Tradu in limba romana si rezumați acest conținut la 300 de cuvinte Royal Mail faces political backlash over plans to cut delivery daysRoyal Mail faces the prospect of a political backlash against its plans to cut the number of days it carries out second-class deliveries.It is a “slap in the face for families”, Liberal Democrat business spokesperson Sarah Olney has said. She said: These plans are a slap in the face for families being asked to pay more for less. The cost of first and second-class stamps has gone up sharply in recent years. It risks creating a cost-of-postage crisis as people feel forced to pay for first-class stamps because second-class delivery days are being slashed. People shouldn’t have to pay the price for Royal Mail’s failure after executives missed their delivery targets and paid themselves eye-watering bonuses. It is an example of the political difficulties facing Heathrow executive Emma Gilthorpe, who was this week chosen to run Royal Mail.Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS), proposed cutting back the Monday-to-Saturday second-class service to “every other weekday”. The proposals would also include Royal Mail cutting 1,000 jobs and saving £300m a year.IDS said its suggestions would not require legislative change and it urged Ofcom to “act swiftly to introduce reforms by April 2025”.The proposals would mean second-class deliveries would be slower, but there would still be the option of a more expensive next-day delivery.You can read the full story here:ShareKey eventsPhillip InmanEmployees work on a wire harness production line at a factory which supplies car accessories to the automotive market in Fuyang, in eastern China’s Anhui province on 28 March 2024. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesA recovery in China’s manufacturing output has failed to offset a slide in Asian stock markets that followed an earthquake in Taiwan that has killed at least nine people and forced semiconductor factories at the heart of global supply chains to shut down.China’s factories enjoyed a period of expansion for the first time in six months in March, an official survey showed.The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 50.8 in March from 49.1 in February, rising above the 50-level that separates growth from contraction, and hitting the highest mark since March 2023.Manufacturing remains a big sector in China’s economy and an important demand centre for metals such as copper and steel, as well as energy required to make goods.The PMI followed other recent data, including a separate measure of the services industry, that suggested China‘s economy is gaining some momentum after struggling for growth in 2023.Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co slumped 1.3% after the semiconductor giant said some facilities were evacuated after the quake. Barclays analysts said in a client note: There have been reports of halts to semiconductor production operations, and if these become more broad-based, we expect some constraints on production, in both Taiwan and the region, that could result in upstream pricing pressures in the chip sector. China’s blue-chip CSI300 index and Shanghai Composite index eased 0.4% and 0.2%, respectively, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 1.2%.The MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index shed 0.9%, compared with the 0.6% slide in the broader emerging markets stock index.ShareRoyal Mail faces political backlash over plans to cut delivery daysRoyal Mail faces the prospect of a political backlash against its plans to cut the number of days it carries out second-class deliveries.It is a “slap in the face for families”, Liberal Democrat business spokesperson Sarah Olney has said. She said: These plans are a slap in the face for families being asked to pay more for less. The cost of first and second-class stamps has gone up sharply in recent years. It risks creating a cost-of-postage crisis as people feel forced to pay for first-class stamps because second-class delivery days are being slashed. People shouldn’t have to pay the price for Royal Mail’s failure after executives missed their delivery targets and paid themselves eye-watering bonuses. It is an example of the political difficulties facing Heathrow executive Emma Gilthorpe, who was this week chosen to run Royal Mail.Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS), proposed cutting back the Monday-to-Saturday second-class service to “every other weekday”. The proposals would also include Royal Mail cutting 1,000 jobs and saving £300m a year.IDS said its suggestions would not require legislative change and it urged Ofcom to “act swiftly to introduce reforms by April 2025”.The proposals would mean second-class deliveries would be slower, but there would still be the option of a more expensive next-day delivery.You can read the full story here:ShareEU to enforce spending rules on Italy and other countriesPhillip InmanEuropean Union officials are poised to resurrect dormant rules forcing the 27 member states to stick within strict public spending rules, Italy’s economy minister said on Wednesday.The authorities will put Italy and another 10 countries under infringement procedure for operating budgets with deficits that breach the EU’s 3% rule, Giancarlo Giorgetti said during a parliamentary hearing.EU countries were allowed to set aside the usual cap on deficit spending during the Covid-19 pandemic. A suspension of the usual rule continued during the cost of living crisis sparked by the rise in inflation, when finance ministries reacted by dramatically increased subsidies to households and businesses.Italy estimates a deficit-to-GDP ratio this year broadly in line with its 4.3% goal set in September, taking it far above the 3% EU ceiling. Giorgetti said: It is granted that the European Commission will recommend the council to open an excessive deficit procedure against us as well as several other countries. France is expected to be among the countries to come under scrutiny after it recently found that its public finances deteriorated in 2023 by more than predicted. The deficit reached 5.5% compared with 4.8% in 2022, the statistics authority said last month.ShareChairman of the HSBC Group Mark Tucker attends a Paris meeting in 2018. Photograph: Éric Piermont/AFP/Getty ImagesHSBC chairman Mark Tucker has told investors in Hong Kong that a sale of its Asian business will not happen – after the UK-headquartered bank defeated a proposal last year by Chinese shareholder Ping An.Reuters reports that Tucker said at a meeting, in response to a shareholder’s question: There is no appetite amongst our shareholder base, as demonstrated by last year’s AGM results, to vote for a spin-off. That will not happen. HSBC defeated a shareholder resolution brought by Ping An in May 2023. Some investors had argued that HSBC’s Asian business would operate more profitably away from the regulatory and political scrutiny put on a British business. However, many of HSBC’s UK investors are reluctant to lose the bank’s cash cow.ShareEuropean Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde addresses a press conference after the meeting of the ECB governing council in Frankfurt on 25 January 2024. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPAThe question on economists’ lips after the surprise easing of eurozone inflation is: will the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates as early as this month?The ECB’s rate-setting governing council, led by president Christine Lagarde, meets next week. Economists expect the council to cut rates in June, but surprising data and some doveish comments from some members of the council appear to have put an April cut into play.“Today’s reading will be a relief to ECB doves as it provides some comfort that domestic inflation is easing,” said Bert Colijn, senior economist for the eurozone at ING, a bank. He said: While at first sight this looks like it opens up a possible rate cut in April, the ECB is unlikely to act this month. More data on wage growth will come in May, and the ECB needs to be certain of its path. In President Lagarde’s own words: “we will know a little more in April, but we will know a lot more in June”. Richard Flax, chief investment officer at Moneyfarm, an asset manager, said the data “aligns with expectations of a cooling economy and adds weight to the argument for monetary stimulus”. He said: Christine Lagarde’s previous indication that the ECB may not commit outright to a path of rate cuts suggests a cautious approach, but the consensus among economists leans towards a potential cut as early as June, pending further data on wage growth trends. The challenge here for the ECB is that reaching the last mile target inflation rate of 2% may prove more arduous than anticipated, with incremental decreases seen as most likely. ShareEurozone unemployment stayed flat in February at 6.5%.Usually…

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