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NUSA DUA, Indonesia — Italian officials must stop questioning the euro and need to "calm down" in their budget debate as they have already caused damage to firms and households, European Central Bank (ECR) President Mario Draghi said on Saturday.

A senior member of Italy's ruling coalition shot back that it was Draghi who should calm down, rather than draw attention to occasional comments on the euro which were personal opinions and had no implications for government policy.

Italy's government is in a war of words with European officials over its plans to triple the deficit next year, backtracking on a previous pledge to narrow the budget gap in one of the bloc's most indebted countries.

"A budgetary expansion in a high debt country becomes much more complicated... if people start to put in question the euro," Draghi told a news conference at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Indonesia.

"These statements... have created real damage and there's plenty of evidence that spreads have increased in connection with these statements," Draghi said. "The results of which is that household and firms pay higher interest rates on loans."

Italian bond yields rose sharply this month after a senior official from one of the ruling parties said Italy would be better off with its own currency, though he later reiterated the government's frequent reassurances that quitting the euro is not in its programme and it has no plans to do so.

"The very first thing [to do] is to calm down with the tone. And then the second thing is we have to wait for the facts," Draghi said, stressing the need to examine the actual spending plans, which may differ from the government's communications.

Alberto Bagnai, a senator from the right-wing League who heads the senate finance committee, said Draghi himself risked agitating markets by drawing attention to rare personal opinions on the single currency that were not government policy.

"Draghi should calm down and stop mentioning the euro. Nobody does it around here," he Tweeted.

Draghi also batted back accusations from some corners in the Italian government that the ECB's plan to phase out asset purchases by the end of the year had caused the increase in spreads.

Draghi, a former governor of Italy's central bank, said markets had not reacted in June to the ECB's decision to end its asset buys but had moved specifically on local Italian issues.

He pointed to the narrowing of the yield difference between Italy and Greece as evidence that the problem is localised. 

Since the ECB is buying Italian but not Greek bonds, a bigger rise in Italian yields would suggest that investors are not acting on overall ECB policy change but a local issue.

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Thursday warned countries against engaging in trade and currency wars that hurt global growth and imperil “innocent bystanders”.

Formally launching the IMF and World Bank annual meetings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, Lagarde urged countries to “de-escalate” trade conflicts and fix global trading rules instead of abandoning them.

The United States and China have slapped tit-for-tat tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars of each other’s goods over the past few months, rattling financial markets as investors worry that the escalating trade conflict could knock global trade and investment.

The tariffs stem from the Trump administration’s demands that China make sweeping changes to its intellectual property practices, rein in high-technology industrial subsidies, open its markets to more foreign competition and take steps to cut a $375 billion US goods trade surplus.

Share markets in Asia plunged to a 19-month low on Thursday after Wall Street’s worst losses in eight months led to broader risk aversion, partly due to the heated global trade tensions as well as rapidly rising dollar yields.

“We certainly hope we don’t move in either direction of a trade war or a currency war. It will be detrimental on both accounts for all participants,” Lagarde told a news conference. 

“And there would also be lots of innocent bystanders”, including countries that supply commodities and components to China, such as Indonesia.

Finance ministers for developing countries in the Group of 24 whose economies have been battered by stormy markets urged major economies to reform the global trading system, rather than discard it.

The G-24 statement, issued on the sidelines of the meetings, said all emerging markets were “adversely affected” by excessive capital flow volatility.

In recent weeks, US Treasury officials have expressed concerns about China’s weakened yuan as the department prepares its semi-annual report on currency manipulation.

US President Donald Trump has accused China of deliberately manipulating its currency to gain a trade advantage, claims Beijing has consistently rejected.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Yi Gang on Thursday on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meeting.

“We discussed important economic issues,” Mnuchin said of their meeting on Twitter.

Opposite rate cycle 

Yi, in a closed door meeting on Thursday with investment officials, explained that China’s monetary policy was on an opposite rate cycle to that of the United States, which is tightening monetary policy due to a strong economy, two people who attended the meeting said.

