New Delhi / Bloomberg After back-to-back droughts battered India’s farmers, a forecast for above-normal rainfall this year is brightening the outlook for Asia’s third-largest economy. Economists at DBS Bank Ltd., State Bank of India and Standard Chartered Plc say India’s gross domestic product this year may grow more than they previously predicted if the monsoon is as good as ...

  BRUSSELS / AFP Eurozone finance ministers on Monday tackled crucial talks on unlocking vital cash and debt relief for Greece just hours after Greek lawmakers adopted unpopular reforms demanded as part of the country’s bailout. The 19 ministers, meeting in Brussels, are aiming to finally sign off on the long-delayed first review of Greece’s massive EU-IMF bailout — the ...

  Frankfurt / AFP A British exit from the EU would have “unforeseeable consequences” for European cooperation, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker has warned in an interview with German media. Britain is to hold a closely-watched June 23 referendum on whether or not it should stay in the 28-nation bloc, and opinion polls are showing that the nation is still ...

  Bloomberg Get ready for a pro-European Union onslaught. This week, voters tuning into the fraught battle over the U.K.’s future will hear from three heavy-hitters who have already warned about the risks of leaving the single market. The chancellor of the exchequer, the governor of the Bank of England and the head of the IMF are set to speak, ...

  Bloomberg It’s not hard to see why Brexit campaigners tout Switzerland as a model for Britain’s life outside the European Union. The Swiss have kept prospering as one of the world’s richest countries despite opting for treaties instead of membership to define their relationship with the bloc that surrounds them. While the EU accounts for 1 in 3 francs ...

Bloomberg Russia and the U.K. give companies the lowest effective tax rates among the world’s leading economies, according to a report by UHY, a network of auditors and consulting firms. Companies in Russia pay corporate tax at 20 percent while in the U.K. it’s 21 percent, UHY said in the study of rates applied to $1 million of taxable profit. ...

  Bloomberg German factory orders picked up in March as strong global trade helped offset a lull in domestic demand. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, advanced 1.9% from the prior month, when they fell a revised 0.8 percent, data from the Economy Ministry in Berlin showed on Monday. The reading, which is typically volatile, compares with a median ...

  Bloomberg A $62 million construction project on the banks of the Danube River is the biggest bet to date that Hungary’s crumbling public health-care system guarantees a bright future for private hospitals. Deteriorating conditions at state hospitals, where patients routinely need to bring their own toilet paper, have pushed people to pay for care outside the communist-era relic. Private ...

  Bloomberg Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said his chief economic concern is giving the middle class a sizable tax cut, while other proposals, including lowering taxes on businesses and the wealthy, were starting points for negotiation. “I have to negotiate now with senators and congressmen,” Trump said during an interview that aired on Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the ...

  Bloomberg Brazil’s consumer inflation accelerated more than all analysts forecast in April, pushing the market to temper bets the central bank will lower interest rates. The benchmark IPCA consumer price index climbed 0.61 percent after a 0.43 percent rise the previous month. That was more than the median forecast for a 0.54 percent increase from 44 economists surveyed by ...