U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Russia ending the war was “the most important thing” for the global economy as she accused officials from Moscow attending a Group of 20 meeting of being complicit in atrocities taking place in Ukraine.
Speaking in a closed-door meeting Friday in Bengaluru, India, where G20 finance ministers and central bank governors are gathered, Yellen reiterated calls to her counterparts to redouble efforts to restrict Russia’s capacity to wage war.
“This war has its most devastating effects in Ukraine, but Putin’s weaponization of food and energy has harmed developing countries and created global economic headwinds that have hurt every nation represented in this room,” Yellen said, according to remarks prepared for delivery.
Her comments on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine come as she doubled down on calls to increase financial support to the war-torn nation during her discussions in Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore.
The U.S. has provided over US$46 billion in security, economic and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and expects to provide around US$10 billion in additional economic support over the coming months. Financial aid, used to support critical public services and help keep the government running, is one of several ways in which the U.S. and its allies are helping Ukraine.
Yellen has also called for the International Monetary Fund to move swiftly toward a fully financed program for Ukraine. On Friday, she warned Russian officials attending the G20 meetings that they are “complicit in Putin’s atrocities.”
“They bear responsibility for the lives and livelihoods being taken in Ukraine and the harm caused globally,” she said.
OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.
However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.
The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.
The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.
The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.
In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.
The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.
Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.
In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales in August fell to their lowest level since January 2022 as sales in the primary metal and petroleum and coal product subsectors fell.
The agency says manufacturing sales fell 1.3 per cent to $69.4 billion in August, after rising 1.1 per cent in July.
The drop came as sales in the primary metal subsector dropped 6.4 per cent to $5.3 billion in August, on lower prices and lower volumes.
Sales in the petroleum and coal product subsector fell 3.7 per cent to $7.8 billion in August on lower prices.
Meanwhile, sales of aerospace products and parts rose 7.3 per cent to $2.7 billion in August and wood product sales increased 3.8 per cent to $3.1 billion.
Overall manufacturing sales in constant dollars fell 0.8 per cent in August.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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