Latest news with #CEI
Fibre2Fashion
12 hours ago
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
Germany's LEI slips in April, signalling economic headwinds
Germany's economic recovery momentum showed signs of strain in April 2025, as The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) fell by 0.2 per cent to 87.1, based on a 2016=100 reference level. The LEI, a predictive measure designed to anticipate turning points in the business cycle, also contracted by 0.2 per cent over the six-month period from October 2024 to April 2025—marking a slowdown compared to the 0.9 per cent decline in the preceding six months, The Conference Board said in a press release. In contrast, Coincident Economic Index (CEI), which tracks current economic activity, declined slightly by 0.1 per cent in April to 103.6 (2016=100), following a 0.3 per cent increase in March. However, on a six-month basis, the CEI edged up by 0.1 per cent—an improvement over the 0.4 per cent drop recorded between April and October 2024. Germany's economic outlook weakened in April 2025, with the Leading Economic Index (LEI) falling by 0.2 per cent to 87.1, indicating softening momentum. CEI also dipped 0.1 per cent to 103.6 but showed slight six-month improvement. While the LEI highlighted subdued future activity, the CEI points to modest current stability amid ongoing economic headwinds. The LEI's decline was influenced by weakness across several indicators, including new orders for investment goods and softening consumer confidence. Meanwhile, the CEI was supported by stable trends in industrial production and employment. Together, the LEI and CEI suggest that while the German economy continues to stabilise, significant headwinds remain. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SG)
Fibre2Fashion
3 days ago
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
UK LEI declines further in April; CEI edges up: The Conference Board
The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the United Kingdom declined by 0.4 per cent in April 2025 to 74.9 (2016=100), following a similar drop in March. Over the six-month period from October 2024 to April 2025, the LEI contracted by 1.2 per cent, a steeper fall than the 1 per cent decline seen in the prior six months, TCB said in a release. 'The UK LEI continued to slide in April, remaining on a downward trend that started in 2022. This reflected the economic uncertainty in the month, as well as higher inflation and energy costs, and worries regarding escalating trade tensions. The 6-month growth rate of the UK LEI has cooled but remained above the recession threshold,' said Allen Li, associate economist at The Conference Board. Meanwhile, the Conference Board Coincident Economic Index (CEI), which reflects current economic conditions, rose by 0.2 per cent to 108 in April after remaining flat in March. The CEI grew by 1.1 per cent over the same six-month period, slightly slower than the 1.2 per cent increase registered between April and October 2024. 'Overall, the LEI reading suggests that, after a stronger than expected first quarter, economic growth in the United Kingdom will likely moderate in the remainder of 2025. The Conference Board expects UK GDP to grow by 1.4 per cent in 2025 after 1.1 per cent in 2024,' Li added. The UK's Leading Economic Index fell 0.4 per cent to 74.9 in April 2025, extending a downward trend since 2022 amid economic uncertainty, inflation, and trade tensions. The Coincident Economic Index rose 0.2 per cent to 108. The Conference Board expects UK GDP growth to ease to 1.4 per cent in 2025, following 1.1 per cent in 2024, after a stronger-than-expected first quarter. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)
Herald Malaysia
3 days ago
- General
- Herald Malaysia
'We transmit the faith with Jesus at the center,' Pope Leo XIV tells Italian Bishops
Pope Leo XIV invites Italy's Bishops to embrace their primary responsibility of proclaiming and transmitting the faith, while always keeping Christ at the forefront, urging them to cultivate peace and work together. Jun 17, 2025 Pope Leo XIV meets with the Italian Bishops' Conference in the Vatican (@Vatican Media) By Deborah Castellano Lubov"A renewed impulse is required to proclaim and transmit the faith. This means placing Jesus Christ at the center." Pope Leo XIV gave this reminder when addressing the Italian Bishops' Conference, or the CEI, in the Vatican's Hall of Blessings on Tuesday morning. In his remarks, the Pope called for collegiality, witness, and, most of all, "helping people live a personal relationship with the Lord," following the path indicated by the late Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium , "so they may discover the joy of the Gospel." 'This means placing Jesus Christ at the center, and, following the path indicated by Evangelii gaudium, helping people to live a personal relationship with Him, so they may discover the joy of the Gospel.' Returning to foundations of our faith Saying we live in a time of great fragmentation, the Holy Father called for returning "to the foundations of our faith, to the kerygma ." This, he said, is the first great commitment that motivates all the others, namely "bringing Christ 'into the veins' of humanity, by renewing and sharing the apostolic mission." Pope Leo invited the Italian Bishops to discern ways to bring the Good News to everyone, "with pastoral actions capable of reaching those who are furthest away," and "with suitable tools for renewing catechesis and the language of proclamation." 