Market News

Malta Budget 2019: Summary of the main measures announced by the Minister of Finance

The Italian cabinet on Monday signed off on an expansionary 2019 budget, boosting welfare spending, cutting the retirement age and hiking the deficit. The budget is not in compliance with EU rules and creates a showdown with Brussels.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cuts its global economic growth forecasts for 2018 and 2019, saying that trade policy tensions and the imposition of import tariffs were taking a toll on commerce while emerging markets struggle with tighter financial conditions and capital outflows.

The markets settled in a downbeat mood earlier in the week, over the populist government’s fiscal plans. Italy’s 10-year borrowing costs hit their highest since March 2014 after a senior official from the League, one of the parties in the ruling coalition, said most of the country’s problems would be solved if it returned to its own currency.

On Wednesday US Federal Reserve raised interest rates and continued with its plans of steadily tightening monetary policy as it forecasts that the US economy will continue to enjoy at least three more years of growth.

EU leaders met in Salzburg Austria for an informal summit to discuss migration and Brexit. On Thursday they lined up to tell Theresa May she needs to give guarantees on the Irish border before they will grant her the Brexit deal the prime minister wants.

The European Central bank kept its policies unchanged as expected on Thursday staying on track to end bond purchases this year and raise interest rates next autumn.

There have been some signs that the love affair with cryptocurrencies is cooling! Cryptocurrencies dropped for the second time in less than 24 hours, falling to a nine-month low amid concerns that the broader adoption of digital assets will take longer than some have expected.

The United States and Mexico agreed on Monday to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which is 24 years old, putting pressure on Canada to agree to new terms on auto trade and dispute settlement rules to remain part of the three-nation pact.

Greece has successfully exited its final, three-year bailout programme which was agreed in August 2015 to help it cope with the continued fallout from a debt crisis, as stated by the Eurozone’s European Stability Mechanism rescue fund.

On Monday the Turkish lira pulled back from a record low of 7.24 to the dollar after the central bank pledged to provide liquidity and cut reserve requirements for Turkish banks. The currency has lost more than 40 percent against the dollar this year …..

The United States has imposed new sanctions on Iran after Donald Trump signed an executive order with the sanctions targeting Iran’s US dollar purchases, metal trading, coal, industrial software and its auto sector. They also ban the import of Persian rugs and pistachio nuts into America.