation trends, labor data, and growth signals. This category focuses on the macroeconomic forces that shape markets, interest rates, and long-term capital allocation.

Articles

6,527 total articles

Regulators Fall Behind Banks on AI Adoption as Mythos Raises Oversight Questions

Regulators Fall Behind Banks on AI Adoption as Mythos Raises Oversight Questions

A new survey-led report from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, produced with multilateral partners, finds that financial regulators are adopting AI at a far slower pace than the firms they oversee and frequently lack basic data on industry AI deployment. The research flags Anthropic's recently released Mythos as an example of next-gener…

Overseas Investors Drive Sustained Demand for U.S. Investment-Grade Bonds, Favor Tech and Longer Maturities - Citi

Overseas Investors Drive Sustained Demand for U.S. Investment-Grade Bonds, Favor Tech and Longer Maturities - Citi

Citigroup said foreign purchases of U.S. investment-grade corporate bonds have been strong for 15 straight months as global investors shift allocations toward technology, media and telecom (TMT) debt and bonds maturing beyond 15 years, while trimming exposure to financial-sector issuance. The bank highlighted country-level inflows, rising Hong Kong…

Brazil’s Mid-April Prices Rise Less Than Forecast, Keeping Rate Cut Odds High

Brazil’s Mid-April Prices Rise Less Than Forecast, Keeping Rate Cut Odds High

Brazil's mid-April consumer-price gauge showed an annual rise of 4.37%, below economists' forecasts, and a monthly increase of 0.89%. The softer-than-expected outcome reinforces market expectations that the central bank will trim its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 14.50% at its upcoming meeting as policymakers weigh inflation pressur…

Citadel’s Ken Griffin to Meet New York Governor to Discuss City’s Direction

Citadel’s Ken Griffin to Meet New York Governor to Discuss City’s Direction

Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of Citadel, said he will meet New York Governor Kathy Hochul to discuss the 'future direction' of the city after objections from the Miami-based firm to a mayoral proposal that used his name in a tax campaign targeting non-resident owners of New York City homes. Griffin made the comment during a panel at a Norges Bank I…

Courts Push Back on Federal Bid for State Voter Rolls Ahead of Midterms

Courts Push Back on Federal Bid for State Voter Rolls Ahead of Midterms

Federal judges in several states have dismissed Justice Department lawsuits seeking access to unredacted state voter rolls, a setback for the administration's campaign to broaden federal oversight of elections. The rulings, issued in California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon and Rhode Island, raise constitutional, privacy and statutory questions …

Canada’s Cooling Housing Market Blunts Consumer Gains From Record Stock Rally

Canada’s Cooling Housing Market Blunts Consumer Gains From Record Stock Rally

Canada’s prolonged housing downturn is weighing on household consumption even as the domestic stock market hits record highs and boosts aggregate household net worth by more than C$1 trillion in 2025. With house prices down sharply from their 2022 peak, the traditional wealth effect from housing is failing to materialize, limiting broader economic …

Bank of Russia Proposes Mandatory Yuan Reserves for Lenders to Curb Volatility

Bank of Russia Proposes Mandatory Yuan Reserves for Lenders to Curb Volatility

Russia's central bank is weighing a rule that would require commercial banks to hold mandatory yuan reserves, aiming to ease shortages of the Chinese currency in the foreign-exchange market and to rein in outsized yuan lending. Governor Elvira Nabiullina flagged the proposal after yuan swap rates surged above 40% in March due to heavy lending and d…

PBOC Urges Banks to Lift April Lending to Avert Credit Slump, Sources Say

PBOC Urges Banks to Lift April Lending to Avert Credit Slump, Sources Say

China's central bank held a meeting in late April instructing some commercial banks to expand lending in April and to ensure outstanding loan balances post positive month-on-month growth, according to people familiar with the matter. The guidance, described by sources who declined to be named, reflects policymakers' concern about slowing credit exp…

Bank of Korea Adopts Cautious Stance as Iran Conflict Raises Economic Uncertainty

Bank of Korea Adopts Cautious Stance as Iran Conflict Raises Economic Uncertainty

Minutes from the Bank of Korea's latest policy meeting show the monetary policy board prefers to monitor developments linked to the Iran war before making further moves. The board left the policy rate at 2.50% on April 10, a decision anticipated by a poll of economists, and a strong majority of analysts expect no change through year-end despite con…

