Facing escalating mass protests, the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Monday approved a package of economic reforms and a 2020 budget without new taxes. Protests swelled in the hours after the announcement, however, as many demonstrators scorned the package as ’empty promises.’
A key measure of consumer spending unexpectedly dropped for the first time in seven months in September, raising concerns about one of the brightest spots in the US economy.
Iran’s economy is expected to shrink by 9.5 percent this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said, down from a previous estimate of a six percent contraction, as the country feels the impact of tighter US sanctions.
China’s trade with the United States fell by double digits again in September amid a tariff war that threatens to tip the global economy into recession.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would devastate Turkey’s economy if Ankara’s incursion in Syria wipes out the Kurdish population there.
The federal deficit rose to $984 billion in fiscal year 2019, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday, an increase of $205 billion.
The U.S. economy added 136,000 jobs in September, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5%, a new 50-year low, according to federal data released Friday.
China’s Communist Party marked 70 years in power Tuesday with a military parade showcasing the country’s global ambitions and advancements in weapons technology.
U.S. consumer spending barely rose in August, suggesting that the economy’s main growth engine was slowing after accelerating sharply in the second quarter.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Friday that Trump had offered to drop all sanctions against the Islamic Republic in exchange for talks at the UN General Assembly, a claim Trump later vehemently denied.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said in an interview aired Sunday that war with Iran would devastate the global economy and he prefers a non-military solution to tensions with his regional rival.
The U.S. economy grew at a modest 2% annual rate in the second quarter, a pace sharply lower than the 3%-plus growth rates seen over the past year. Many analysts believe growth will slow further in coming quarters as global weakness and rising trade tensions exert a toll.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said there is a growing recognition in Middle East that countries must battle extremism, must have normalized relations between Israel and its neighbors.
The Saudi defense ministry presented evidence Wednesday that Iran was behind an attack over the weekend on its largest oil facility, though it said a launch point had not yet been determined.
The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates again on Wednesday to help sustain a record-long economic expansion but signaled a higher bar to further reductions in borrowing costs, eliciting a fast and sharp rebuke from President Donald Trump.
The European Central Bank on Thursday announced a sweeping round of stimulus for the continent’s slowing economy, cutting interest rates to their lowest ever level and introducing a round of quantitative easing.
The Trump administration stepped up pressure on Iran on Wednesday, imposing sanctions on an oil shipping network with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and offering a reward of up to $15 million for anyone with information that could disrupt its faltering economy even further.
Iran said on Monday it would further reduce its commitments under a 2015 nuclear deal if European parties failed to shield Tehran’s economy from sanctions reimposed by the United States after Washington quit the accord last year.
The U.S. economy grew at a 2.0% annualized rate in the second quarter of 2019, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday in a second estimate of gross domestic product.
US President Trump said Thursday that trade negotiations with China scheduled to occur later in the day would be ‘at a different level,’ according to Fox News Radio.