US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday urged Congress to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt limit and avert an unprecedented default that would trigger a global economic downturn and risk undermining US global economic leadership.

The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5 per cent on Thursday, taking borrowing costs to their highest since 2008 with its 12th consecutive rate rise, as it seeks to curb the fastest inflation of any major economy.

The association sits with top official of European External Action Service

Gold prices eased on Wednesday, after rising in the previous two sessions, as investors positioned for April US inflation data, which could have a bearing on the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy.

India and Canada aim to seal an initial agreement this year to increase their trade and expand investment while setting out a mechanism to deal with disputes, they said in a statement on Wednesday.

Consumer inflation in the United States nudged down only slightly in April, the Labor Department said on Wednesday, despite strong efforts to cool the economy and rein in price increases.

Britain must not get left behind in rapid financial innovation and it was getting closer to deciding “when, rather than if” it would issue a digital version of sterling, its financial services minister said on Wednesday.

Japan’s Panasonic Holdings Corp on Wednesday said it expects net profit to rise to a record high this year on robust auto battery sales and a hefty tax credit in the United States.

People in China splashed out on dining, travel and luxury goods after emerging from three years of pandemic restrictions but are still not spending freely on routine consumer items, if first quarter corporate results are an indication.

India’s consumer inflation likely cooled to an 18-month low in April as rises in food and fuel prices moderated, keeping it below the Reserve Bank of India’s upper tolerance limit for the second consecutive month, a Reuters poll of economists found.

Oil prices fell on Wednesday, ending a three-day rally as an unexpected rise in US oil inventories sparked demand concerns and investors awaited inflation data for a steer on US interest rates.

US banks tightened lending standards in the first few months this year, and expect this to continue over the rest of 2023, said a Federal Reserve survey released on Monday.

The Indian rupee fell to a more than two-week low on Tuesday on the back of dollar purchases by importers and short covering by traders, with a rise in US yields also adding to the pressure.

Artificial intelligence could replace 80 per cent of human jobs in the coming years -- but that’s a good thing, says US-Brazilian researcher Ben Goertzel, a leading AI guru.

Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn has bought a huge tract of land on the outskirts of Indian tech hub Bengaluru, the key Apple supplier said in a filing Tuesday as it looks to diversify production away from China.

Saudi oil giant Aramco’s first quarter net profit dropped 19 per cent from a year earlier to 119.54 billion riyals ($31.88 billion), it said on Tuesday, due to lower crude prices.

India has extended a $1 billion credit line for Sri Lanka by one year, a Sri Lankan official told Reuters on Tuesday, giving the crisis-hit country a backup funds to pay for essential imports.

Wheat and maize prices declined 11 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively, in the global markets in the past two weeks while rice prices have remained relatively unchanged, according to the World Bank’s Food Security Update.

The multilateral lender says in its latest regional economic update

China's imports contracted sharply in April, while exports rose at a slower pace, reinforcing signs of feeble domestic demand despite the lifting of COVID curbs and heaping pressure on an economy already struggling in the face of cooling global growth.