Boris Johnson, leadership candidate for Britain's Conservative Prime Minister, leaves his home in London, Britain June 15, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville
(Reuters) - British conservative lawmaker Esther McVey said on Saturday that she will support Boris Johnson in his bid to be prime minister, The Telegraph reported.
"Boris Johnson is supporting my agenda – which is why I'm supporting him", she wrote bit.ly/2WLp52V in the newspaper, adding that she looks forward to working with Johnson to deliver on behalf of "blue collar Conservatives" across the country.
Reporting by Ishita Chigilli Palli in Bengaluru; Editing by Daniel Wallis
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil’s economy minister and lower house speaker exchanged harsh words on Friday over progress on pension reform, creating another drag on Brazilian financial assets already feeling the heat from global market weakness.
Brazil's Economy Minister Paulo Guedes attends a news conference in Brasilia, Brazil June 12, 2019. REUTERS/Adriano Machado
Economy Minister Paulo Guedes kicked off the spat, spurning a congressional committee report for what he called excessive changes to the government’s pension reform bill such as scrapping a plan to launch private savings accounts.
Rodrigo Maia, speaker of the lower house of Congress, hit back at the criticism, saying the collective will had prevailed as it should in a democracy. “We’re not going to pay attention to Minister Paulo Guedes and his recent aggressions against the parliament,” Maia said in a TV interview.
The complaints from Guedes, coming a day after President Jair Bolsonaro’s chief of staff had touted the congressional pension reform report as a “huge victory,” raised concerns about more tension between the government and Congress.
After clashes with lawmakers in recent months, Guedes had struck a more conciliatory tone, contributing to investors’ hopes for a swift approval of the landmark reform to boost public finances. But his disdain on Friday was striking.
Speaking in Rio de Janeiro, Guedes said only a bill generating around 1 trillion reais ($256 billion) of savings over the next decade would represent real reform of the country’s bloated social security system, but around 860 billion meant the issue would need revisiting in five or six years time.
On Thursday, the special committee on pension reform’s long-awaited report recommended changes to the original draft, reducing the government’s planned 1.237 trillion reais of savings to 913 billion reais.
Analysts expect that to be watered down further, but the consensus still appears to be that anything above 800 billion reais would be regarded as a major stepping stone toward putting the country on a more stable financial footing.
Brazilian markets rallied on Thursday, but the political noise soured the taste on Friday, and Guedes came under fire.
“He said what everyone thought, but he shouldn’t have said it,” said a fund manager in Sao Paulo who was not authorized to speak with the press.
The real fell around 1.2% to 3.90 per dollar, its worst day since the end of April, and the benchmark Bovespa stock market fell 0.74%.
Guedes criticized the committee’s report for excluding a transition to private savings accounts, reforms of state and municipal government pensions and changes to how older, disabled and rural workers are treated.
Maia said the special committee will vote on the bill around June 25-26, then present it to the plenary for final lower house approval before a congressional recess in late July.
Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Maria Carolina Marcello; Writing by Jamie McGeever; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Will Dunham
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan’s industry minister, Hiroshige Seko, said on Friday an attack on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman this week will be discussed at a meeting of G20 energy and environment ministers this weekend.
FILE PHOTO - Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko leaves the European Commission headquarters after a meeting on steel overcapacity, in Brussels, Belgium March 10, 2018. REUTERS/Francois Walschaerts
The ministerial meeting of the Group of 20 major economies will be held in Karuizawa, northwest of Tokyo, in the run up to the G20 summit to be held in Osaka, western Japan, on June 28-29.
Two tankers, one operated by a Japanese shipping company, were attacked in the Gulf on Thursday. The United States blamed Iran for the attacks, raising concerns about a new U.S.-Iranian confrontation and driving up oil prices. Tehran denied involvement.
“Maintaining energy security is something we can share with other ministers and is an important policy issue to be discussed at the G20 energy ministerial meeting,” Seko said at a regular press conference.
“The Middle East is a key area for global energy security. We want to talk with other ministers about our concerns about global security and threats,” he said.
Seko declined to comment when asked about whether Japan would send its armed forces to the Gulf to protect tankers.
He also declined to comment on remarks by U.S. officials blaming Iran for the attacks, saying Japan was still investigating details of the incident.
The attacks happened while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was in Tehran trying to help ease rising tensions between the United States and Iran.
Seko said Abe told Iranian leaders that Japan wanted to maintain economic cooperation with Iran, including buying crude oil when international circumstances allowed. Japan stopped purchases earlier this year after the reimposition of U.S. sanctions on Tehran.
Seko said the attack would not affect Japan’s energy supplies.
The other ship that was attacked was an oil tanker chartered by Taiwan’s state oil refiner, CPC Corp, to carry fuel from the Middle East.
GRAPHIC: Attacks in Gulf of Oman IMG - tmsnrt.rs/2X8ePpU
Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; writing by Aaron Sheldrick; editing by Richard Pullin
