Bloomberg A senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) defended the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) 2 percent inflation target as appropriate and important to achieve. “Two percent is what the central banks of major economies are pursuing,” Odd Per Brekk, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific department, said in an interview. “Over time, if this can be accomplished then it …

Bloomberg Canadian households are wallowing in debt. Home prices are falling. Credit growth, the key driver for bank earnings, is hovering close to its slowest pace since 1983. All of which should be bad news for the country’s lenders — and good news for investors betting against them. “Should” being the operative word. Even with danger signs piling up, the …

Bloomberg The European Union is considering hitting US goods ranging from handbags to helicopters with retaliatory tariffs to the tune of $11.5 billion in a dispute over subsidies to Boeing Co, according to a draft list seen by Bloomberg News. The plan follows a US threat to seek $11 billion in damages through duties on European goods ranging from helicopters …