'Let us be drawn to Him' Pope Leo invited them to join him in walking together, "with joy in our hearts and a song on our lips," for God, he noted, "is greater than our mediocrity." "Let us be drawn to Him! Let us place our trust in His providence," he said. 'Dearest brothers, let us walk together, with joy in our hearts and a song on our lips. God is greater than our mediocrity: let us be drawn to Him! Let us place our trust in His providence.' The Pope told the Italian Bishops to foster a Church that embodies the Gospel and is a sign of the Kingdom of God, by proclaiming the Gospel, peace, human dignity, and dialogue. The relationship with Christ, the Holy Father underscored, calls us to develop pastoral attention to the theme of peace. "The Lord sends us into the world to bring His very gift: 'Peace be with you!'—and to become its artisans in the places of daily life," the Pope said, noting he thinks of parishes, neighborhoods, inner areas of the country, and urban and existential peripheries. "Where human and social relationships become difficult and conflict arises, even subtly," he urged, "there must be a visible Church of reconciliation." The Pope also urged them to promote collegiality among themselves and with the Successor of Peter and to reflect the principle of communion through cooperation with civil authorities. "The CEI is, in fact," he observed, "a place of dialogue and synthesis of the Bishops' thought regarding the most important issues for the common good." Challenges on the ground The Pope recalled when his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, in 2006, described the Church in Italy as 'a very vibrant reality which maintains a widespread presence among people of all ages and conditions' and where 'Christian traditions are still often deeply rooted and continue to bear fruit.' Nevertheless, Pope Leo lamented, the Christian community in the country has long been facing new challenges "tied to secularism, a certain disaffection with the faith, and the demographic crisis." Yet, the Holy Father echoed the late Pope Francis' frequent reminder "to not be disturbed" and to work toward peace. Saying every community should become a 'house of peace," Pope Leo stressed that peace "is not a spiritual utopia," but rather a humble path, made of daily actions. The Pope also named challenges "that call into question the respect for the dignity of the human person," such as artificial intelligence, biotechnologies, the data economy, and social media, which, he observed, profoundly transform our perception and experience of life. "In this context," he warned, "the dignity of the human being risks being flattened or forgotten, replaced by functions, automatisms, simulations," especially since "the person is not a system of algorithms: he or she is a creature, a relationship, a mystery." We are sent to proclaim the Gospel Pope Leo expressed his hope that the journey of the Church in Italy may include, "in coherent symbiosis with the centrality of Jesus, an anthropological vision as an essential instrument of pastoral discernment." "Without a living reflection on the human being—in his or her corporeality, vulnerability, thirst for the infinite, and capacity for relationship," the Pope warned, "ethics is reduced to a code, and faith risks becoming disembodied." Going forward in unity Before concluding, the Holy Father exhorted the Bishops to advance in unity, urging them to look with serenity toward tomorrow and not be afraid of courageous choices. "No one can prevent you from being close to the people, from sharing life, from walking with the least, from serving the poor," he said. And "no one," Pope Leo underscored, "can stop you from proclaiming the Gospel—and it is the Gospel that we are sent to bring, because this is what everyone—ourselves first of all—needs in order to live well and to be happy." 'No one can stop you from proclaiming the Gospel—and it is the Gospel that we are sent to bring, because this is what everyone—ourselves first of all—needs in order to live well and to be happy.' Welcoming lay faithful as 'protagonists' The Pope also urged the Bishops of Italy to be attentive that the lay faithful, nourished by the Word of God and formed in the Social Doctrine of the Church, "may be the protagonists" of evangelization in their workplaces, in schools, in hospitals, in social and cultural settings, in the economy, and in politics. Before imparting his Apostolic Blessing, Pope Leo XIV concluded by entrusting the Italian Bishops to the protection of the Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Loreto, of Pompeii, and of the countless shrines that are scattered throughout Italy. --Vatican News
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Key Ivory Coast opposition figures banned from October presidential vote
