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French food bank says government must do more to tackle inflation

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French food bank says government must do more to tackle inflation
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A sign reading “Anti-inflation challenge, second price cut” is seen near shelves at a supermarket in Nice, France, June 15, 2023. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/File Photo

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PARIS (Reuters) -The charity Restos du Coeur, famous in France for its soup kitchens and food parcels, has warned that steep inflation will hamper its aid efforts and urged the government to do more.

Food inflation is a hot topic in France, where, though easing for the fifth consecutive month from a peak earlier this year, it is still running at 11.1%, nearly twice the overall inflation rate, increasing costs for the food aid charity.

“Inflation has reached a degree of violence that is unheard of,” Restos du Coeur president Patrice Douret told TF1 TV on Sunday. “We must act before it’s too late.”

The Restos du Coeur (Restaurants of the Heart), whose aid campaigns run from November to October each year, expects to have handed out 170 million meals in 2022-2023, up from around 140 million the previous year.

But it reckons it may need to reduce the number of people it helps by around 150,000 in its new annual food aid campaign starting in November.

“Because of inflation… we are going to have to take very difficult measures and significantly reduce the number of people we are going to welcome,” Douret said. “And the people we are going to welcome, we will have to give them fewer products.”

With more people asking for help and costs shooting up, the charity itself could be forced to shut down in the coming years, Douret said.

His call prompted the government to pledge 15 million euros to the charity, which said the donation was not enough to bring it back in the black.

The family of Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of French luxury group LVMH said on Monday it would also contribute to the association and pledged 10 million euros.

The government needs to do more tackle the root causes of poverty, Restos du Coeur spokesman Yves Merillon told franceinfo radio.

Retailers and consumer goods companies are trading blame over who is responsible for the increase in prices on supermarkets’ shelves even as the cost of raw materials has been falling in recent months.

France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said last week that annual price negotiations – initially planned for next year – would be brought forward, with a view to having price cuts from January.

Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

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Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.

The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.

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Economy

China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan

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China identifies second set of projects in $140 billion spending plan
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Workers walk past an under-construction area with completed office towers in the background, in Shenzhen’s Qianhai new district, Guangdong province, China August 25, 2023. REUTERS/David Kirton/File Photo

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s top planning body said on Saturday it had identified a second batch of public investment projects, including flood control and disaster relief programmes, under a bond issuance and investment plan announced in October to boost the economy.

With the latest tranche, China has now earmarked more than 800 billion yuan of its 1 trillion yuan ($140 billion) in additional government bond issuance in the fourth quarter, as it focuses on fiscal steps to shore up the flagging economy.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a statement on Saturday it had identified 9,600 projects with planned investment of more than 560 billion yuan.

China’s economy, the world’s second largest, is struggling to regain its footing post-COVID-19 as policymakers grapple with tepid consumer demand, weak exports, falling foreign investment and a deepening real estate crisis.

The 1 trillion yuan in additional bond issuance will widen China’s 2023 budget deficit ratio to around 3.8 percent from 3 percent, the state-run Xinhua news agency has said.

“Construction of the projects will improve China’s flood control system, emergency response mechanism and disaster relief capabilities, and better protect people’s lives and property, so it is very significant,” the NDRC said.

The agency said it will coordinate with other government bodies to make sure that funds are allocated speedily for investment and that high standards of quality are maintained in project construction.

($1 = 7.1315 renminbi)

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Economy

Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC

letizo News

Published

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Russian central bank says it needs months to make sure CPI falling before rate cuts -RBC
© Reuters. Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s central bank will need two to three months to make sure that inflation is steadily declining before taking any decision on interest rate cuts, the bank’s governor Elvira Nabiullina told RBC media on Sunday.

The central bank raised its key interest rate by 100 basis points to 16% earlier in December, hiking for the fifth consecutive meeting in response to stubborn inflation, and suggested that its tightening cycle was nearly over.

Nabiullina said it was not yet clear when exactly the regulator would start cutting rates, however.

“We really need to make sure that inflation is steadily decreasing, that these are not one-off factors that can affect the rate of price growth in a particular month,” she said.

Nabiullina said the bank was taking into account a wide range of indicators but primarily those that “characterize the stability of inflation”.

“This will take two or three months or more – it depends on how much the wide range of indicators that characterize sustainable inflation declines,” she said.

The bank will next convene to set its benchmark rate on Feb. 16.

The governor also said the bank should have started monetary policy tightening earlier than in July, when it embarked on the rate-hiking cycle.

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