WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 JOHANNESBURG, South Africa- South Africa Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to present 2019 budget to parliament- 1200 GMT KINGSTON- Bank of Jamaica holds interest rate announcement and monetary policy report. JAKARTA- Indonesia Central Bank holds board of governors' meeting. SYDNEY- Appearance by Philip Lowe, Reserve Bank of Australia...
WASHINGTON/ MUNICH, Feb 15- The United States ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday by sanctioning some of his top security officials and the head of the state oil company, and unveiling plans to airlift over 200 tons of aid to the Colombian border. Separately, the U.S. State Department said on Friday it was working with the...
BOGOTA, Feb 15- Colombia's economic outlook is positive this year, thanks to controlled inflation, low interest rates and growth recovery, central bank chief Juan Jose Echavarria said on Friday, but the country will face fiscal risks in coming years. During the bank's quarterly inflation presentation, Echavarria said the technical team has slightly reduced...
WASHINGTON/ MUNICH, Feb 15- The United States ratcheted up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Friday by sanctioning some of his top security officials and the head of the state oil company, and unveiling plans to airlift over 200 tons of aid to the Colombian border. The steps are part of a wider effort by the United States to undermine Maduro, whose...
LONDON, Feb 15- The world economy is caught in a "delicate equilibrium" between stabilization and a further downturn, according to Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, and that balance could look even shakier over the next few days. Early measures of factory activity from Asia, Europe and the United States which typically give signals of momentum in the overall...
BEIJING, Feb 15- London copper prices slipped on Friday after China's factory-gate price growth missed expectations and as investors awaited the outcome of Sino-U.S. trade talks in Beijing. China's producer price inflation slowed for a seventh straight month in January to its weakest pace since September 2016, raising concerns the world's top copper...
LIMA, Feb 14- Canadian oil junior Frontera Energy Corp is reconsidering pursuing new investments in Peru due to government delays in fixing a key pipeline, the company's chief executive said on Thursday. Richard Herbert added that Frontera might withdraw from its main oilfield in the country if the pipeline- run by state-owned Petroperu- remains inoperative...
*Sales up 39 pct in Asia, 17 pct in Americas. HERZOGENAURACH, Germany, Feb 14- Sportswear group Puma gave a conservative forecast for 2019 on Thursday despite strong fourth-quarter sales helped by demand for its chunky RS-X shoes and Cali sneakers, sending its shares down more than 6 percent. Chief Executive Bjorn Gulden conceded that the new target was cautious,...
*Sales up 39 pct in Asia, 17 pct in Americas. HERZOGENAURACH, Germany, Feb 14- German sportswear firm Puma gave a conservative forecast for 2019 on Thursday despite reporting strong quarterly sales helped by demand for its chunky RS-X shoes and Cali sneakers, sending its shares down more than 5 percent. Fourth-quarter sales rose a currency-adjusted 20 percent to...
CARACAS, Feb 13- Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress named new temporary boards of directors to state-oil firm PDVSA on Wednesday, in an effort to wrest the OPEC nation's oil revenue from increasingly isolated socialist President Nicolas Maduro. President Donald Trump, which backs Guaido, imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector on Jan. 28, aimed...
CARACAS, Feb 13- Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress named new temporary boards of directors to state-oil firm PDVSA on Wednesday, in an effort to wrest the OPEC nation's oil revenue from increasingly isolated President Nicolas Maduro. President Donald Trump, which backs Guaido, imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector on Jan. 28, aimed at curbing...
CARACAS, Feb 13- Venezuela's opposition-controlled congress named new temporary boards of directors to state-oil firm PDVSA on Wednesday, in an effort to wrest the OPEC nation's oil revenue from President Nicolas Maduro. President Donald Trump, which backs Guaido, imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector on Jan. 28, aimed at curbing exports to the United...
CARACAS, Feb 12- Venezuela's opposition supporters returned to the streets nationwide on Tuesday to keep the heat on embattled President Nicolas Maduro and demand he allow humanitarian aid into the country where food and medicine shortages are rife. Most Western counties including the United States have recognized Guaido as Venezuela's president, but...
MEXICO CITY, Feb 8- Starbucks Corp is unlikely to cede its leading position in China, the company's fastest-growing major market, to Chinese startup Luckin in 2019, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in an interview on Thursday. "Just this last quarter we entered 10 new cities in China," he said, adding that each of those cites is larger than Los Angeles, the sprawling...
MEXICO CITY, Feb 8- Starbucks Corp is unlikely to cede its leading position in China, the company's fastest-growing major market, to Chinese startup Luckin in 2019, Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in an interview on Thursday. "Just this last quarter we entered 10 new cities in China," he said, adding that each of those cites is larger than Los Angeles, the sprawling...
*Aid reaches Colombia border town, not entering Venezuela yet. CUCUTA, Colombia/ TIENDITAS, Venezuela, Feb 7- T rucks carrying humanitarian aid for crisis-stricken Venezuela arrived in the Colombian border city of Cucuta on Thursday as diplomatically-isolated President Nicolas Maduro appeared set to block its entry amid an escalating political crisis.
HAVANA, Feb 7- Some foreign businesses in Cuba are scrambling to defend their interests while others are rethinking the risk as the Trump administration bears down on Venezuela and Cuba, according to a dozen experts, diplomats and businessmen. To make matters worse, the fall of Cuban ally President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government in Venezuela would be a...
*U.S. questions Maduro support in Venezuela military ranks. MONTEVIDEO, Feb 7- European and Latin American leaders called for dialog and elections to solve a deepening crisis in Venezuela on Thursday, warning against rash intervention in the country even as trucks bringing humanitarian aid lined up near the border. The group, in a communiqué after the meeting,...
The news bodes well as Qatar builds toward featuring at its first World Cup, which the tiny oil-rich state will host in 2022.
BOGOTA, Feb 5- Colombia's arabica coffee crop will recover in 2019 as a mild El Nino weather phenomenon aids flowering, the head of the country's growers federation said on Tuesday, but low prices remain a worry. But dry El Nino weather is already boosting tree flowering in the world's top producer of arabica, federation head Roberto Velez said in an interview on...
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