Over the weekend, the PBOC cut bank reserve requirement ratios for a fourth time this year to ease credit conditions and support businesses, including exporters hit by the US trade war.

The PBOC did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Yi’s remarks.

Yi also said China would continue to open up its financial markets, including to foreign ratings agencies and bond investors, the attendees said. 

Lagarde weighed into the currency debate on Thursday and appeared to side with China, saying that yuan weakness against the dollar was driven by the greenback’s strength as the US Federal Reserve hikes interest rates. Against a basket of currencies, the yuan has depreciated less.

“We have supported the move of China towards [currency] flexibility and we want to encourage the authorities to continue on this path,” she said.

The yuan currency lost over 8 per cent between March and August at the height of market worries, although it has since pared losses as authorities stepped up support measures.

Lagarde said later that she believed Chinese authorities were taking steps to maintain growth, stability and investor confidence amid the trade conflict, but faced a “complicated” balancing act to keep its fiscal situation under control.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim also warned against an escalation of the trade row, saying that if all countries maxed out their trade threats, “We’d see a clear slowdown in the economy and the impact on developing countries would be great. We’re working with every single one of our countries to prepare them in case it gets worse.”

The IMF and Pakistan on Thursday launched talks on a new bailout program aimed at easing a mounting balance of payments crisis in the South Asian country. It would be Pakistan’s 13th IMF financing programme since 1988. 

The IMF and World Bank meetings, attended by more than 19,000 delegates, showed no sign of disruption from an offshore earthquake early Thursday morning between Bali and Java island that killed three people.

Kim pledged World Bank support for Indonesia in the wake of a series of earthquakes, including financing support for rebuilding schools, hospitals, roads, housing and other critical assets. 

NUSA DUA, Indonesia — World leaders need to fix global trading systems instead of trying to tear them down, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday, in a rebuke to nationalist politicians pushing tariffs and protectionism.

Her comments come as a trade spat between China and the United States threatens economic growth around the world, with IMF experts warning of “new vulnerabilities” in the global system.

“We need to work together to de-escalate and resolve the current trade disputes,” Lagarde said at an IMF and World Bank gathering in Bali.

“We need to join hands to fix the current trade system, not destroy it,” she added.

Around 32,000 members of the global financial elite are on the Indonesian holiday island for a week of discussions that have been clouded by US President Donald Trump’s America First trade policy.

Trump has levied or threatened tariffs on goods from economies around the world, notably China, but also on traditional allies such as the European Union.

The head of the World Trade Organisation warned that a “full-blown commercial war” could shrink global trade by nearly 18 per cent and also knock worldwide GDP.

“The US and China would suffer considerably,” added Roberto Azevedo, director general of the global trade body.

Higher US interest rates has also helped send emerging market currencies into a tail spin, as countries that borrowed heavily in dollars race to pay back their debt.

The IMF’s latest report on world financial stability, released on Wednesday, said global growth could be at risk if emerging markets deteriorate further or trade tensions escalate.

“New vulnerabilities have emerged and the resilience of the global financial system has yet to be tested,” it said in the twice-yearly Global Financial Stability Report.

Market participants “appear complacent” about the potential risks from a “sudden, sharp tightening of conditions” — like rising interest rates or declining access to capital.

More tariffs and their countermeasures “could lead to a broader tightening of financial conditions, with negative implications for the global economy and financial stability,” the fund warned.

 ‹Bit depressed’ 

Lagarde told her audience on Wednesday that she did not feel overly gloomy about global conditions.

“It’s tempting to be a bit depressed about this perspective but I’m actually hopeful because there is a clear appetite to improve and expand trade,” she said.

Prominent US academic Jeffrey Sachs was less diplomatic in his assessment of Trump’s shepherding of American trade relationships, slamming the president’s repeated claims that deficits with China and other nations meant Americans were being taken advantage of.

“Trade deficits don’t [necessarily] mean cheating by the other side... This is the United States trying stop China’s growth — it’s a terrible idea,” Sachs, director of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, told a seminar.

“All the accusations against China are completely trumped up... Grossly exaggerated.”

