Bloomberg The Czech Republic may raise interest rates as many as two times this year, central bank Governor Jiri Rusnok said, departing from the global trend of pursuing ultra-loose monetary policy against the coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis. Rusnok, speaking in an interview, said he sees economic growth picking up in the second half of the year, partly due to progress on ...

Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff proposed temporarily allowing expanded debt spending by Germany’s federal government, prompting a swift rejection from officials in his own party. Helge Braun, Merkel’s chancellery minister, wrote in Handelsblatt newspaper that the country’s so-called debt brake, which is enshrined in the constitution, should be altered to allow more borrowing to help offset the impact ...

Bloomberg Japan’s equity rally last year in the face of foreign selling is challenging conventional wisdom that purchases by overseas investors are necessary for the market to keep rising. And that breakdown in correlation bodes well for the country’s shares. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 16% in 2020 despite more than 6 trillion yen ($58 billion) of foreign net ...