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German Chancellor Angela Merkel has not altered her view that Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker should become president of the European Commission, a government spokesman said on Friday. _0"> "The German chancellor has very clearly said, including in her recent speech to parliament, that she is in favor of Jean-Claude Juncker becoming the next European Commission president and that she will work towards him getting a majority," Steffen Seibert said, adding that "nothing has changed" in this regard.   true       (Reporting by Stephen Brown and Michelle Martin)

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Banks will return 3.712 billion euros ($5.05 billion) in long-term crisis loans to the European Central Bank next week, ECB data showed, after the ECB started to charge banks for holding their excess cash overnight and promised more long-term loans. _0"> The amount that class="mandelbrot_refrag"> banks will repay on June 18 is below this week's repayments of 10.588 billion euros, and misses the 7.5 billion forecast in a Reuters poll. The ECB cut interest rates to record lows - the deposit rate is now below zero - and launched a series of measures to pump money into the sluggish class="mandelbrot_refrag"> euro zone class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy , pledging to do more if needed to fight off the risk of Japan-like deflation.   true       The measures also include a new 400 billion euro four-year loan scheme to give banks an incentive to increase lending to businesses in the class=&q

The European Union's banking watchdog will toughen up its guidelines on bankers' pay after a study uncovered wide variations in how lenders apply the rules across the 28-country bloc and how class="mandelbrot_refrag"> banks are avoiding the bonus cap. The European Banking Authority (EBA) did not say how it will toughen the rules but this is likely to include tighter supervision and more detail in how the rules should be applied. After the 2007-09 financial crisis sparked public anger over bonuses at class="mandelbrot_refrag"> banks that taxpayers had to rescue, the EU introduced curbs on the pay of top bankers earning a million euros or more. The current rules mean that 40-60 percent of a bonus must be deferred over 3-5 years, with the possibility to claw back the cash if problems like misconduct are later discovered. The curbs were toughened so that bonuses handed out from early next year can be no higher than fixed salary, or twice tha

Japan's exports likely fell for the first time in 15 months in May due to stagnant demand overseas, and with imports expected to rise the trade balance will probably remain in deficit, where it has been for nearly two years, a Reuters poll showed. In addition to weak demand from emerging nations, the benefit of a weak yen for exports appeared to have run its course. The Reuters poll of 28 economists forecast exports to show a 1.2 percent fall in the year to May, which would be the first decline since a 2.9 percent fall in February last year.   true       In April, Japan's exports rose 5.1 percent from a year earlier. The poll forecast a 1.7 percent increase in imports in May, largely led by higher demand for liquid class="mandelbrot_refrag"> natural gas . The trade deficit was forecast at 1.17 trillion yen. It would be 23rd straight monthly deficit. "Shipments to Europe are expected to stay solid, but those to Asia will probably continue to be stagn

India's new government kicked into gear this week, clearing billions of dollars worth of long-delayed defense projects, including a big navy base, as well as approving the scaling-up of one of the country's biggest dams. The decision to give the projects the go-ahead despite concern about their environmental and social impact signals Prime Minister Narendra Modi's no-nonsense approach to issues he considers to be important for national security. The clearances were made over several days and were the first major decisions from the government that swept to power on May 16 on promises of getting Asia's third-largest class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy moving and building a stronger country. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government could not compromise on efforts to build military and civil infrastructure on the border with class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China as well the west-coast naval base in as an alternative to crowded

Brazilian economic activity rose slightly in April, in another lackluster showing for the once-booming class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy that points to a sluggish second quarter. _0"> The central bank's IBC-Br economic activity index rose 0.12 percent in April from March in seasonally adjusted terms, the bank said on Friday. The median estimate in a Reuters survey of 19 analysts was for 0.0 percent growth. The Brazilian class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy barely grew in the first quarter and a plunge in investment pointed to more weakness in the coming quarter. Economists have repeatedly revised down their economic growth estimates to just 1.4 percent this year from an expansion of 2.5 percent in 2013.   true       For Bradesco economists the slight increase in activity in April reinforced expectations that the second quarter will remain subdued. "It is compatible with our expectations for a slowdown in the second quarter," Brad

Britain could become the first major class="mandelbrot_refrag"> economy to tighten monetary policy since the 2008 financial crisis, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has signalled, sending sterling shooting towards a five-year high against the dollar on Friday. British government bond yields soared, class="mandelbrot_refrag"> construction stocks tumbled and interest rate class="mandelbrot_refrag"> futures priced in a first hike by December after Carney said rates could rise sooner than class="mandelbrot_refrag"> markets had thought - his most hawkish comment to date. A Reuters poll of economists on Friday showed most expect a rise in the first three months of next year rather than before the end of 2014.   true       "There's already great speculation about the exact timing of the first rate hike and this decision is becoming more balanced," Carney said in a speech late on Thursday alongside British cla