2025-09-30 16:25
LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said on Tuesday that a recent climb in headline inflation was unlikely to last and there were risks to the economy if interest rates are kept high for too long. Speaking shortly after a colleague on the Monetary Policy Committee, Catherine Mann, warned that inflation might be stuck at a high level, Breeden took a contrasting tone in her speech. Sign up here. "Holding policy too tight for too long comes with costs to output and employment, which could then pull inflation below target," Breeden said in a speech at Cardiff Business School. She was among the majority of MPC members who at the BoE's September meeting voted to keep borrowing costs on hold at 4% after voting to reduce them by 25 basis points in August in a narrow 5-4 vote by the MPC. Breeden said the recent "hump" in inflation was unlikely to lead to additional inflationary pressure. The BoE expects inflation to hit 4% in September before falling only slowly to its 2% target in 2027. But it is also worried about a slowdown in economic growth. "I do not see evidence that the disinflation process is veering off-track. Instead it remains my central case that the 'hump' will prove just a bump in the road," Breeden said. However, she said she would focus on how businesses are pricing goods and services, saying that there were still some signs that suggested that the pricing power of firms was consistent with a "high inflation regime". Also on Tuesday, BoE Deputy Governor Clare Lombardelli said central banks should be careful about assuming that inflation shocks are temporary. Last week, BoE policymaker Megan Greene warned that price growth in Britain required a cautious approach to further reductions to borrowing costs. But Governor Andrew Bailey reiterated his view that rates would fall. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/keeping-interest-rates-high-too-long-is-risky-boes-breeden-says-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 12:48
NEW DELHI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - India's trade pact with four European nations, including Switzerland and Norway, will take effect from Wednesday, boosting exports of textiles, leather and food products while attracting investments, a government statement said. Under the Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement , opens new tab, signed last March after nearly 16 years of negotiations, the European Free Trade Association - comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - will cut tariffs on 92.2% of tariff lines for India, while New Delhi will offer concessions on 82.7% of tariff lines covering 95.3% of EFTA exports. Sign up here. With a population of 13 million and combined GDP of more than $1 trillion, the EFTA nations are the world's ninth largest merchandise trader and its fifth largest in commercial services. The deal comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi pursues a trade pact with the European Union and seeks an agreement with the U.S., after President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods up to 50% from August 27 over Russian oil purchases. The agreement with EFTA goes beyond goods and services, aiming to attract foreign direct investments in India of $100 billion over 15 years and to create one million jobs, the commerce ministry said. India has protected its sensitive sectors such as dairy, soya, coal and sensitive agricultural products. India is the EFTA's fifth-largest trading partner , opens new tab after the European Union, the United States, Britain and China, with total two-way trade touching $25 billion in 2023, according to government estimates. The pact is also expected to spur Swiss investment as it slashes tariffs on exports from chocolates to watches and machinery. India's nearly $4 trillion economy, 1.4 billion-strong market, and annual growth of about 7% have attracted European firms seeking alternatives to China, amid U.S. tariff pressure. India expects its firms to benefit from the pact, with no change in effective duty on gold imports and protections retained for sensitive sectors such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and key farm products, the statement added. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-trade-pact-with-efta-bloc-take-effect-wednesday-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 12:44
BRUSSELS, Sept 30 (Reuters) - France, Portugal and Spain will hold talks in the coming weeks on how to speed up power interconnector projects, Portugal's energy minister told Reuters, as the country pushes to improve electricity links following a huge blackout in April. Spain and Portugal's poor electricity connections to the rest of Europe were highlighted by the countries' unprecedented power outage in April, which experts said could have been less severe if the Iberian Peninsula had more interconnectors to exchange power with other countries. Sign up here. "After the blackout, we have put extra pressure on the European Commission and on France, together with Spain, and as a result of that contact the French government has asked for a meeting," Maria da Graca Carvalho said in an interview. She said the talks would take place in early October. Carvalho said she was hopeful France was willing to speed up projects, particularly after the European Investment Bank said it will support the planned Bay of Biscay power interconnector project between Spain and France with 1.6 billion euros ($1.88 billion). "They are good signs," she said, adding that an environmental assessment of the Bay of Biscay link must