News from Around the World

HK stock exchange CEO says ‘one country, two systems’ is flawed

The head of Hong Kong’s stock exchange has said the city’s “one country, two systems” relationship with China is flawed, weeks after concerns about his company's independence from Beijing helped scupper its £32bn bid for the London Stock Exchange.

Charles Li said in a speech in London that the “one country, two systems” model had “fundamental flaws” in how it was implemented from the outset, referring to the high degree of autonomy granted Hong Kong following the handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997.

Major contraction in Iran is driving the Middle East’s growth slowdown: IMF report

The International Monetary Fund’s latest regional outlook report for the Middle East and Central Asia, published Monday, paints a picture of uncertain economies weighed down by global factors like trade tensions as well as internal and regional turmoil.

Trade wars, oil price volatility, the risk of a disorderly Brexit and rising social unrest — and in the short term, a massive economic contraction in Iran as it buckles under heavy U.S. sanctions — are the biggest factors shaping the region’s outlook, according to the IMF.

China asks WTO to impose $2.4 billion in penalties against U.S.

BERLIN (AP) — China is asking the World Trade Organization for the right to impose $2.4 billion in annual penalties on the United States in a case over Chinese subsidies dating back years.

A document published Monday showed China has called for the matter to be considered by the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body next Monday. The matter would be referred to a WTO arbitrator if the U.S. objects to the amount China proposes.

U.K. Parliament Set to Vote on Brexit Deal, After Second Attempt Fails

LONDON—Prime Minister Boris Johnson was set to put his Brexit deal to a vote in Parliament on Tuesday, in the first test of whether he has won over enough lawmakers to his plan to pull the U.K. out of the European Union.

IMF slashes global growth forecast on trade war fears

Global growth is set to fall to its slowest rate since the financial crisis this year, the IMF said on Tuesday, as it warned that the self-inflicted wounds of the US and China’s trade war had created a “precarious” economic situation.

Tit-for-tat tariffs have chilled business confidence and investment, the fund said, leaving global trade in goods almost stagnant and forcing central banks to cut interest rates to shore up growth.

For Both Trump and Xi, Trade Deal Comes Amid Growing Pressures at Home

BEIJING — The interim trade pact announced Friday between the United States and China came together as both countries’ leaders faced mounting political pressures and rising economic worries at home.

ECB's de Guindos raises bar for further rate cuts-Market News

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank’s vice-president on Wednesday raised the bar on further interest rate cuts, saying the side effects of the ECB’s easy money policy were becoming more tangible.

In an interview with Market News, Luis de Guindos also ruled out a “policy U-turn” under the ECB’s incoming president Christine Lagarde and weighed in on a public spat among policymakers on last month’s decision to resume a 2.6 trillion euro bond-buying program.

World Bank boss warns global growth could disappoint

David Malpass, the president of the World Bank, has warned that global growth could fall short of the 2.6 per cent rate it predicted in June, in the latest sign of concern in multilateral institutions about the direction of the world economy.

In a speech in Montreal, ahead of the World Bank and IMF’s annual meetings next week, Mr Malpass warned that global growth was “slowing” and said he expected it to be even lower than the forecast from four months ago due to “Brexit, Europe’s recession, and trade uncertainty”.

IMF’s New Chief Vows to ‘Fix the Roof’ Before the Storm Hits

Kristalina Georgieva took the helm of the International Monetary Fund this week as its first leader to have lived through one of its stringent economic adjustment programs.

Her homeland of Bulgaria was going through a painful transition from socialism to a market economy in the 1990s, with surging debt and unemployment, a collapsing financial system and high inflation.

Bonds Get a Taste of What Happens When Central Banks Step Back

(Bloomberg) -- Bond traders just had an inkling of what it could be like when central banks and pension funds aren’t there to support them.