Aurelia Butler

“The President of the Republic made it clear that the International Monetary Fund’s conditions for providing financial support to Tunisia are unacceptable because it would affect civil peace,” the statement read. Saied’s remarks came during a meeting with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Paris on the sidelines of a finance summit on Thursday night, the Tunisian presidency said.Tunisia’s bailout talks with the IMF have looked stalled for months, and there is little sign Saied is willing to agree to the steps needed to reach a deal and help the country avoid a financial crisis.Without a loan, Tunisia faces a full-blown balance of payments crisis. Most debt is internal but there are foreign loan repayments due later this year, and credit ratings agencies have said Tunisia may default.Saied reiterated that any required cuts to subsidies, mostly on energy and food, could have detrimental effects on the country, recalling deadly riots that hit Tunisia in 1983 after the government raised the price of bread.”The President of the Republic stressed that he would not accept a single drop of blood being shed,” the presidency statement said, adding that Georgieva had welcomed an invitation from Saied to visit Tunisia at a yet-to-be-determined date. More

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Argentina has directly asked U.S. President Joe Biden for support in the country’s talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revamp its $44 billion debt deal, in a letter signed by regional leaders from Brazil, Mexico and elsewhere.The South American nation, battling dwindling foreign currency reserves, 100%-plus inflation and a major drought that hammered its main exports soy and corn, is hoping to accelerate payouts from the IMF and ease some economic targets in the deal.The letter, also backed by the leaders of Chile, Colombia, Paraguay and Bolivia, indicates an escalation of tensions in the talks with the IMF, a multinational lender in which the United States has the largest single voting share.”The IMF’s inflexibility to review the parameters of the agreement in the context of the drought we’ve described runs the risk of turning a liquidity problem into a solvency one,” the letter shared by Argentina’s government on Twitter said.”For these reasons, we ask you with respect and affection to support Argentina in the negotiations that it is carrying out.”Argentina, the IMF’s largest debtor by far, first struck a $57 billion loan program in 2018 under former conservative leader Mauricio Macri. That was replaced by a new $44 billion deal agreed last year under current President Alberto Fernandez.The country, due to have made some $2.7 billion in payments to the IMF on Wednesday and Thursday, had now pushed back the payments to the end of the month, an IMF source said. That marks a reversal from what a government source indicated on Wednesday.”The authorities have exercised their right as a member to bundle two repurchases (principal payments) due in June and pay them at the end of the month (i.e. June 30),” the person said, asking not to be named.The IMF did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More

Good morning. Joe Biden hosted Narendra Modi at the White House for a state visit during which the US and Indian leaders announced defence and technology deals, including a purchase of American spy drones.Following talks in the Oval Office, Biden told reporters that the partnership between the US and India was “stronger, closer and more dynamic than any time in history”, while Modi spoke of a “new chapter” in the strategic relationship between the two countries.Ahead of the visit, US officials said India would commit to buying armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, which are produced by US defence contractor General Atomics. The leaders will also announce that memory chipmaker Micron will open a $2.75bn semiconductor assembly and test facility in India, which will include $800mn in investment from the US company.Biden and Modi also signed an agreement that will result in General Electric co-producing fighter jet engines in India.The agreements mark a big push by Washington to draw New Delhi into its orbit as part of a strategy to work with allies and partners to counter China. While India maintains a non-aligned foreign policy, it has moved closer to the US amid rising tensions with Beijing.However, Biden has come under criticism for granting Modi a state visit, given accusations from critics that Indian democracy is under threat and concerns about New Delhi’s treatment of minority Muslims and Christians.Opinion: Biden is taking flattery of India’s prime minister to new levels, writes Edward Luce. Indian stock market: The overall value of India’s stock market has surged more than 14 per cent in the past three months as foreign investors buy into the robust economic growth of the world’s most populous country.Here’s what I’m keeping tabs on today and over the weekend:Economic data: Japan releases its May consumer price index (CPI) inflation rate figures.Elections: Guatemala, Sierra Leone and Greece will hold general elections this weekend. Anniversaries: Today is the seventh anniversary of the Brexit referendum. Saturday is the first anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs Wade, the 1973 ruling that enshrined the right to abortion.Five more top stories1. The submersible diving to visit the wreckage of the Titanic suffered a “catastrophic implosion,” the US Coast Guard has said, killing the five passengers on board. On Thursday morning, rescuers located a debris field near to the location of the Titanic, which authorities have now confirmed contained the remains of the submersible, known as Titan. Go deeper: Stockton Rush launched the manned submersible operator OceanGate with vast ambition. Here’s how his vision ended in tragedy for the Titan submersible. 2. The Bank of England has raised interest rates to 5 per cent, a surprise half-point increase, as the central bank and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vowed to crush persistent inflation. Related: The BoE’s larger-than-expected rise in interest rates provided only a fleeting boost to sterling as investors bet that the aggressive action from the central bank is likely to help push the UK into a recession later this year. 3. Germany has signed another long-term deal to import more US liquefied natural gas, as Berlin moves to replace Russian energy in its economy amid Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Read more about the deal. War in Ukraine: Ukraine’s army struck a key bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula and the southern province of Kherson, Moscow-installed officials in both Russian-occupied regions have said. 4. South Korea exported more goods to the US than to China last year for the first time since 2004, underlining shifting trade patterns as Washington draws more allies into its supply chains and Beijing boosts its manufacturing self-reliance. Here are more details on South Korea’s trade figures. 5. Deloitte has resigned as auditor to Byju’s, India’s most highly valued start-up, saying the education technology company had failed to hand over 2021-22 financial results. Read more on the latest blow for the $22bn-valued digital learning company. How well did you keep up with the news this week? Take our quiz. News in-depth