be completed before the project could move ahead. France's energy ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Spain's energy ministry declined to comment on the meeting. Grid and power plant operators have traded barbs over who was to blame for Iberia's massive blackout in April, while the EU investigation into its cause is still ongoing. The European network of transmission system operators ENTSO-E is due to publish part of its investigation on Friday, confirming the conditions in the network when the outage began. Works to strengthen an existing interconnector between France and Spain are expected to wrap this year, while the Bay of Biscay link is set to be completed by 2028. Spain and Portugal have previously said France has held up new interconnectors. French grid operator RTE has assessed two additional links with Spain over the Pyrenees, but noted that the projects' beneficiaries would be located outside of France. Iberia has just 3% of its electricity capacity connected to European neighbours, far below the EU's target for countries to reach 15% by 2030. ($1 = 0.8517 euros) https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/france-portugal-spain-hold-talks-speeding-up-power-links-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 12:37
LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Glencore has promoted its top gas and power trader Maxim Kolupaev to lead the firm's entire oil and gas trading division when current head Alex Sanna steps down at the end of 2025, according to a Glencore memo to staff seen by Reuters. Gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading often generate as much profit for trading houses as their traditional oil and fuel businesses as global LNG production grows and Europe replaces Russian gas with U.S. LNG. Sign up here. Kolupaev will lead the division in its next phase of growth, Glencore Chief Executive Gary Nagle said in the memo. Glencore is one of the biggest oil and gas trading houses in the world alongside Vitol, Trafigura, Mercuria and Gunvor. It increased its traded volumes to 3.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, fuel and gas in 2024 from 3.3 million bpd in 2023. Volumes were still below the 4.8 million bpd Glencore marketed in 2019 and it trails rival Trafigura with 6.8 million bpd and Vitol, the world's largest trading house, with 7.2 million bpd. Kolupaev has been with Glencore for 22 years, starting in the United Kingdom before becoming the global head of oil and more recently the head of LNG, gas and power. Sanna steps down after 19 years with Glencore. He has been the head of trading for the past 6 years. (This story has been corrected to clarify that Kolupaev began at Glencore in UK, not Russia, in paragraph 7) https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/glencore-promotes-head-lng-lead-oil-gas-trading-memo-shows-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 12:31
Sept 30 (Reuters) - OPEC+ is considering accelerating output hikes by 500,000 barrels a day over the next three months, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing a delegate. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/opec-considers-boosting-pace-its-oil-output-hikes-bloomberg-news-reports-2025-09-30/
2025-09-30 12:31
Jefferson's VC term ends in 2027, governor term not until 2036 Biden appointee says decision is one for the future Trump could wait as late as 2028 for a fourth Fed appointee HELSINKI, Sept 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve vice chair Philip Jefferson, a potentially pivotal figure in President Donald Trump's effort to appoint a majority of the Fed's 7-member Board of Governors, said on Tuesday he has not yet considered whether to keep his board seat after his vice chair term ends in September 2027. Separate from his 4-year stint as vice chair, Jefferson holds a board seat with a term that runs until 2036, well after Trump's term ends following the 2028 presidential election. Sign up here. "I have not given thought to that at all. My focus is to do the job that I currently have right now to the best of my ability," Jefferson, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, said at an economics conference in Finland. Asked about his plans, he said that "pertains to something that is far in the future, and it is not something that I think about when I come to work every day." TRUMP SEEKING INFLUENCE AT FED Trump since his January inauguration has tried to gain influence at the central bank, initially with demands for lower interest rates and threats to fire Fed chair Jerome Powell, then with more overt moves including an attempt to fire Governor Lisa Cook. Rebuffed by federal judges so far, Cook's firing is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Fed's structure is an impediment to Trump's aims. To limit the influence of electoral politics on monetary policy, the Fed board is set up with seven, staggered, 14-year appointments, one expiring every two years, so no U.S. president can appoint a majority in a single four-year presidential term. TRUMP COULD WAIT AS LATE AS 2028 TO GET A FED MAJORITY Three of the seven current governors were appointed by Trump either in his first or current term. Depending on the outcome of Cook's case and on Jefferson's decision, the president may have to wait as late as January of 2028, his last full year in office, to get a fourth opening. That is when Powell's term as a governor expires, though his term as chair ends in May. https://www.reuters.com/business/feds-jefferson-says-he-has-not-considered-whether-remain-governor-after-vice-2025-09-30/
