German cabinet agrees budget framework

BERLIN (Reuters) Germany plans to gradually increase state spending until 2021 without Canada Goose sale net new debt, sticking to its goal of running a balanced budget despite canada goose outlet toronto factory international canada goose clearance sale calls to hike investment more strongly in infrastructure and defense.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble presents draft budget for 2018 and mid term plans for state spending canada goose outlet store locations until 2021 during Canada Goose Online a news conference in Berlin, Germany, March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

Chancellor Angela Merkel cabinet on Wednesday passed the preliminary framework for the 2018 federal budget and its canada goose coats on sale fiscal plans until 2021 as suggested by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

Presenting the preliminary plans in Berlin, Schaeuble said it would be up buy canada goose jacket to the next coalition government, due to take office after a federal election in September, to adjust the fiscal plans and agree on the final budget.

But Schaeuble, a senior member of Merkel conservatives, made clear canada goose replica that he viewed it as a political achievement that Germany had managed to run a budget surplus since 2014.

the end of September, we canada goose clearance look back at a complete legislative period without net new debt, Schaeuble said, adding that it was important to keep canada goose public finances buy canada goose jacket cheap sustainable also in light of the demographic challenge of an aging canada goose deals society.

Germany canada goose clearance plans to boost overall spending by 1.9 percent to 335.5 billion euros in 2018, with the extra money going mainly to fund refugee cheap Canada Goose integration, canadian goose jacket development aid, defense and domestic security.

Defense spending will rise by 1.4 https://www.canadagoose-coats.ca billion euros to 38.5 billion euros in 2018, under the plans a figure that is projected to Canada Goose Jackets represent 1.26 percent of output, Schaeuble said. In 2016, the defense spending ratio stood at 1.18 percent.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble presents draft budget for canada goose coats 2018 and mid term plans for state spending until 2021 during a news conference in Berlin, Canada Goose Parka Germany, March 15, 2017. President Donald Trump has called on Germany and other NATO members to accelerate efforts to Canada Goose Outlet meet the alliance target of spending 2 percent of economic output on defense.

Public investment will edge down to 35.7 billion euros next year from 36.1 billion euros in 2017 before bouncing back to 36.2 billion euros in 2019.

In 2019 2021, the federal government aims to Canada Goose online raise overall spending by an additional 20 billion euros to 355.6 billion euros.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble presents draft budget for 2018 and mid term plans for canada goose store state spending until 2021 during a news conference in Berlin, Germany, March 15, 2017. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

With tax revenues expected to keep rising and borrowing costs to remain low, the cabinet budget framework does not foresee the need for net new borrowing until 2021.

Schaeuble rejected international criticism about investment canada goose black friday sale levels being too low, saying Germany was hiking spending in infrastructure while sticking to national and international budget rules.

He reiterated that he saw scope for about 15 billion euros in tax cuts after the September election, adding that his focus would not be on reducing Canada Goose Coats On Sale the sales tax.

Germany is heading into a closely contested federal election 2018 canada goose outlet in September. A possible coalition government led by the center left Social Democrats could put greater emphasis on investment.

Reporting by Michael Nienaber and Matthias Sobolewski; Editing by Madeline Chambers and Gareth Jones.

Yemen’s Saleh denies theft

His critics in Yemen, an impoverished country of 25 million where 40 percent of the population live on less than $2 per day, accuse him of embezzling billions of dollars during his 33 years in power.Others say it is clear the veteran former president still wields immense informal power in Yemen turbulent politics, and speculate this stems in part from access to significant wealth.Not so, Saleh told Reuters.Seated on a plush couch in a tent in the garden canada goose clearance sale of his mansion in the capital Sanaa, Saleh, a sprightly 72, challenged anyone to find evidence of wrongdoing during a recent interview.had a https://www.canada-gooseoutlets.ca (finance ministry) and a central bank. Let them produce one canada goose dinar Ali canada goose coats on sale Abdullah withdrew and judge him, said Saleh, appearing relaxed and confident and dressed in a sharp plaid black and grey suit Canada Goose Coats On Sale jacket canada goose uk outlet and canada goose uk shop a striped tie.Any suggestion he stole, he says, is part of a campaign to denigrate him by what he terms the administration now at the helm of the Arabian peninsula state, the second poorest Arab country after Mauritania.Saleh is unique among the leaders who lost power canadian goose jacket during Arab Canada Goose Outlet Spring uprisings by remaining at liberty in his country, thanks to a deal brokered Canada Goose online by the United States and Gulf uk canada goose Arab countries following mass protests against his rule.The demonstrations, which were part of the canada goose outlet Arab Spring uprisings, were demanding democratic and economic reforms.Not for Saleh, however, the indignity of exile or the high profile prosecutions suffered by his fellow former Arab leaders.CIRCUS But one thing he has in common with his former presidents is that he is the target of accusations of grand corruption. canada goose black friday sale sanctions committee for Yemen, which will be made up of all 15 council members. blacklist.He said he would cooperate with the Security Council in the manner but that the world body buy canada goose jacket cheap should not as a policemana media circus and a besmirching of the former regime that achieved unity and democracy. because this is a failed government so it is hanging its mistakes on others, he said.have Canada Goose sale they achieved in the past three years? This is canada goose store a question. They are living on the achievements of past canada goose clearance years. uk canada goose outlet ally, remains in poor shape, and analysts say its efforts to stabilise and move forward smoothly with a post Saleh political transition remain vulnerable.Problems include a stubborn canada goose factory sale al Qaeda insurgency, canada goose uk black friday a conflict with secessionists in the south and Shi Houthi fighters in north, as well as endemic corruption and poor governance.Estimates vary widely on the amount of money Saleh is accused of hiding.Prominent political scientist Abdulghani Iryani said he expected it to be the billions, thanks in part to a long entrenched system of patronage in the civil service.Under Saleh tenure, Yemen buy canada goose jacket civil services grew massively bloated, and poverty grew. While the World Food Programme has said that nearly Canada Goose Parka half of Yemen population is growing hungry, the Arabian Peninsula country also boasts some millionaires.A POLITICIAN The Security Canada Goose Jackets Council has previously expressed concern over reports of interference by Saleh and al Beidh. Special Envoy Jamal Benomar accused members of Saleh circle of obstructing reconciliation talks in Yemen aimed at completing a power transfer deal that eased Saleh cheap Canada Goose out of office.At the time, a Saleh aide denied his camp was undermining the talks.Yemen approved a new federal system at the end of national reconciliation talks in January, in which Yemen political factions also canada goose coats gave interim president Abd Rabbu cheap canada goose uk Mansour Hadi extra time to implement reforms, including drafting a new constitution.Saleh survived an assassination attempt during an attack on the presidential palace in June 2011 and was flown immediately to Saudi Arabia where he underwent several surgeries to treat his wounds, which included severe burns.The veteran leader said he was not looking to return to power in a future election, as some people close Canada Goose Online to him have hinted in the past.

