New Zealand's annual food prices up 12.5 pct, hitting 36-year high

STORY: New Zealand's annual food prices up 12.5 pct, hitting 36-year high DATELINE: May 11, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:16 LOCATION: Wellington CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of street views of Wellington 2. various of supermarkets STORYLINE: New Zealand's food prices in April 2023 were 12.5 percent higher than they were in April 2022, hitting a 36-year high, according to figures released by the statistics department Stats NZ on Thursday. "The 12.5 percent increase in April 2023 was the largest since September 1987 which included the introduction of GST (goods and services tax) in 1986," Stats NZ consumer prices manager James Mitchell said. The increase was due to rises across all the broad food categories Stats NZ measures. Compared with April 2022, grocery food prices increased by 14 percent, and fruit and vegetable prices increased by 22.5 percent. Increasing prices for barn or cage-raised eggs, potato chips, and six-pack yogurt were the largest drivers within grocery food," Mitchell said, adding thes

Toyota's 2014 car sales in China reach record high

Toyota's 2014 car sales in China reach record high

BEIJING, China - Toyota Motor Corp.'s booth is shown in this file photo taken on Nov. 20, 2014, at an international motor show held in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. Toyota's new car sales in China jumped 12.5 percent in 2014 to reach a record annual high of 1.03 million vehicles, surpassing the one million mark for the first time.

Egypt targets primary budget surplus of 2.3 pct in FY 2024-25

STORY: Egypt targets primary budget surplus of 2.3 pct in FY 2024-25 DATELINE: Oct. 26, 2022 LENGTH: 00:00:58 LOCATION: Cairo CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various exterior shots of the Central Bank of Egypt 2. various of employees counting banknotes 3. various exterior shots of Egypt's Finance Ministry in Cairo STORYLINE: Egypt is targeting a primary budget surplus of 2.3 percent of the GDP for the fiscal year 2024-25, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said on Tuesday. Egypt's fiscal year begins in July and ends in June. Maait's remarks came on the sidelines of the Egyptian Economic Conference 2022 that kicked off on Sunday in the new administrative capital east of Cairo. The minister added that Egypt's budget deficit narrowed to 6.1 percent in June 2022, down from 12.5 percent in June 2016. He also said that the Egyptian government aims to decrease the budget deficit to 4 percent by 2027. Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Cairo. (XHTV)

Kenya's forex reserves fall to 5-year low

STORY: Kenya's forex reserves fall to 5-year low DATELINE: Oct. 10, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:21 LOCATION: Nairobi CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. shot of the National Treasury of Kenya 2. various of banks in Kenya and banknotes 3. SOUNDBITE (English): PATRICK NJOROGE, Governor of the Central Bank Of Kenya 4. various of containers at the port STORYLINE: Kenya's foreign exchange reserves declined by 12.5 billion shillings (about 103 million U.S. dollars) this week to hit a five-year low as the shilling fell to the lowest level in history against the dollar, the Central Bank of Kenya said in its weekly update of the financial markets. The reserves fell from 7.42 billion dollars last week to 7.32 billion dollars, with the apex bank reported to have sold an unspecified amount of dollars to stabilize the local currency. During the week, the shilling fell to an all-time low of 120.82 against the dollar, the Central Bank said in its update released Friday evening. The shilling has declined 7 percent against the dollar

Malaysia's IPI, manufacturing sales value, unemployment rate in July released

STORY: Malaysia's IPI, manufacturing sales value, unemployment rate in July released DATELINE: Sept. 12, 2022 LENGTH: 00:03:34 LOCATION: Kuala Lumpur CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Kuala Lumpur with Malaysia's National Flag 2. various of trucks in factory area and warehouses 3. various of Malaysia's National Flag 4. various of trucks in factory area and warehouses 5. various of Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers and Malaysia's National Flag 6. various of crowds and street views at Kuala Lumpur STORYLINE: The Department of Statistics Malaysia released data on the country's Industrial Production Index (IPI), manufacturing sales value and unemployment rate in July on Friday. The IPI in Malaysia increased 12.5 percent year on year. The expansion was driven by the manufacturing, electricity and mining sectors, with the growth of 14.9 percent, 13.2 percent and 3.2 percent respectively, the department said in a statement. The manufacturing sales value rose 23.8 percent to 148.4 billion ringgit (33 billion U

France kicks off 2nd round of legislative elections

STORY: France kicks off 2nd round of legislative elections DATELINE: June 19, 2022 LENGTH: 00:01:17 LOCATION: Paris CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. various of posters 2. various of polling stations STORYLINE: French voters started to cast a ballot in 572 run-off races on Sunday to elect the 577-member National Assembly. A total of 1,148 candidates who won the support of at least 12.5 percent of registered voters in the first round on June 12 advanced to Sunday's contest. Five candidates have won an absolute majority of more than 50 percent of the vote with a turnout rate of no less than 25 percent in their constituency. According to the Interior Ministry, the legislative elections are contested between three blocs that were leading the first-round race, namely President Emmanuel Macron's centrist alliance Ensemble (25.75 percent), left-wing alliance NUPES (25.66 percent) led by Jean-Luc Melenchon and far-right party National Rally (18.68 percent) led by Marine Le Pen who lost the presidential election to

SONY's popular PS4 to get 12.5% price cut

SONY's popular PS4 to get 12.5% price cut

Undated photo shows Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.'s popular PlayStation 4 computer game console, whose price will be cut by 5,000 yen ($42), or 12.5 percent, to 34,980 yen (about $290) from Oct. 1, 2015. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Sony to cut PS4 price by 5,000 yen to 34,980 yen

Sony to cut PS4 price by 5,000 yen to 34,980 yen

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. board member Atsushi Morita announces in Tokyo on Sept. 15, 2015, a 12.5 percent cut in the price of its PlayStation 4 computer game console to 34,980 yen (about $290) from the present 39,980 yen, effective Oct. 1, to make it more affordable. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo