OVERALL ROUNDUP: More coronavirus deaths than Sars – returnees to Berlin
BEIJING – Around 20 people have returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan, which has been severely affected by the coronavirus. They landed at Berlin Tegel Airport on Sunday afternoon. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) was relieved after the arrival about the departure of the Germans and their family members.
OVERALL ROUNDUP: Trump settles with impeachment witnesses after acquittal
WASHINGTON – After being acquitted in impeachment, US President Donald Trump struck back against two key witnesses in the investigation. A White House National Security Council expert on the Ukraine, Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, and US Ambassador to the EU, Gordon Sondland, were released on Friday (local time). Both had testified against the president in the US Congress after being summoned to pay a fine. Trump spread biting criticism of Vindman on Saturday.
Fewer tourists from China – some significant decline
FRANKFURT – Tourism in Germany is now feeling the effects of the corona virus more clearly. According to the German National Tourist Board (DZT), Chinese visitors are experiencing a clear decline in various cities and tourist attractions. Beijing has imposed travel restrictions and tour operator trips from the country have been stopped. Various airlines have also cut their connections to and from China. According to the GNTB, the consequences for tourism in Germany cannot yet be precisely quantified.
ROUNDUP / Frankfurt banker: ECB should soon get out of negative interest rates
FRANKFURT – In the opinion of banker Emmerich Müller, the European Central Bank (ECB) should review its strategy in order to get out of the ultra-loose monetary policy use. “I hope that we will at least leave the nominal negative interest rates behind in the foreseeable future. As soon as the circumstances allow, the ECB should adjust the deposit rate,” said the partner of the Frankfurt bank Metzler founded in 1674 to the German press agency. “The ECB is also familiar with the fact that these negative interest rates have a significant impact on the stability of the financial system in the long term.”
SPD: Public contracts only to companies with a collective agreement
BERLIN – The SPD is committed to only awarding public contracts at federal level to companies with collective agreements. “It is our responsibility to set the framework in such a way that more collective agreements are concluded,” Labor Minister Hubertus Heil said on Sunday at a closed meeting of the SPD board. Corresponding regulations already exist in several federal states, which must also apply to the federal government. “This means that public procurement with tax funds should not be used to escape collective bargaining, but to strengthen collective bargaining,” said Heil.
People are consuming more and more data – landline minutes are falling
BONN – In the past year, people’s communication has shifted further to the mobile area. While the number of minutes telephoned over the fixed network continued to decline, the volume of mobile data used skyrocketed. This is shown by figures from the Federal Network Agency, which are available to the German Press Agency. In Germany, a total of 2.77 billion gigabytes were used in mobile communications. For example, a single person could stream music more than four million years at a time. This curve has been rising steeply for years; in 2018, the data volume used was still 1.99 billion gigabytes.
Study: Valentine’s Day brings good business to retailers
BERLIN – Valentine’s Day should once again bring good business to German retailers this year. This is indicated by a representative survey by the Institute for Trade Research (IFH) in Cologne. Almost 17 percent of consumers are therefore planning targeted purchases for the “Day of Lovers” on February 14. Flowers are most common as Valentine’s Day gifts. Invitations to dinner, vouchers, watches and jewelry are also popular gifts.
ROUNDUP: Irish Parliamentary Election: Sinn Fein mixes up the political landscape
DUBLIN – The Irish parliamentary elections this weekend saw a significant change in the political landscape. The first projections on Sunday confirmed the results of a post-election survey, according to which the left-wing party Sinn Fein was able to establish itself as a leading political force alongside the two bourgeois parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. All three parties were around 22 percent. The counting continued in the evening.
US punitive tariffs on additional steel and aluminum products in force
WASHINGTON – The United States has extended its punitive tariffs to imports of steel and aluminum from around the world. Special levies on products such as steel nails, staples, wire and cables have been in force since midnight on Saturday (local time / 6:00 a.m.CET). Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and South Korea are exempt from the new tariffs on steel products and Argentina, Australia, Canada and Mexico from the duties on aluminum products.
USA: Consumer lending is growing faster than expected
WASHINGTON – US consumer credit volume rose more than expected in December. Compared to the previous month, lending increased by $ 15.00 billion, the Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday in Washington. Economists had expected an average increase of $ 22.06 billion. In the previous month, the loan volume had increased by a revised $ 11.81 billion (provisionally $ 12.51 billion) ./fba
VIRUS / US Federal Reserve: Corona virus ‘new risk’ for US economy
WASHINGTON – The US Federal Reserve has warned of the negative impact of the widespread use of the corona virus on economic development in the United States. The novel lung disease is a “new risk”, according to a Federal Reserve semi-annual report to the US Congress released in Washington on Friday. The monetary authorities pointed out possible disruptions in world trade.
Customer Notice:
ROUNDUP: You read a summary in the economic overview. There are several reports on this topic on the dpa-AFX news service.
/ nas
– ,