West Coast for first time since 2008

West Coast refiners, the head cheap canada goose uk of the state oil company international trading arm said on Thursday. West Coast, with most, if not all of it, destined for California, Isaac Volin, chief executive of canada goose uk outlet PMI Comercio Internacional, said in an Canada Goose online interview.

The company plans to canada goose clearance ship an average of 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of canada goose clearance sale Maya crude and 50,000 bpd of Isthmus crude over the course Canada Goose Outlet of 2017, he said.

The company sold spot shipments late last year to a Royal Dutch Shell refinery in California. But Volin said he wants to eventually enter into longer term contracts canada goose factory sale with West Coast clients later in the year. He declined to name Canada Goose Jackets specific buyers. administration imposed a canada goose black friday sale new border tax. President elect Donald Trump is considering taxing imports to protect American jobs and wages. While his specific plans are unclear, canada goose store his comments have worried refiners that depend on crude imports between the two neighbors. Gulf Coast refiners, shipping more oil to Asian markets in recent years.

Volin said Pemex will export the crude from a recently remodeled terminal adjacent to its Salina Cruz refinery on the Pacific coast, lessening dependence on its export hubs clustered in the Gulf of Mexico, especially when they are hit buy canada goose jacket cheap by bad weather.

While crude export revenue once contributed as much as 40 percent of government revenue, that figure has dropped by less than half as oil prices have cheap Canada Goose slumped over the past couple years.

thing we Canada Goose Online noted during 2016 canada goose is that it has become more attractive to export our crude to the West Coast of the United States than send it to other markets, like Europe, said Volin, a former head of BlackRock Mexico.

Pemex European markets are saturated with crudes from the jacketstock Middle East and the price it is paid in the West Coast, after discounting freight costs, is higher, he added.

The new uk canada goose outlet West Coast shipments began in late November with 23,000 barrels of crude, Volin said, noting that the buyer of a subsequent December spot shipment paid $1.45 more per barrel than European buyers would Canada Goose Parka have.

Pemex sold both spot shipments to Royal Dutch Shell Martinez refinery near San Francisco, California, canada goose uk black friday according to data from Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Due to Pemex sending buy canada goose jacket more crude to its domestic refineries for processing, total crude exports in 2017 are likely to average between 1 million and 1.1 million bpd, Volin said, down from just over 1.2 million bpd last year. suppliers hit a record in 2016 as Mexico six domestic refineries processed much less crude, which has prompted some analysts to forecast more growth in gasoline and diesel purchases in 2017.

Volin, however, said Pemex expected to import less fuel this year than in 2016.

Gasoline imports are expected to dip to around 400,000 bpd, down canada goose uk shop some 17 percent, while diesel imports will fall to about 130,000 bpd, down nearly 30 percent from 2016, according to Volin.

The executive said the drop in fuel imports will begin after March.

Mexico is undergoing a gradual canada goose outlet gasoline price liberalization, part of a landmark 2014 energy canada goose coats on sale overhaul, which caused fuel prices to spike by double digits on uk canada goose Jan. 1.

The canada goose coats price spike, known locally as a has led to angry protests across the country over the past couple canadian goose jacket weeks, including highway blockades and looting of gas stations. crude might be imported, and Pemex Canada Goose sale Industrial Transformation unit, which runs its refineries, has yet to submit a formal request, Volin Canada Goose Coats On Sale said. (Reporting by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Richard Chang).