Reuters

By Deisy Buitrago

CARACAS (Reuters) -Public employees in Venezuela will receive $130 per month in bonuses, President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday, amid demands by workers for salary increases and months ahead of presidential elections in which Maduro is seeking a third term.

Maduro gave scant details in his announcement, but ruling party lawmaker Francisco Torrealba later said on social media that bonuses will be paid out in local... (continue reading...)

By Mark John

LONDON (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Europe fell 4% last year, with Germany seeing a sharp 12% drop in projects amid concern over its economic slowdown and energy security, a survey by professional services group EY found.

It was the first annual fall in the number of European FDI projects registered since the COVID-19 pandemic, after gains seen in both 2021 and 2022. Foreign investment into the region is... (continue reading...)

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's consumer inflation eased in April for the first time in three months, official data showed on Thursday, coming in lower than economists' estimates and supporting market expectations for monetary easing in the latter half of the year.

The consumer price index stood 2.9% higher than the same month the year before, compared with a rise of 3.1% in March and a 3.0% gain tipped in a Reuters survey of economists.

It... (continue reading...)

(Reuters) -Australia's Woolworths reported a rise in third-quarter sales on Thursday, boosted by an improving performance in the food retail segment, but warned of continued consumer caution despite moderating inflation.

The country's largest supermarket chain said total group sales were at A$16.80 billion ($10.97 billion) for the March quarter, compared to A$16.62 billion expected by Jefferies analysts and a 2.8% rise compared to the same quarter last... (continue reading...)

By Yantoultra Ngui

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Singapore's biggest bank DBS Group expects its net profit this year to grow from 2023, it said on Thursday, after posting a 15% rise in first quarter net profit that beat expectations, driven by strong total income growth.

Total income growth was projected to be 1 to 2 percentage points above previous guidance of the mid-single-digits, according to DBS CEO Piyush Gupta's outlook observations slides... (continue reading...)