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Nafta Talks Resume, Canada Rate Decision, EU Budgets: Eco Day

Nafta Talks Resume, Canada Rate Decision, EU Budgets: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Wednesday, Americas. Here’s the latest news from Bloomberg Economics to get your day started:

  • Talks to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement are set to resume as U.S. and Canadian negotiators push to strike a deal amid President Donald Trump’s threats to walk away
  • The Bank of Canada is expected to hold borrowing costs steady today in what will probably be just a pause on its hiking path
  • Europe’s budget season is kicking off, and while Italy is attracting most of the attention, other countries are having to navigate their own issues and work out their fiscal plans for the coming year
  • Euro-area businesses are starting to feel the heat from recently intensified trade tensions even as economic growth remains solid for now
  • The U.K.’s dominant services sector expanded faster than expected in August, pointing to a “robust” pace of growth for the nation’s economy
  • Sweden faces a heap of economic challenges ahead. There is an election this Sunday and the new government faces the prospect of a recession and tighter monetary policy
  • Austria’s new government said it’ll bid for a seat at the European Central Bank’s top table next year as euro-area nations jostle for roles in a shake-up of key monetary and political posts
    • Austria also said the European Union must be ready to take action to ensure that Italy cuts its public debt next year in line with the bloc’s rules
  • Mark Carney put the ball firmly in the Treasury’s court regarding his future at the Bank of England
  • The Bank of Japan judges its recent policy adjustments to be working well, suggesting no need for more changes in the near term
  • China drained funds from the short-term money market in August, a move that complements efforts to support lending to the real economy
  • Conflict over China’s industrial policies is at the center of a trade war that’s set to escalate should President Trump go ahead with tariffs on another $200 billion of goods
  • Australian consumers fueled an economic expansion in the second quarter that beat forecasts to be the fastest in almost six years
  • Traders have increased bets on a New Zealand interest-rate cut as a prolonged slump in business confidence adds to the risk of sluggish economic growth
  • Philippine central bank Governor Nestor Espenilla said he will consider the need for more policy action after a report showed inflation exceeded 6 percent for the first time in nine years in August
  • Argentina’s economic outlook deteriorated significantly in August amid a renewed currency crisis, say economists surveyed by the central bank

To contact the reporter on this story: Zoe Schneeweiss in London at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Emma Haslett

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