Aurelia Butler

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(Reuters) -Australia’s Coles flagged deflation in its fresh produce and meat products, with a moderation in price rises across its broader packaged categories amid a cost-of-living crisis sparked by stubbornly high inflation.The supermarket operator, which competes with bigger rival Woolworths, posted a 3.4% rise in third-quarter revenue on Tuesday, reflecting a jump in sales at its primary supermarkets operation helped by strong volume growth. Inflation numbers in Australia have eased over the last quarter but still remains comparatively high. Signs of cooling inflation helped drive sales of Coles’ key grocery items. The company posted sales of A$10.03 billion ($6.58 billion) for the quarter, with revenue from supermarket business contributing A$9.07 billion, a 5.1% rise from a year earlier.Australia’s No.2 supermarket operator, which operates more than 800 supermarkets across the country, indicated volumes at its major supermarket operations remained positive during the early days of the fourth quarter. Sales revenue from liquor operations dropped 1.9% as customers cut down on discretionary spending, Coles said.”Overall Coles’ third-quarter result was above our expectations in supermarkets but below our expectations in liquor,” said E&P Capital retail analyst Phillip Kimber. Coles’ deliberate strategy to transition from less profitable bulk sales and adjusting promotional mix across e-Commerce channels is impacting liquor sales growth rates, he added..Coles and Woolies are currently under local regulatory and political scrutiny over potential price gouging, allegations that Coles has denied.The two firms command nearly two-thirds of total sales in the Australian supermarket sector and have thrived amid high inflation through much of last year.The supermarket chains are facing a senate and a competition regulator inquiry into how they set prices for the products they offer at a time when they have been accused of using their market dominance to raise shelf prices. ($1 = 1.5237 Australian dollars) More

“Whether it’s London, New York or Wellington (hours), it doesn’t make a difference,” the vice finance minister for international affairs told reporters a day after the dollar tumbled to a low of 154.40 yen from as high as 160.245 in what traders cited as intervention.Kanda reiterated that the government would continue taking appropriate action when needed and respond to foreign exchange moves in accordance with rules set under international frameworks such as the Group of Seven advanced countries and International Monetary Fund.Japan’s currency surged as much as five yen against the dollar on Monday after the currency hit fresh 34-year lows earlier in the day.The Wall Street Journal reported that Japanese financial authorities had intervened in the market, citing people familiar with the matter.Kanda on Monday declined to comment when asked by reporters whether authorities intervened in the currency market, but said the current developments in the currency market were “speculative, rapid and abnormal” and could not be overlooked. More

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nearly all new passenger cars and trucks sold in the United States will be required to have automatic emergency braking systems by September 2029, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said on Monday, saying that the rule will save at least 360 lives annually and prevent at least 24,000 injuries.The new rule comes as traffic deaths have spiked following the COVID-19 lockdowns.Congress directed the NHTSA in the 2021 infrastructure law to create a rule to establish minimum performance standards for automatic emergency braking (AEB) systems, which use sensors like cameras and radar to detect when a vehicle is close to crashing and then automatically applies brakes if the driver has not done so.The rule requires that systems detect pedestrians in both daylight and at night. Some small-volume manufacturers will be allowed to comply by September 2030.The NHTSA in 2023 had proposed requiring nearly all vehicles to comply three years after publication, but automakers are now being given five years.The NHTSA is requiring all cars and trucks be able to stop and avoid striking vehicles in front of them up to 62 miles per hour. The rule requires the system to apply brakes automatically up to 90 mph when collision with a lead vehicle is imminent, and up to 45 mph when a pedestrian is detected. U.S. traffic deaths fell by 3.6% in 2023, the second straight yearly decline, but they remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels.The fatality rate in 2023 was higher than any pre-pandemic year since 2008. In 2022, the number of pedestrians killed rose 0.7% to 7,522, the most since 1981.In 2016, 20 automakers voluntarily agreed to make automatic emergency braking standard on nearly all U.S. vehicles by 2022. In December 2023, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said all 20 automakers had equipped at least 95% of vehicles with AEB. More

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Amy Wang was counting on a 100,000 yuan ($13,800) subsidy promised by authorities in the eastern Chinese city of Weifang to fit and furnish an apartment she bought two years ago. Still waiting for the money, she is yet to move in.The 30-year-old now pays 6,000 yuan of her 8,000 monthly salary on the mortgage for the 1.1 million yuan apartment and another 1,800 yuan to rent another one, relying on her parents for other basic expenses.”I feel under a lot of pressure,” said Wang, who works in electronics manufacturing, and bought the bare shell of her apartment, without floors, interior walls or other fittings – which is common in China.Weifang, with a population of more than 9 million and an economy larger than Croatia’s, and dozens of other Chinese cities, have promised subsidies and other incentives to homebuyers to prop up the ailing property sector.But the real estate downturn also affects the ability of cities to lease land to developers, a key revenue source.This meant some local governments were unable to raise funds to pay the promised subsidies, frustrating buyers and casting doubts over future support measures.All of that could delay the property market’s recovery.”There’s a risk that households will start to perceive local governments as too cash-strapped to make good on their subsidy promises,” said Christopher Beddor, deputy China research director at Gavekal Dragonomics.”That will certainly make an impact on homebuying decisions.”Some 150 people from more than 50 Chinese cities, including Zibo in the east, central Shangqiu, and Zigong in the southwest, have used a section for public comments on the website of People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, to complain about unpaid subsidies in the past six months.Authorities in many of the cities have replied on the same platform, which requires users to register with their identification documents before posting.Officials from Weifang, which had promised subsidies of 30,000 to 300,000 yuan, along with tax rebates and other incentives, wrote on several occasions, blaming COVID-19, the economic downturn and tax cuts for not making the payments.”Unusual short-term conflicts between fiscal revenues and expenditures and enormous pressure on local financial security resulted in delays in the disbursement of housing subsidies,” the finance department of Zhucheng, a municipality administered by Weifang, wrote in January. In March, the human resources department of Weifang’s High-tech Industrial Development Zone said their district has “partially disbursed” the subsidies and more payments were being processed.Officials from Zigong and Zibo issued similarly worded responses as Zhucheng in April. Also this month, Shangqiu pleaded for “patience,” saying the subsidies would be issued “when they are ready.”None of the city governments responded to Reuters’ requests for comment.The property market accounted for about a quarter of China’s economic activity at its peak and budget revenues from land auctions dwarfed other sources of income in many cities before the pandemic.Across China, land auction revenues in 2023 were about 20% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019, official data show. In Zibo, Shangqiu and Weifang, off-budget revenues – which include land sales – were down 30%-50% over the same period.”What’s underappreciated in China’s property market downturn is that the real implication falls upon local governments,” said Logan Wright, a partner at research provider Rhodium Group.The sums and total number of people affected by unpaid subsidies remain unclear.Shangqiu civil servant Alan Liu, 30, says that some homebuyers in the city have received their subsidies, but he is still waiting for the promised 30,000 yuan, having bought a flat in a “prime location” in June 2022.”It’s crucial for relevant departments to realise that this issue cannot be ignored for long and must be resolved, or it will affect the credibility of the government,” said Liu.($1 = 7.2464 Chinese yuan) More

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