 Fund exodus 

As interest rates rise in advanced economies, prompting investors to take their money in search of higher returns, the IMF said emerging economies should take steps to insulate themselves from an exodus of funds.

That would include boosting foreign currency reserves that could be used in a crisis, as well as working with local bond markets to build a local investor base, rather than relying on financing from abroad.

The fund also pointed to risks from high corporate debt and too much government borrowing, a hangover from fiscal stimulus measures and government rescue spending in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Since the last stability report in April, global economic conditions have become less balanced, with a more pronounced divergence between advanced and emerging economies.

Despite the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases, financial conditions “have eased further” in the US as equity valuations have stayed lofty.

Conditions in Europe and other major advanced economies have also remained “relatively easy”, although investors have pushed back their expectations for the European Central Bank to lift interest rates, the report said.

In China, the situation remains “broadly stable,” although corporate debt is above historical levels and household borrowing is at the high end among emerging countries.

“China is well aware and is taking steps to slow down the debt buildup,” said Vitor Gaspar, director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department.

ISTANBUL — Turkey's private sector has agreed to cut prices on its goods by at least 10 per cent across the board, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak said on Tuesday, as he called on businesses to join a national struggle to tame soaring inflation.

Berat Albayrak, Turkey’s finance minister, rolled out the measures as part of a "fully fledged fight" against inflation.

The announcement appeared to leave financial markets cold, however. The lira weakened slightly as he spoke in Istanbul and was at 6.1484 at 11:57 GMT, a touch weaker on the day.

The currency has fallen some 40 per cent this year, driving up the price of everything from food to fuel and eroding confidence in what was once a high-flying emerging market. The sell-off has been sparked by deep concern about Erdogan's influence over monetary policy. 

Investors have said that more interest rate increases, and orthodox policy measures, are needed to rein in inflation, which last month hit its highest in 15 years at nearly 25 per cent.

"The fight against inflation and for price stability is not a fight that can be conducted by the state and institutions alone," Albayrak said. 

The voluntary discount would be reflected in all the goods that make up Turkey's inflation basket, and prices would be lowered by a minimum 10 per cent until the end of the year, he said.

The programme also included a freeze on energy prices until year-end and an acceleration of VAT rebates.

It was not immediately clear how many goods would ultimately be impacted, or how many companies would take part, but Albayrak called on the public to support those that did push through the price cuts.

Erdogan has called on Turks to report unusual price hikes in shops, saying it was the government's responsibility to raid the inventories of stores if necessary.

The trade ministry said on Monday it had asked more than 100 companies to explain what it says were excessive price increases of goods, in a probe into suspected price gouging after it inspected more than 69,000 products at nearly 4,000 companies.

As the currency crisis deepened in August, the government made it illegal for companies to arbitrarily impose price increases if they were not impacted by a rise in input costs or the exchange rate.

Alphabet Inc.'s Google said on Monday up to 500,000 Google+ user accounts were potentially affected by a bug that may have exposed their data to external developers, and the company is shutting down the social network for consumers.

Google opted not to disclose the issue partly due to fears of regulatory scrutiny, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported. 

A software glitch in the social site gave outside developers potential access to private Google+ profile data between 2015 and March 2018, when internal investigators discovered and fixed the issue, the report said.

Shares of Alphabet Inc. were down 2.6 per cent at $1138.53.

The affected data is limited to static, optional Google+ Profile fields including name, email address, occupation, gender and age, Google said.

"We found no evidence that any developer was aware of this bug, or abusing the API, and we found no evidence that any Profile data was misused," Google said.

A memo, prepared by Google's legal and policy staff and shared with senior executives, warned that disclosing the incident would likely trigger "immediate regulatory interest" and invite comparisons to Facebook's leak of user information to data firm Cambridge Analytica, the WSJ report said.

Allegations of the improper use of data for 87 million Facebook users by Cambridge Analytica, which was hired by President Donald Trump's 2016 US election campaign, has hurt the shares of the world's biggest social network and prompted multiple official investigations in the United States and Europe.

Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai was briefed on the plan not to notify users after an internal committee had reached that decision, according to the WSJ.

In weighing whether to disclose the incident, the company considered "whether we could accurately identify the users to inform, whether there was any evidence of misuse, and whether there were any actions a developer or user could take in response", a Google spokesman told WSJ. "None of these thresholds were met here."

BALI, INDONESIE — Rising protectionism, vulnerable emerging markets and record debt levels —- the International Monetary Fund (IMF) holds its annual meeting this week in earthquake-stricken Indonesia, as it shines a light on tremors in the global economy.

Finance ministers and central bankers from 180 countries will be among 32,000 attendees in Bali for the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank, which takes place every three years outside of Washington. The gathering will be held from Tuesday to Sunday. 

The resort island of Bali is 1,125 kilometres from Palu, the city on Sulawesi that wracked by an earthquake and tsunami on September 28 that left more than 1,500 dead and 1,000 missing.

Despite the distance, security is a major concern for Indonesian organisers. 

Bali experienced a series of volcanic eruptions over the summer, while the neighbouring island of Lombok was struck by a string of deadly earthquakes.

If there is an earthquake, Jakarta recommends participants stay in the conference centre, which, like many hotels in Bali, is built to withstand such seismic events. 

In case of tsunami risk, attendees would be evacuated to a nearby building.

But the focus of the meeting is averting economic rather than natural disasters.

The trade war launched by US President Donald Trump against China, along with disputes with allies like the European Union, Mexico and Canada, is a key source of concern. 

The dispute caused a proliferation of protectionist measures in recent months that is weighing more and more on international trade. 

 Risks materialise 

Trump has imposed tariffs on $250 billion of annual imports from China, to try to pressure Beijing to change trade policies he calls unfair, including theft of American technology.

Beijing countered by imposing punitive duties on $110 billion of US products.

Washington also has imposed steep tariffs on steel, aluminum, washing machines and solar panels, drawing retaliation from Canada, Mexico, China and others.

Like the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development which lowered its economic growth forecast for the world economy to 3.7 per cent for 2018, IMF chief Christine Lagarde signaled the fund would cut the outlook which in July stood at 3.9 per cent.

After sounding the alarm in recent years about threats to the global economy, Lagarde said last week "some of those risks have begun to materialise" and "there are signs that global growth has plateaued".

The rise in trade barriers is slowing trade, and dampening investment and manufacturing as uncertainty increases, she said.

She repeated the warning about rising debt levels which "reached an all-time high of $182 trillion — almost 60 per cent higher than in 2007".

That creates concerns for emerging market economies which will come under increased pressure as the US central bank raises interest rates, while investors are likely to pull out of those markets seeking higher returns.

Argentina and Turkey already have been hit by headwinds, seeing their currencies collapse and forcing Buenos Aires to go the IMF for help.

The fund recently increased support for Argentina by $7 billion to $57 billion in exchange for tough economic policy reforms, although the loan has not yet been approved by the IMF board.

But economist Monica de Bolle of the Peterson Institute for International Economics said Brazil was likely to see market turbulence next year and South Africa is vulnerable as well.

"This is not going to end well," de Bolle said of the emerging market outlook.

There could be broader repercussions in the event China's economic engine slows sharply amid the trade confrontation. 

Group of 20 finance ministers also are due to meet in Bali on the sidelines of the IMF meeting to discuss topics such as US sanctions against Iran or taxes on digital giants. This will the last meeting prior to the leaders' summit in Buenos Aires at the end of November.

MEXICO CITY — Last-minute changes to a new North American trade deal sank US hopes of making Canada and Mexico allow higher-value shipments to the countries by online retailers, such as Amazon.com, a top Mexican official said on Friday.

The revised pact was set to double the value of goods that could be imported without customs duties or taxes from the United States through shipping companies to Mexico. 

But Canada’s adoption of a more restrictive threshold during its efforts last month to salvage a trilateral deal prompted Mexican negotiators to follow Canada’s lead, Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said on Friday. 

