Forex / Government news

RIGA (Thomson Financial) - The council of the Bank of Latvia decided on Thursday to leave refinancing rates unchanged at the 6 pct level, the president of the bank said. Other interest rates have remained unchanged as well. As a result, the rate on overnight loans is to stay at 7...

PARIS (Thomson Financial) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are likely to focus more on the problem of EADS' ownership and management structure than on its rapidly growing woes from a strong euro when they meet in Toulouse on Monday to discuss the company's future...

STRASBOURG, France (Thomson Financial) - Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos, whose country holds the EU presidency, said the current level of the euro is not a problem for the euro zone economy."I don't think and don't believe that we have a problem in exchange rates at the moment," Teixeira dos Santos told the European Parliament economic and monetary affairs committee...

STRASBOURG, France (Thomson Financial) - The European Parliament expressed concern over the appreciation of the euro but rejected calls for closer coordination of exchange rate policy by the European Central Bank and finance ministers.The plenary session of the parliament voted in favour of a report from its economic and monetary affairs committee on the ECB with few amendments...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - The European Commission said it has received support for further regulation of non-EU audit firms following a public consultation launched in January.Measures would regulate and supervise non-EU audit firms, as well as increase cooperation with competent authorities from non-EU countries...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democratic lawmakers on Thursday are expected to propose raising taxes on tobacco products to fund a health care program, potentially posing a threat to Philip Morris, Reynolds American Inc. and other cigarette maker investors.Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus is scheduled to release his proposal for expanding the government program that provides health care to 6 million children who don't qualify for Medicaid but whose families cannot afford insurance...

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The European Central Bank today said that M3 money supply in the euro zone remains strong but warned that the elevated annual rate could be misleading."Over the course of 2006 and in early 2007 developments in the annual growth rate of the broad aggregate M3 may overstate the dynamism of the underlying rate of monetary expansion," the ECB said in an article published in its monthly bulletin today...

MANILA (Thomson Financial) - The Philippine central bank has cut banks' overnight borrowing rate to 6.0 percent from 7.50 percent previously and the overnight lending rate to 8.0 percent from 9.75, while deciding to "maintain a neutral monetary policy stance" during its policy meeting today...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Euro zone GDP growth grew 0.7 pct in the first quarter from the fourth quarter, and was up 3.1 pct year-on-year, EU statistics office Eurostat said.The figures show an upward revision of provisional figures reported on June 1...

BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) - Euro zone May industrial output rose 0.9 pct from April, and was up 2.5 pct year-on-year, EU statistics agency Eurostat reported.Economists polled by Thomson Financial News had forecast a month-on-month rise of 1.0 pct and an increase of 2...

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - The European Central Bank said it is monitoring inflation risks closely and remains ready to raise interest rates further if necessary."The governing council will continue to monitor closely all developments to ensure that risks to price stability over the medium term do not materialise," the ECB said in its July monthly bulletin...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Bank of Japan (BoJ) governor Toshihiko Fukui gave no new hints Thursday about when the monetary authority might hike its key interest rates as he reiterated that the bank will gradually adjust rates taking into account downside risks and the upside potential for the economy...

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russia's gold and foreign currency reserves were at 408.4 bln usd on July 6, up from 406.0 bln usd on June 29, Interfax reported, citing a Central Bank statement.alfred.kueppers@thomson.comamk/lam..

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - The Bank of Japan has left its economic assessment unchanged in July, saying the world's second-largest economy is expanding moderately and will continue to do so as deflationary pressures ease."Japan's economy is expanding moderately," the BoJ said in its latest monthly report, repeating what it said in June...

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck sees Germany's economy weathering the current strength of the euro without suffering fundamental problems, according to Sueddeutsche Zeitung."The competitiveness of European economies is not determined on foreign exchange markets," Steinbrueck told the newspaper...

FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Sharp differences have appeared between Germany and France after Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed calls by French President Nicolas Sarkozy for a brake on the euro's rising value."I do not agree. I really do not want to go down that road and neither does the German government," Merkel told RTL television late Tuesday in response to Sarkozy's call for steps to reign in the record-breaking euro...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - The Bank of Japan kept its overnight call rate target unchanged at 0.5 percent for the sixth straight meeting, but a stray vote by a member of the nine-man board suggested a rate hike may be imminent.The central bank said Atsushi Mizuno voted against the proposal by governor Toshihiko Fukui to leave the overnight call rate at the current level...

TOKYO (Thomson Financial) - Beleaguered Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday a defeat for his coalition would set back reforms as he launched his campaign for elections on July 29 to the upper house of parliament here.The conservative leader began his campaign in the streets of the Akihabara electronics district here...

MANILA (Thomson Financial) - The Philippine government's outstanding debt dropped by 0.8 percent from the previous month to 3.9 trillion pesos at the end of April following loan repayments and the appreciation of the peso and other currencies against the US dollar, the Bureau of Treasury said on Thursday...

SYDNEY (Thomson Financial) - Australia's unemployment rate rose to a seasonally adjusted 4.3 percent in June from the record low of 4.2 percent in May, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said Thursday.The market was expecting the jobless rate to have stayed at 4...