Tokyo / Bloomberg Japan will need economic measures in the second half of the current fiscal year after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will front-load budget spending, according to the vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan. Implementing this year’s budget quickly will help address Japan’s weak consumer spending, said Masahiko Komura. “Then naturally there ...

New Delhi / Reuters Indian cigarette makers including ITC Ltd, part-owned by British American Tobacco, suspended production over what they said was ambiguity in the government’s new health warning rules for packs, a leading industry body said. Rules that mandated 85 percent of a cigarette pack’s surface to be covered in health warnings, up from 20 percent, kicked in from ...

London / Reuters Britain said on Sunday that UK steel producers must be considered for infrastructure and other government contracts involving steel supplies, as part of plans to find a long-term solution to a crisis in the industry. The government is looking for ways to support domestic steel producers after India’s Tata Steel put its loss-making British plant up for ...