The final version of the trade agreement will insulate retailers in both countries from facing greater competition from e-commerce companies like Amazon.com Inc and eBay Inc . 

“It was the solution liked much more by Mexican businesses,” Guajardo told local television.

The change came so last-minute that it was not written into the agreement published last weekend.

The new deal, called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), was meant by US President Donald Trump to create more jobs in the United States. Trump had been highly critical of the prior NAFTA agreement since before he ran for president. 

US negotiators originally pushed Mexico and Canada to raise import limits to the US level of $800 from current thresholds of $50 and C$20, respectively. 

Traditional retailers in Mexico opposed such a big hike, fearing online companies would sell cheap imports from Asia through the United States. Even so, Mexico initially agreed in August to raise the threshold on customs duties and taxes to $100 in its bilateral deal with the United States.

Guajardo said that Canada, after Mexico had finished negotiations, set its sales tax exemption at just C$40, about $30, and put a ceiling of C$150, about $117, on custom duties exemptions. 

The Retail Council of Canada said the deal will protect retailers against a “massive change in the competitive landscape.”

Mexico decided to follow suit, Guajardo said, favoring local clothing, footwear and textile industries, as well as the finance ministry that collects duties and taxes. 

Mexican negotiators lowered the sales tax exemption back to the $50 level, while raising the customs duties limit to $117, matching Canada, Guajardo said. 

“Mexico offered a deal where it really didn’t concede anything,” said Adrian Correa, a senior lawyer at FedEx Corp. Mike Dabbs, eBay’s government relations director for the Americas, said separate tax and custom duty thresholds could create confusion. 

“That does not help the experience for small businesses and consumers,” he said.

NEW DELHI — India is cutting prices of gasoline and diesel by 2.50 rupees ($0.03) a litre, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday, the government's latest step to tackle the impact of a sharp rise in crude oil prices and a weak local currency. 

The cut includes a reduction in excise duty of 1.50 rupees per litre, which will reduce government revenue by 105 billion rupees, Jaitley said. State-run refiners will also cut the price they charge by 1 rupee per litre.

Jaitley also asked state governments to cut value added tax on fuel by a further 2.50 rupees per litre.

Taxes on gasoline and diesel, which account for more than a third of retail fuel prices, are one of the biggest sources of income for the government, which is seeking to keep the country's budget deficit in check.

"It certainly has fiscal implications. If the government wishes to stick to its glidepath of fiscal consolidation, then it will have to cut its expenditures significantly," said Rupa Rege Nitsure, chief economist at L&T Finance Holdings. 

Shares in Indian Oil Corp., the country's biggest oil refiner, dropped 11.4 per cent in reaction to the news.

The price cut is likely to result in a loss of margin of 70-72 billion Indian rupees on auto fuel sales, according to K. Ravichandran, senior vice president, corporate ratings, at ratings agency ICRA Ltd. 

Among other state-run companies, shares in Hindustan Petroleum Corp. closed down 13.5 per cent and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. lost 12.4 per cent. The Nifty Energy Index fell 6.14 per cent.

Global crude prices hit near 4-year highs on Wednesday, and a weak rupee has added to the woes of Indians, who have been hit by record high fuel prices. India's fuel demand grew at its slowest pace in the last twelve months in August.

India stopped controlling petrol prices in 2010 and diesel prices in 2014, linking them to global crude markets in a bid to ease pressure on government finances and improve the earnings of oil refiners. But analysts said the announcement on Thursday shows there is still a heavy government hand in the industry.

"By asking the oil marketing companies to absorb the price hike, the government is giving a signal that it can interfere at anytime in a deregulated market in the larger public interest," said Gagan Dixit, a senior analyst with Elara Capital.

Rising gasoline and diesel fuel prices have been a cause of public anger, with people in parts of the country blocking trains and vandalising vehicles in protest.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is facing a tough election in three key states this year, followed by a national election which is due by May.

Asked by a reporter about the economic implications of the move, Jaitley said the decision was "good economics" as it won't impact the fiscal deficit and will allow consumers to boost spending on other goods.