Markets Pause as Diplomacy, AI Costs and Energy Prices Shape the Week

Markets Pause as Diplomacy, AI Costs and Energy Prices Shape the Week

U.S. index futures were rangebound as markets digested reports that President Trump is unhappy with an Iranian offer to end the recent hostilities but delay nuclear talks. Corporate earnings take center stage with roughly a third of S&P 500 companies due to report, while OpenAI's internal revenue and user targets reportedly fell short, and BP logge…

Ukraine Faces Parliamentary Hurdle on Parcel VAT as IMF Review Looms

Ukraine Faces Parliamentary Hurdle on Parcel VAT as IMF Review Looms

Ukraine has been urged to pass legislation imposing value-added tax on low-value parcels arriving from abroad to keep its $8.1 billion International Monetary Fund programme on track ahead of a June review. Lawmakers have so far withheld support for the draft, leaving Kyiv in negotiations with the IMF and raising the prospect of delayed or lost inte…

BOJ Holds Rates Steady as Governor Flags Inflation Risks from Middle East Shock

BOJ Holds Rates Steady as Governor Flags Inflation Risks from Middle East Shock

The Bank of Japan left policy rates unchanged, even as three of nine policymakers advocated raising borrowing costs. Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank had significantly raised its price outlook and is closely watching risks that a supply shock tied to the Middle East conflict could push inflation higher, potentially prompting a future rate …

BOJ Holds Policy Rate at 0.75% as Three Board Members Call for a Hike

BOJ Holds Policy Rate at 0.75% as Three Board Members Call for a Hike

The Bank of Japan kept its short-term policy rate at 0.75% after a two-day meeting, but three of nine board members dissented, preferring a rise to 1.0%. The split underscores concern about inflationary pressure linked to the Middle East conflict and has market participants watching Governor Kazuo Ueda’s post-meeting remarks for guidance on the tim…

Yen Holds Steady as BOJ Opens Week of Key Central Bank Decisions

Yen Holds Steady as BOJ Opens Week of Key Central Bank Decisions

The Japanese yen traded flat in Asian hours as markets awaited the Bank of Japan’s policy announcement, the first of several major central bank decisions this week. The BOJ is widely expected to maintain its policy rate at 0.75%. Geopolitical uncertainty from the Iran war is shaping central bank caution, while U.S. monetary policy developments and …

Asian Markets Drift Near Records as Investors Eye Tech Earnings and BOJ Decision

Asian Markets Drift Near Records as Investors Eye Tech Earnings and BOJ Decision

Asian equities remained close to record levels while the dollar held steady as investors balanced geopolitical risks in the Middle East against looming megacap earnings and a busy central bank calendar. The Bank of Japan is expected to pause on rates while offering guidance on its future path; oil prices climbed amid continued disruptions around th…

More than 1,000 TSA officers have left amid DHS funding standoff, DHS says

More than 1,000 TSA officers have left amid DHS funding standoff, DHS says

The Department of Homeland Security reported that over 1,000 Transportation Security Administration officers have departed since a funding shutdown began in mid-February. The agency said staffing losses accelerated over the spring as 50,000 TSA employees endured six weeks without pay, producing extended security wait times at some airports. Politic…

Stable headline growth conceals strain on India's informal economy, economists warn

Stable headline growth conceals strain on India's informal economy, economists warn

A survey of economists finds India’s headline growth forecasts largely unchanged, yet warns that the country’s extensive informal sector is already feeling the impact of Middle East tensions that are disrupting fuel supplies. Limited real-time data on fuel costs, employment, consumption and small enterprises makes it difficult to quantify the hit, …

Trump Expresses Doubt Over Iran Offer to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

Trump Expresses Doubt Over Iran Offer to Reopen Strait of Hormuz

U.S. President Donald Trump and his national security advisers have expressed skepticism about Iran's proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while postponing talks on its nuclear program, according to reporting that cites U.S. officials. While not rejecting the overture outright, Trump questioned Iran's willingness to negotiate in good faith and t…

House of Lords Urges Clear Goal to Reduce UK Debt Within Three Years

House of Lords Urges Clear Goal to Reduce UK Debt Within Three Years

A committee of the House of Lords has recommended that Finance Minister Rachel Reeves adopt an explicit target to lower public debt from its current level within three years, arguing that the government's existing fiscal rules are insufficient to prevent a long-term rise in debt as a share of the economy.