Imran Khan: ‘Right now it’s a question of survival’ © Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images

Imran Khan is battling for his political survival after Pakistani authorities launched a crackdown on his party, with the popular former prime minister acknowledging that his path back to power is narrowing. The 70-year-old former cricketer, who is out on bail after being arrested last month, is battling dozens more cases from terrorism to murder allegations. “Right now it’s a question of survival,” he told the FT.We’re also reading . . . Gillian Tett: The Silicon Valley Bank fiasco shows that banks need to become more imaginative about the future. Disney’s struggles: Last weekend’s disappointing box office performance of Pixar’s Elemental crystallised the sense that Disney’s studios have fallen into a rut. Is the creative spark at Disney beginning to flicker?Crypto ‘innovation’: Just because something is new doesn’t mean it is valuable to society or should avoid scrutiny, writes Jemima Kelly.Chart of the day

China’s rise to dominance in solar has been rapid. In 2010, while Europe installed eight out of every 10 solar panels in the world, it produced only one. This year, China will make eight of every 10 solar panels produced worldwide and add five of those to its grid. In 2023 alone, China will install more new solar capacity than the US has deployed since Americans bought their first panels in the early 1970s. Take a break from the newsShanna Swan has been investigating the impact of chemicals on human fertility for decades and believes she knows why sperm counts around the world are falling. Additional contributions by Tee Zhuo and Gordon Smith More

(Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Lewis Krauskopf, U.S. markets correspondent.Asian markets will be waking up to a jolt of central bank rate hikes and looking ahead to a big round of macro data on Friday.The Bank of England surprised many investors on Thursday by raising interest rates by a bigger-than-expected half a percentage point, lifting its main interest rate to 5%, the highest since 2008.England wasn’t alone: The Swiss National Bank raised its policy rate and signaled more tightening was likely, while Norway’s central bank raised its key policy rate to a 15-year high.In the U.S., Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told a Congressional hearing that the central bank would move interest rates at a “careful pace” from here after pausing hikes at its last meeting.The hawkish moves seemed to dent risk appetite. In Europe, the STOXX 600 index briefly hit its lowest point in nearly three months. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended higher, but stocks broadly were on pace to tally weekly losses.Oil prices fell sharply as the BoE’s bigger-than-expected hike prompted worries about the economy and fuel demand.The U.S. dollar advanced after Powell’s rate comments, with the greenback rising to its strongest level against the yen in more than seven months.The mood could shift on Friday, as data will give a glimpse into how much central bank tightening is weighing on global growth.The release of Purchasing Managers’ Indexes (PMIs) from around the world will offer a fresh look into demand trends and evidence of the health of the manufacturing sector in the United States, Europe and Japan so far in June.Here are key developments that could provide more direction to markets on Friday:- Global Purchasing Managers’ indexes (June)- Japan CPI (May)- Malaysia, Singapore CPI (May) (By Lewis Krauskopf, editing by Deepa Babington) More

The deal was announced earlier by a French official, who said Zambia’s public sector creditors had agreed to reschedule $6.3 billion of payments and that private sector creditors were expected to do the same on $6.8 billion owed to them. Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema wrote on Twitter that the deal would help attract investment and create jobs.Zambia’s finance ministry said in a statement that official creditors had agreed that local-currency debt would be excluded from the deal. It also said the terms of the agreement with official creditors could be adjusted if Zambia’s debt-carrying capacity improved, potentially leading to faster principal reimbursements and higher interest payments.”This agreement marks a crucial milestone in Zambia’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its economy,” the statement said. Hichilema was one of about 40 leaders attending a summit in France on Thursday and Friday aimed at easing the debt burden on some of the world’s most vulnerable countries while freeing up billions of dollars in new funds for climate finance.Zambia is viewed as a test case for a debt-restructuring framework backed by the Group of 20 wealthy nations that was designed to streamline relief for countries caught in a developing world debt crisis sparked in part by the coronavirus pandemic.But its slow progress in restructuring talks has discouraged all but a handful of other struggling governments from seeking help under the Common Framework mechanism. More