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Iran Attacks, Polish Rates, Central Banks’ Limits: Eco Day

Iran Attacks, Polish Rates, Central Banks’ Limits: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) --

Welcome to Wednesday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help you start the day:

  • Oil prices jumped after Iran attacked two U.S.-Iraqi bases in its first response to the killing of its top general, sparking fears the deepening conflict will disrupt global crude supplies
  • The unprecedented lock on Poland’s record-low borrowing costs is facing a test from inflation data this week that economists described as “shocking” and “astonishing”
  • Outgoing Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said central banks globally are getting close to running out of tools should they need to tackle another serious economic downturn
  • France and the U.S. will seek a compromise on the taxation of digital services over the next two weeks. The French government and unions meantime held on to their red lines on pension reform in the new year’s first meeting aimed at ending a standoff that’s prompted a record-long transport strike
  • China’s top financial officials pledged more measures to help small companies get cheaper funding, signaling continued efforts in 2020 to shore up the private sector
  • The U.S. trade gap narrowed in November to the smallest in three years as exports advanced amid a thaw in the trade war with China, while imports fell to the lowest since 2017
  • After almost a decade, the IMF is ready to leave Greece, marking a degree of closure to a relationship that’s rarely been easy

To contact the reporter on this story: Jiyeun Lee in Hong Kong at jlee1029@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Jackson at pjackson53@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan Sundaram, Devidutta Tripathy

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