News in Brief
WTO pushes for reglobalized supply chains
CNBC – World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged diversification in global supply chains, amid ongoing efforts to progress the body’s reform.
“There is an overconcentration of manufacturing in certain sectors in certain countries,” she said on the sidelines of the latest weekend summit of G-7 (Group of Seven) major economic powers in Hiroshima, Japan. “I agree that we need to build resilience, that the world cannot be reliant on a few countries for a few key products.”
ECB has more ground to cover to tame inflation: Lagarde
AFP – The European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) fight to tame inflation isn’t over and more action is still needed, according to president Christine Lagarde.
“I think we covered a large chunk of the journey toward taming inflation and bringing it back to our target,” Lagarde said in an interview on the Buitenhof TV show aired on Sunday (May 21). “We are not done yet, we are not pausing based on the information I have today,” she said, adding that the “inflation outlook is too high and for too long”.
China’s exports to North Korea surge in April
REUTERS – China’s exports to North Korea soared in April from a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed.
Chinese outbound shipments to the country surged 69% year-on-year to $166 million in April, data released by China’s General Administration of Customs showed.