International News

AFP Despite slashing oil imports, Canada’s trade deficit with the world widened to Can$1.9 billion (US$1.5 billion) in February, according to the government statistics agency. The figure is up from Can$628 million (US$476 million) the previous month, and about one billion dollars more than the street expected. Exports fell 5.4 percent from a record high in January to Can$43.7 billion …

Bloomberg US international trade grew in February after a steady fall since 2014, but still remained lower than year-ago levels, the Commerce Department reported on Tuesday. Exports and imports were both higher after sinking to nearly five-year lows in January, a mark of the overall slowdown in global trade as well as the plunge in commodity prices. Exports rose by …

Sydney / Bloomberg Australia is prioritizing growth over deficit reduction in its economic programme, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said, signaling he expects to close the gap through rising tax receipts from faster expansion. The prime minister, a month out from the budget’s release, signaled no plans to try to accelerate a return to the black — despite eight years of …

Tokyo / Reuters Influential members of Japan’s top economic advisory panel recommended the government take additional measures to boost consumer spending as a looming recession forces Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to roll out more pro-growth policies. The four private-sector members of the Council for Economic and Fiscal Policy (CEFP) also urged the government to accelerate its plans to raise the …

Mumbai / Bloomberg Xiaomi Corp. is leading a $25-million investment in India’s Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, an online provider of music and videos, as it seeks to lure more customers in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market. “India is a fast-growing, strategic geography for us and it’s about time we established our services offerings here,” said Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s vice president …

New Delhi / Bloomberg Apple Inc.’s latest attempt to crack the Indian smartphone market — by selling used phones — is meeting a wall of resistance. The iPhone maker is seeking permission to become the first company allowed to import and sell used phones into the country, its second attempt in as many years. This time, the stakes are higher …

Tokyo / Bloomberg Sharp Corp.’s shares rose after President Kozo Takahashi and Foxconn Technology Group’s Chairman Terry Gou formally signed a rescue deal over the weekend that gives the electronics maker a chance to recover from a long slump. The stock climbed 4 percent to close at 130 yen in Tokyo on Monday, while the Nikkei 225 Index was mostly …

Sydney / Bloomberg Optus, Australia’s second-biggest mobile-phone carrier, plans to cut as many as 480 jobs as it revamps its consumer and enterprise divisions and seeks sustainable growth. The unit of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. notified affected employees today, with some likely to be offered alternative positions within the company, said a Singtel official who asked not to be identified per …

Bloomberg Greece could again face the threat of being pushed into default and out of the euro area if its current bailout review drags on into June and July, according to European officials monitoring the slow progress of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s negotiations with creditors. Greece still hasn’t cut a deal on pensions, tax administration or its fiscal gap, and …

Bloomberg Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane said there are limits to how much the central bank can restrain the housing market and prevent a price spiral. “There are things we can do at the bank and others can do at the Treasury to damp down demand a bit,” Haldane said at an Open University event in London on …