LONDON (AP) ― The Bank of England’s new Gov. Mark Carney sought to spur Britain’s sluggish recovery Wednesday when he said the central bank will not consider raising its record low interest rate until unemployment falls below 7 percent. In a significant change of policy for the Bank of England, Carney outlined the bank’s “forward guidance” in one of the most closely watched press conferences by the U.K.’s monetary authority. With the current U.K. unemployment rate at 7.8 percent, the economy wou

Bank of Japan keeps policy and economic outlook unchanged

WASHINGTON (AP) ― A Federal Reserve voting member said Tuesday the central bank is “quite likely” to start reducing its bond purchases later this year but that any change hinges on the economy showing improvement. Charles Evans, president of the Fed’s Chicago regional bank, held off saying which month the Fed could begin to scale back its $85 billion a month in bond purchases. But he did not rule out the Fed’s next meeting on Sept. 17-18, during an interview with reporters. “Our adjustment to as

The Bank of Japan will expand its record easing by June next year as inflation remains distant from its 2 percent target, according to a survey of economists by Bloomberg News. Twenty of 26 analysts expect more stimulus in the next 10 months, while all said the bank would keep policy on hold at a two-day meeting starting Wednesday. Consumer prices excluding fresh food, the BOJ’s preferred measure of inflation, rose 0.4 percent in June. Koichi Hamada, a retired Yale University professor who advis

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos announced on Monday he would buy the Washington Post for $250 million in a surprising move. For Bezos and the embattled U.S. newspaper, the question is whether the business genius has any tricks up his sleeve to revive the paper without drastically changing its journalistic status.Established in 1877, the influential newspaper has been owned by the Graham family for the last 80 years. The sales decision thus came as a shock, though not totally surprising given that

Allan Shek, the owner of a Hong Kong shop selling gold and jade jewelry, says he’s made millions on the side by riding wild swings in the stock market and by buying into the city’s property boom. No more. Last month, he bought five Hong Kong taxis and the licenses to operate them. Seven or eight of his friends have bought taxis too, he says. “If I have the ability, I will buy another 15 taxis this year,” says the 60-year-old Shek, speaking with rapid-fire enthusiasm over the latest way to make m

PARIS (AP) ― France’s rigid labor market, high taxes and inefficient public spending are dragging down its economy, the International Monetary Fund warned Monday in a report calling on the government to accelerate economic reforms. In its annual assessment of France’s economy, the IMF said the country has made considerable progress in cutting spending, confirming its prediction that the deficit will drop to 3.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2013, down from 4.8 percent in 201

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been urging Japan’s companies to spend their growing piles of money to bolster the country’s economy. Toyota Motor Corp., with cash swelling to about $37 billion, is beginning to comply. The carmaker said on Aug. 2 that net income almost doubled to 562.2 billion yen ($5.7 billion) last quarter ― more than General Motors Co. and Volkswagen AG combined ― as U.S. sales rose and the weaker yen boosted overseas profit. Cash and marketable securities rose 11 percent and t

Bank of America Corp. led a fivefold increase in profit at foreign banks’ Japan securities units last fiscal year as they accelerated job cuts and increased fees and commissions during the country’s stock-market rebound.Combined net income at the Japanese units of 10 global banks rose to 32.8 billion yen ($332 million) for the year ended March 31 from 5.7 billion yen a year earlier, according to regulatory filings obtained by Bloomberg News. The banks eliminated about 1,000 Japan jobs in total o