Japan and EU expected to sign trade deal on Thursday

Shinzo Abe to meet Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels but UK exporters likely to see no gain due to Brexit. The European Union and Japan are on course to sign a trade deal on Thursday, after talks gained impetus in the wake of Donald Trump’s threat to put up barriers to international commerce. […]

Greek prime minister reshuffles cabinet to boost bailout reforms

Alexis Tsipras says time has come to speed up measures agreed with the country’s international creditors. The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has reshuffled his government to boost bailout reforms in the hope of getting the EU to agree to critical debt relief by the end of the year. Heralding a new political era for […]

Natural disasters push 26m into poverty each year, says World Bank

Study finds floods, storms and droughts cost global economy $520bn a year and highlights need to tackle climate change. Floods, earthquakes, tsunamis and other extreme natural disasters push 26 million people into poverty each year and cost the global economy more than half a trillion dollars in lost consumption, the World Bank has said. A […]

Prepare for the next recession while you can

Governments should start normalising monetary policy and cutting public debt before the next economic downturn hits them. Economic forecasts for 2017 project continued frailty in the global economy, and subpar growth for most countries and regions. Obvious economic problems include Europes weak banks, Chinas distorted property market, political uncertainty in the west, historically high private […]