News in Brief
Rubbish piles up in streets of Paris
AFP – A protracted strike by rubbish collectors has added a new twist to France’s festering dispute over pension reform as the battle over President Emmanuel Macron’s deeply unpopular reform enters a make-or-break week with tonnes of uncollected garbage piling higher by the day.
UK pay growth slows
REUTERS – Growth in pay in Britain – which the Bank of England is watching closely as it weighs up whether to pause its run of interest rate hikes next week –lost pace in the three months to January, official data showed on Tuesday.
Basic pay, excluding bonuses, rose by 6.5% compared with 6.7% in the three months to December, representing the first slowdown in the that measure since late 2021.
Senegal 2023 growth lower than expected
REUTERS – Growth in Senegal’s economy is expected to accelerate in 2023 but still come in lower than expected, IMF mission chief Edward Gemayel said on Tuesday following a staff-level visit.
He said in November that the West African country’s economy was expected to grow 8.3% in 2023 on the back of a temporary boost from oil and gas production.