ECB's Lautenschlaeger welcomes inflation rise but says too soon for rate move
European Central Bank board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger has said the ECB needs to
wait to see if inflation stabilizes in its target zone of just under 2 percent before
interest rates can be raised, but that she hopes its bond-buying program can be scaled
down before year-end.
Euro zone consumer prices were up by an annual 1.8 percent in January, the highest rate since
February 2013, according to a Eurostat estimate, after 1.1 percent in December.
"Has inflation returned just because we've had one month of that kind of inflation?"
Lautenschlaeger said in an interview with German Deutschlandfunk radio to be aired on
Sunday.
"I'm very pleased to say, quite honestly, that we're close to our target of just under
2 percent.
But what's important for me is that it's not a temporary, ephemeral outlier on the upside.
"For January, we don't yet know for sure.
For December, it was largely due to energy prices and the so-called basis effect ... and,
hold onto your hats, due to holidays booked by German tourists.
"So it's really important to ascertain that there is a trend, that the inflation has really
returned," she added.
"So let's wait a few months so that we can be sure."
Other data this week showed prices rising in Germany, France and Spain, three of the
bloc's four biggest economies.
But euro zone core inflation, the ECB's focus, which excludes volatile prices of energy and
unprocessed food, was unchanged in January at 0.9 percent.
Lautenschlaeger also said that she was hoping the ECB could "return as quickly as possible
to a normalization from the very expansive monetary policies" - its massive bond-buying
program."If inflation rates continue as they were in January, then I would not want to
wait until next year," she said.
A premature increase in interest rates would be counterproductive and could force the ECB
to respond with even stronger measures, she said.
(Story corrects throughout to make clear Lautenschlaeger hopes the ECB can scale down its bond-buying
program, not raise interest rates, before year-end.)Mongolia agrees economic bailout
plan worth $5.5 billion with IMF, other partners
Mongolia has agreed with the International Monetary Fund and other partners for a $5.5
billion economic stabilization package, according to a statement from the IMF on Sunday.
Asia Development Bank, World Bank and bilateral partners, including Japan and South Korea,
will provide up to $3 billion, while People's Bank of China will expand a swap line worth
15 billion yuan ($2.19 billion), the IMF said.
IMF will offer three-year loans worth about $440 million.
Trump administration to expand groups of immigrants to be deported documents
The Trump administration plans to direct immigration agents to greatly expand the categories of
immigrants they target for deportation, according to drafts of two memos seen by Reuters and
first reported by McClatchy news organization on Saturday.
Two sources familiar with the plans told Reuters the documents have been approved by Secretary
of Homeland Security John Kelly, but are under final review by the White House.
They are expected to be released to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) early next week.
Under the orders, hundreds of thousands of people would face expedited removal proceedings,
including those that had not been prioritized for deportation under former President Barack
Obama.
The memos are guidance to instruct agents in the field to implement two executive orders
signed by Trump on Jan. 25 intended to deter future migration and drive out more illegal
migrants from the United States.
One memo instructs ICE agents to ignore Obama's memos on immigration priorities that targeted
only recent arrivals and convicted criminal migrants for deportation.
Instead, migrants who have been charged with crimes but not convicted would be prioritized
for deportation.
The guidance also allows ICE agents wide discretion in deciding who to deport and considers anyone
in the United States illegally to be subject to deportation.
The guidance does leave in place Obama's 2012 executive action that protected 750,000
people brought to the United States illegally by their parents.
The fate of the policy, known as DACA, has been hotly debated within the White House,
according to sources familiar with the discussions.
Trump said in a news conference Friday that DACA was a "very difficult subject" for
him.
The ICE memo also states that immigrants will not be afforded rights under U.S. privacy
laws.
The second memo instructs CBP officers to crack down on illegal migration at the border
by holding migrants in detention until a determination in their case is made.
The Department of Homeland Security did not deny any information contained in the draft
memos but did not provide further detail.
A source familiar with the guidance said the memos were scheduled to be distributed on
Friday but the White House made a last-minute request to review them.
It is not known whether the White House may alter the guidance.
Kelly said in one of the memos that illegal immigration across the U.S. border with Mexico
had "created a significant national security vulnerability to the United States."China
says understands South Korean need for security, still opposes missiles
China understands South Korea's need to protect its security but Seoul still needs to respect
Beijing's concerns about the deployment of an advanced U.S. anti-missile system, Chinese
Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his South Korean counterpart.
China has repeatedly expressed opposition to South Korea's planned deployment later
this year of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system, which Seoul and
Washington say is needed to defend against North Korea.
China worries the system's powerful radar can penetrate its territory and it has objected
to the deployment.
Meeting on Saturday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Wang repeated
to South Korea's Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se China's opposition to THAAD, China's Foreign
Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Wang "stressed that one country's security should not be founded on the basis of harming
another country's security", the ministry paraphrased him as saying.
"China understands South Korea's need to protect its own security, and at the same time South
Korea should respect China's reasonable position," Wang added.
Wang and Yun also discussed North Korea, the ministry said, with Wang saying efforts to
seek peace should not be abandoned.
"All parties, at the same time as strictly enforcing Security Council resolutions, should
proactively look for break through points to resume negotiations, to break the negative
cycle of the nuclear issue on the peninsula," Wang said.
North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended
in a truce, not a peace treaty.
The North regularly threatens to destroy the South and the South's main ally, the United
States.
Earlier this month, North Korea tested an intermediate-range ballistic missile, its
first direct challenge to the international community since U.S. President Donald Trump
took office on Jan. 20.
China says it is committed to enforcing U.N. sanctions against its unpredictable neighbor,
whose nuclear and missile tests have angered Beijing.
China will suspend all imports of coal from North Korea starting Feb. 19, the country's
commerce ministry said on Saturday, as part of its efforts to implement United Nations
sanctions against the country.U.S. carrier group patrols in tense South China Sea
A United States aircraft carrier strike group has begun patrols in the South China Sea amid
growing tension with China over control of the disputed waterway and concerns it could
become a flashpoint under the new U.S. administration.
China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday warned Washington against challenging its sovereignty
in the South China Sea.
The U.S. navy said the force, including Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, began routine
operations in the South China Sea on Saturday.
The announcement was posted on the Vinson's Facebook page.
The strike group's commander, Rear Admiral James Kilby, said that weeks of training in
the Pacific had improved the group's effectiveness and readiness.
"We are looking forward to demonstrating those capabilities while building upon existing
strong relationships with our allies, partners and friends in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region,"
he was quoted as saying by the Navy News Service.
Friction between the United States and China over trade and territory under U.S. President
Donald Trump have increased concerns that the South China Sea could become a flashpoint.
China wrapped up its own naval exercises in the South China Sea on Friday.
War games involving its own aircraft carrier have unnerved neighbors with which it has
long-running territorial disputes.
China lays claim to almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion
worth of trade passes each year.
Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also claim parts of the waters
that command strategic sea lanes and have rich fishing grounds, along with oil and gas
deposits.
The United States has criticized Beijing's construction of man-made islands and build-up
of military facilities in the sea, and expressed concern they could be used to restrict free
movement.
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