Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Wednesday that pushing rates further into negative territory was off the table, reflecting both his upbeat inflation outlook and his concerns over the contentious policy measure. The BOJ introduced the measure in January 2016, imposing a 0.1% charge on certain yen deposits. Source: MarketWatch
Japan logged a trade deficit last year for the first time since 2015, with export growth slowing amid tensions between the country’s two biggest trading partners – China and the United States. Source: Channel NewsAsia
Saudi Arabia is looking to invest in U.S. natural gas. The Kingdom is considering Tellurian’s proposed Driftwood LNG export terminal in Louisiana and Sempra Energy’s Port Arthur LNG facility in Texas. Source: Forbes
U.S. sanctions on Moscow are starting to hurt America more than Russia, the chief executive of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund told CNBC Wednesday. Source: CNBC
