European Economics Preview: UK Public Sector Finance Data Due

Public sector finance data from the UK is due on Friday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 3.00 am ET, Destatis is scheduled to issue Germany’s producer prices for February. Economists forecast producer prices to rise 0.2 percent on year, the same rate as seen in January.

At 5.00 am ET, the European Central Bank is slated to publish euro area current account data for January. Economists forecast the current account surplus to fall sharply to EUR 20.5 billion from EUR 51.2 billion in December.

At 5.30 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK public sector finance data. The budget balance is seen at GBP 0.85 billion in February compared to a surplus of GBP 10.54 billion in January.

In the meantime, Bank of England/TNS Inflation Attitudes survey results are due.

At 6.30 am ET, Russia’s central bank is set to announce its rate decision. The bank is expected to hold its key rate at 6.00 percent.

Facebook Bans Ads For Hand Sanitizer, Wipes Amid Coronavirus Crisis

Facebook has banned ads and commerce listings for hand sanitizer, surface disinfecting wipes and COVID-19 test kits from its website.

“In addition to masks, we’re now also banning hand sanitizer, surface disinfecting wipes and COVID-19 test kits in ads and commerce listings. This is another step to help protect against inflated prices and predatory behavior we’re seeing,” Rob Leathern, Director of Product Management, tweeted.

“We’ll be ramping up our automated enforcement for ads and commerce next week. If we see abuse around these products in organic posts, we’ll remove those, too.” he added.

Two weeks ago, Facebook announced it will also temporarily ban ads and commerce listings for medical face masks.

On Wednesday evening, Facebook said in a blog post it was to send home contract workers who review content posted to its services.

“Since this includes people who review ads and monetized content, we wanted to share more about what this means for advertisers, publishers and creators that use our tools,” Facebook said in a blog post.

Brazil central bank buys $3 bln of dollar-denominated sovereign debt this week -statement

BRASILIA, March 20 (Reuters) – Brazil’s central bank bought almost $3 billion of dollar-denominated Brazilian sovereign bonds from domestic banks this week, it said in a statement on Friday, part of its repurchase program to minimize volatility and provide liquidity to the market.

The total purchased was $2.95 billion, from a total outstanding available amount of $31 billion. (Reporting by Jamie McGeever Editing by Chris Reese)

North Korea apparently fires missile: Japan's coast guard

SEOUL (Reuters) – Japan’s coast guard said on Saturday that North Korea appeared to have fired a missile which landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters.

North Korea fired an unidentified projectile into the sea off the east coast of the Korean peninsula, Yonhap said on Saturday citing South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. [nS6N29S020]

Rating agency Fitch downgrades Latin American airlines

SAO PAULO, March 20 (Reuters) – Rating agency Fitch downgraded on Friday LATAM Airlines Group SA, Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, Azul SA and Avianca Holdings SA by one or two notches, and placed all ratings on negative outlook.

The agency cites strong cash burn and reduced liquidity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and the airlines reactions of reducing capacity by up to 95% in international markets. (Reporting by Tatiana Bautzer Editing by Chris Reese)

All dressed up and nowhere to go: B.C. woman hosts stay-at-home soiree in the age of COVID-19

A Vancouver woman who has been hunkered down in her apartment amid the coronavirus pandemic is hosting a digital soiree in an effort to connect with others.

MEDIA-Occidental holds talks with investors to address debt pile – Bloomberg News

— Source link: bloom.bg/2UmKkct

— Note: Reuters has not verified this story and does not vouch for its accuracy

U.S. opens tax credits to small, mid-sized firms for virus-related leave

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and Labor Department on Friday said small- and mid-sized employers can now access two new refundable tax credits under emergency coronavirus legislation signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

The payroll tax credits are designed to “immediately and fully reimburse” the employers for the cost of providing virus-related leave to their employees, the agencies said in a joint statement released late on Friday.

IHIT investigates after body found in Chilliwack home

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has been called after a person was found dead inside a Chilliwack home on Thursday night.

Mounties say officers responded to a report of an “unconscious man” inside a residence in the 9400 block of Chapman Road around 11:30 p.m., and found human remains.

Police believe the incident was targeted.

Anyone with information is asked to call the IHIT at 1-877-551-4448 or email [email protected]. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

Cuba bans entry of foreign tourists to slow coronavirus spread

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba from Tuesday will stop allowing foreigners to enter the island with the exception of residents in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus in the Caribbean nation, President Miguel Diaz-Canel said on state television late on Friday.

U.S. opens tax credits to small, mid-sized firms for virus-related leave

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury, Internal Revenue Service and Labor Department on Friday said small- and mid-sized employers can now access two new refundable tax credits under emergency coronavirus legislation signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday.

The payroll tax credits are designed to “immediately and fully reimburse” the employers for the cost of providing virus-related leave to their employees, the agencies said in a joint statement released late on Friday.