Devendra Kumar Pant, chief economist at India Ratings and Research, said the move could act as a "minor comforting factor" for the central bank during its monetary policy meeting scheduled on Friday, as a fuel price cut will ease retail inflation.

The national reduction translates to a 3 per cent cut in gasoline prices, and a 3.3 per cent fall in diesel prices in India's capital New Delhi. Fuel prices are not uniform across the country due to variable state taxes. 

Gasoline was sold at 83.85 rupees a litre, while diesel was sold at 75.25 a litre on October 3, according to state-run retailer Indian Oil Corp.'s website.

Some states such as Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Maharashtra, ruled by Modi's BJP, cut their own taxes following the federal government's announcement. But it is unclear how many of India's 29 states will meet the request, though some had in recent weeks already reduced their take.

"I hope all state governments do this and they announce this so that consumers benefit by 5 rupees," Jaitley told reporters.

AMMAN — President of the Amman Chamber of Commerce Issa Murad and Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce Ahmed El Wakil on Wednesday discussed means to strengthen Jordanian-Egyptian economic relations, according to a statement of the Amman Chamber of Commerce.

During a meeting at the chamber’s headquarters, Murad and El Wakil stressed the importance of enhanced networking between the two countries’ private sector institutions.

Murad indicated that establishing an information base at the different chambers that highlight promising economic sectors in both countries can be beneficial to allow companies to get acquainted with market needs, according to the statement.

During the last year, Jordan’s exports to Egypt amounted to JD63 million, while its imports from Egypt totalled JD336 million. 

HONG KONG — Oil prices built on gains on Tuesday after another blistering rally, but most markets were in retreat as traders brushed off a positive lead from Wall Street and the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.

Crude has motored in recent weeks on concerns about supplies after sanctions are imposed on Iran next month, while OPEC's decision not to ramp up output, upheaval in Venezuela, a strong dollar and a drop in oil rigs have also pushed prices higher. 

"Right now, we're just in a bull market for oil because of the prospects of a very tight market later on in the year," John Kilduff, founding partner at New York-based hedge fund Again Capital LLC, told Bloomberg News.

Both main contracts jumped almost 3 per cent on Monday and clocked up fresh gains in Asia, with observers and key players in the sector now eyeing $100 a barrel.

Kim Kwangrae, a commodities analyst at Samsung Futures, added: "The market is very keen to figure out the size of the impact from the Iranian supply disruptions and whether Saudi Arabia and Russia are able to make up for the losses.

"At the same time, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is also improving the overall sentiment on oil."

New York traders sent the Dow and S&P 500 higher after the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement was announced on Sunday to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The deal drew an end to months of uncertainty after Donald Trump had threatened to tear up the decades-old NAFTA.

 Dollar stronger 

However, Asia was unable to follow suit. Hong Kong reopened after a long weekend to fall 2.4 per cent, with data indicating a drop in Chinese manufacturing activity denting sentiment. 

The "HSI is trading with a negative bias, playing catch up from yesterday's holiday, in reaction to the weaker China [manufacturing] data", said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA. "It's more than apparent Hong Kong investors are in no mood to join the revamped NAFTA festivities."

Sydney shed 0.8 per cent, Singapore fell 0.5 per cent and Seoul was off 1.3 per cent.

Wellington, Taipei, Jakarta and Manila were also well down.

But Tokyo edged up 0.1 per cent after the Nikkei on Monday saw its highest close in 27 years with the yen at its weakest since November.

Markets in China were closed for a holiday. 

London fell 0.3 per cent in early trade, while Paris lost 0.6 per cent and Frankfurt shed 0.4 per cent.

In forex trade, the euro faced selling pressure on concerns about Italy's finances after its populist government agreed a massive spending boost that blew out its budget, while eurozone finance ministers warned Rome to abide by fiscal rules.

High-yielding and emerging market currencies were mostly down as dealers looked for safer bets. The dollar broke 15,000 Indonesian rupiah for the first time since 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, while Mexico's peso and the South African rand were more than 1 per cent off against the greenback.

South Korea's won, the Australian dollar and the Russian ruble were also sharply lower.