BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq plans to lower the oil price forecast in its 2016 budget to about $32 a barrel from $45, widening its fiscal deficit by several billion dollars, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and a senior government official said. The new price estimate is based on the continued low level of global oil prices in recent months, said ...

Bloomberg Improving gender equality would add at least $2.1 trillion to U.S. gross domestic product by 2025, according to a McKinsey Global Institute study, a boost roughly the size of the Texas economy. “We were surprised that there was such a large economic opportunity still at stake” because the U.S. is a relative leader in gender parity, said Kweilin Ellingrud, ...

Bloomberg Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has designated every Friday in the months of April and May as a non-working holiday, in a bid to save electricity as a prolonged drought pushes water levels to a critical threshold at hydro-generation plants. The country will unveil details of a 60-day plan to conserve energy, Maduro said, adding that measures would include asking ...