Fri, Jun 04, 2021 page10

• Wolrd Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  UNITED STATES

  Fed poll sees faster growth

  The economy grew at a somewhat faster pace in April and last month, despite disruptions that choked supplies to the nation’s manufacturers, the Federal Reserve reported on Wednesday. In the Fed’s latest survey of economic conditions around the nation, known as the “beige book,” several of the central bank’s districts reported that increased vaccination rates and relaxed social distancing measures were having a positive impact on the economy. However, offsetting those gains were headwinds coming from supply chain problems, the report said, adding that the supply chain disruptions added to price pressures. The report is to form the basis of discussion when Fed policymakers meet on June 15 to 16 to decide interest rate trends.

  SHIPPING

  Ships avoid virus-hit port

  The world’s shipping lines are avoiding a key port in China hit by a COVID-19 outbreak, causing increased congestion at other seaports across the nation that could delay the delivery of goods to the US and Europe. Tightened health and safety checks have caused congestion and reduced productivity at the port of Yantian, prompting the cancelation of calls there, a notice from Mediterranean Shipping Co on Wednesday said. The port in Shenzhen stopped accepting export-bound container boxes last week and suspended three berths after a COVID-19 cluster emerged among the port staff and broader community. Shenzhen is the world’s fourth-busiest container port.

  TRADE

  UK, Australia hold talks

  Britain is seeking to remove a 5 percent tariff on exports of Scotch whisky to Australia in an upcoming trade deal, British Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss said yesterday. “A UK-Australia trade agreement would be significant for Scotch whisky and the Union,” she said in a statement. Britain and Australia held another round of talks to progress a free-trade deal, the British High Commissioner to Australia Vicki Treadell said in Canberra, as they seek to strike an agreement in the middle of this month. The proposed deal with Australia is the most advanced of several pacts London is pursuing.

  MEXICO

  Economy to grow 6%: bank

  The COVID-19 pandemic-hit economy is expected to grow by 6 percent this year, the Bank of Mexico said on Wednesday, upgrading its outlook for the second time since March. The central bank had predicted growth of 4.8 percent for Latin America’s second-largest economy this year. The brighter outlook reflects strong external demand, mainly from the US, as well as an easing of the pandemic in the nation, one of the worst affected by the virus. The economy shrank 8.5 percent last year, in the worst slump since the Great Depression about nine decades ago.

  CRYPTOCURRENCY

  Google to allow crypto ads

  Alphabet Inc’s Google, the world’s largest digital advertising seller, is to allow companies offering cryptocurrency wallets to run ads beginning in August. Starting in August, Google is to let wallets run ads on search, YouTube and other properties as long as they go through the company’s certification process. Google is making the change “in order to better match existing FinCEN regulations and requirements,” a spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday. In a blog post, Google specified that the ad ban still exists for initial coin offerings and services that aggregate or compare issuers of cryptocurrencies.
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