Bank of England raises interest rate to 5 pct

STORY: Bank of England raises interest rate to 5 pct DATELINE: June 23, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:40 LOCATION: London CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of Bank of England 2. various of streets in London 3. various of a supermarket in London STORYLINE: The Bank of England (BoE) has raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 5 percent, the central bank said in a statement on Thursday. At its meeting ending on Wednesday, the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee voted by a majority of seven to two in favor of the decision, the statement added. It came as the 13th consecutive rate hike since December 2021 as the central bank has battled against stubbornly high inflation, bringing the interest rate to the highest since 2008. The United Kingdom's (UK) consumer price index (CPI) rose by 8.7 percent in the 12 months to May, unchanged from April. This is 0.3 percentage points higher than expected in the BoE's May report. There has been significant upside news in recent data that indicates m

Int'l experts optimistic about China's economic recovery

STORY: Int'l experts optimistic about China's economic recovery DATELINE: Feb. 16, 2023 LENGTH: 00:01:59 LOCATION: Beijing CATEGORY: ECONOMY SHOTLIST: 1. various of views in China 2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): HAMID RASHID, Chief of Global Economic Monitoring Branch, Economic Analysis and Policy Division, UN DESA 3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): PATRICK MWANGI, International affairs analyst in Kenya STORYLINE: Off to a good start in 2023, China's economy is seeing a faster-than-expected recovery. During the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, China saw nearly 2.9 million cross-border trips, up 120.5 percent year on year, and 308 million domestic trips, up 23.1 percent compared with 2022. In January, the purchasing managers' index for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.1, returning to expansion territory after three consecutive months of contraction. This outstanding performance has won applause from international experts. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): HAMID RASHID, Chief of Global Economic Monitoring Branch, E

BOJ maintains ultraeasy monetary policy

BOJ maintains ultraeasy monetary policy

TOKYO, Japan - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda enters the BOJ head office in Tokyo for a policy board meeting on Aug. 8, 2013. The central bank maintained its ultraloose monetary policy introduced in April 2013 and left unchanged its assessment of the national economy that it is "starting to recover moderately," after upgrading the view for seven consecutive months. (Pool photo)