Four prominent opposition figures in the Ivory Coast have been excluded from the final electoral list, according to the Electoral Commission, leaving them ineligible to contest pivotal October presidential elections in a nation with not-too-distant memories of civil war and coup attempts. 'My elimination from the electoral list by the Independent Electoral Commission [CEI] is a sad but eloquent example of Ivory Coast's drift towards a total absence of democracy,' Tidjane Thiam, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), said in a statement on Wednesday. Thiam's statement came two days after CEI head Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly announced that no revision of the electoral register would take place before the vote. Thiam, who was widely seen as the main challenger to President Alassane Ouattara, was struck from the voter roll in April after a court ruled that he was not eligible to run for president because of his dual Ivorian-French nationality. Thiam, who was born in Ivory Coast, received French nationality in 1987 but renounced it in March. Other major Ivorian candidates excluded from the vote include former President Laurent Gbagbo and his close ally Charles Ble Goude, who was charged with crimes against humanity related to the civil war. The former prime minister and rebel leader Guillaume Soro is also barred. He was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for organising a coup. None of the four will be able to run in the October 25 presidential race or vote. Ouattara, who has been in power since 2011, is included on the electoral register but has yet to announce if he will seek a fourth term. In 2015 and 2020, Ouattara won with more than 80 percent of the vote. Thiam has appealed to the UN Human Rights Committee, his party said. His lawyer Mathias Chichportich said in a statement sent to the AFP news agency that depriving the opposition leader of 'his political rights' was 'a serious violation of Ivory Coast's international commitments'. Gbagbo's African Peoples' Party-Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) complained that the authorities 'did not choose to listen to the advice, the calls for discussion, for reason', its Secretary-General Jean-Gervais Tcheide told AFP. 'It's a shame they chose to force their way through,' he said, adding: 'We're not going to let them do it.' Other opposition figures who announced their plans to run for the presidency are featured on the final electoral list. They include former First Lady Simone Ehivet Gbagbo, who, speaking on behalf of an opposition coalition, said that the conditions were not met for a 'peaceful, calm election'. During the 2020 presidential election, a revision of the electoral list took place in June ahead of the October polling day. The final electoral register for this year's ballot includes the names of 8.7 million voters, in a country with a high immigrant population and where nearly half of the 30 million inhabitants are under the age of 18. Authorities deny any political interference in the electoral process, insisting that they respect decisions made by an independent judiciary.
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Business Standard
03-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
UBS raises India's FY26 GDP forecast to 6.4% after strong Q4 growth
Global financial services firm UBS has raised its forecast for India's real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in FY26 to 6.4 per cent, up from its earlier estimate of 6 per cent, following signs of resilient economic momentum and a stronger-than-expected performance in the March 2025 quarter. UBS's India Composite Economic Indicator (CEI) showed economic momentum held up in April, with the seasonally adjusted index rising 1.1 per cent month-on-month, close to its March quarter average, suggesting stable economic activity. Demand, easing trade tensions, lower oil prices drive UBS GDP revision Chief India Economist at UBS Securities Tanvee Gupta Jain noted that the revision reflects several factors including robust domestic demand indicators, prospects of easing global trade tensions, and the continued support from lower crude oil prices. The updated forecast is based on the expectation that household spending will recover, especially in rural areas, guided by a good monsoon and lower food prices. Urban demand is also likely to improve with possible government support like tax cuts and lower inflation. The outlook also assumes global trade tensions will not escalate and oil prices will stay low, with UBS expecting an average of $65 per barrel in FY26. However, there are still risks to investment growth. UBS sees capital spending slowing due to global uncertainty, budget limits in some states, and strong growth last year in housing. India's real GDP grew by 7.4 per cent in Q4 The revision comes after official data released by the National Statistical Office last week showed that India's real GDP grew by 7.4 per cent year-on-year in the January–March 2025 quarter, marking the highest growth rate in a year. For FY25 as a whole, real GDP grew by 6.5 per cent, slightly below the Reserve Bank of India's projection of 6.6 per cent. Nominal GDP for the year rose by 9.8 per cent to ₹330.68 trillion. Growth in the March quarter was led by a sharp contraction in imports, which boosted net exports, as well as a recovery in fixed capital formation. Private consumption growth moderated, while government spending declined. On a gross value added (GVA) basis, the economy expanded by 6.8 per cent in the March quarter, supported by improvements in construction, manufacturing, and services. UBS expects 50-75 bps rate cut from RBI MPC On the monetary policy front, UBS expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to reduce rates by a further 50–75 basis points this year, potentially bringing the repo rate down to 5.5 per cent. The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meet is scheduled for Friday, June 6. "India's macro stability risks remain relatively contained. With the global backdrop remaining uncertain, we expect monetary policy to continue to do the heavy lifting to support India's growth momentum," the UBS report said. The report also anticipates continued focus on capital spending by the central government and a supportive external environment for services exports, even as goods exports face headwinds from weak global trade.
