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Italy Income Plan, U.K. Confidence, Trump-Powell Meet: Eco Day

Italy Income Plan, U.K. Confidence, Trump-Powell Meet: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Welcome to Tuesday, Europe. Here’s the latest news and analysis from Bloomberg Economics to help get your day started:

  • Brexit weighs. Consumer spending recovered slightly in January after a dismal holiday season, though British households are still wary because of Brexit
    • Parliament’s failure to agree on Brexit is holding back investment, Business Secretary Greg Clark said after Nissan Motor Co. abandoned plans to expand production in the U.K.
    • The U.K. lags behind European peers on investment in automation and that’s not helping its constant struggle with productivity
  • Steady rates. Central banks in eastern Europe will probably keep borrowing costs unchanged this week as the euro area slowdown dents arguments for hiking even among the strongest advocates of monetary tightening
  • Italy’s populist leaders have made a lot of promises, but their most ambitious pledge -- to provide disadvantaged citizens with a state-sponsored income -- could soon become a reality
  • German chances. In the race to succeed Mario Draghi as European Central Bank president, Germany’s one-time favorite could yet stage a comeback
  • Trump appointment. Donald Trump will nominate senior Treasury official David Malpass to lead the World Bank, according to two administration officials
  • Divergent views. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell met President Donald Trump at the White House for dinner Monday, but the central bank said the Fed chief did not share his expectations for monetary policy.
  • Bad deal. One of Donald Trump’s most persistent economic promises has been to rewrite the U.S. relationship with China. Yet as he approaches a potential deal, some of the very hawks who have cheered on the president’s trade war already fear he may end up falling short
  • Rates unchanged. Australia’s central bank stared down calls to shift to an easing bias in response to a slumping property market, maintaining that the current record-low interest rate is sufficient to drive down unemployment
  • Soaring. The yen could strengthen to 95 against the dollar in the first half of the year and the Bank of Japan would likely have to respond even if it couldn’t do much about it, a former BOJ official said
  • Unorthodox measures. The U.S. economy could have recovered faster from the Great Recession if the central bank had followed some of its global peers by cutting interest rates below zero, the San Francisco Fed says
  • Reform pitch. Brazil’s government held out prospects of faster economic growth and renewed confidence as part of a legislative agenda presented to the country’s new Congress on Monday

To contact the reporter on this story: Anirban Nag in Mumbai at anag8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nasreen Seria at nseria@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan Sundaram, Devidutta Tripathy

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