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BAGHDAD — Iraq's premier summoned the central bank governor on Tuesday amid worries sparked by a currency drop against the dollar, with lawmakers calling for an extraordinary session of parliament.

One US dollar traded at 1,580 Iraqi dinars on the street on Tuesday, against the central bank rate of 1,470 dinars, state news agency INA reported.

The drop, which began about two weeks ago, has sparked alarm in the media in the oil-rich country, and on Tuesday Prime Minister Mohammed Al Sudani met the central bank governor to discuss the issue.

The cental bank has blamed the slump on "temporary pressures" sparked by the "adoption of new mechanisms to protect the banking sector, customers, and the financial system".

Iraq's Association of Private Banks said the rate had risen as a result of changes to the "mechanism" of foreign currency sales due to international requirements.

The government has sought to ease tensions, including by ensuring a flow of dollars at the official rate.

Prime ministerial adviser Muzhar Saleh told INA on Sunday said there were "no fears" about Iraq's ability to maintain the exchange rate, noting foreign reserves were at "a high in Iraq's financial history", likely exceeding $100 billion.

Economist Safwan Qusai said confidence in the dinar had been "shaken" by corruption scandals, with problems sparked by US Treasury restrictions imposed on "financial transfers to certain countries".

Graft, mismanagement and nepotism are rife in Iraq where they have caused widespread public anger. Iraq ranks near the bottom of Transparency International's corruption perceptions index, at 157 out of 180 countries.

AMMAN — Hikma Pharmaceuticals, the multinational pharmaceutical company, on Monday announced a new exclusive licencing and commercialisation agreement with Junshi Biosciences, an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company for toripalimab, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). 

Under the terms of the agreement, Hikma has an exclusive licence to develop and commercialise toripalimab injection in all its MENA markets, according to a statement from Hikma.

In addition, Hikma has the right of first negotiation for the future commercialisation of three under development drugs in MENA.

Toripalimab is an innovative anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for marketing in China for six indications to date. Over 30 toripalimab clinical studies covering more than 15 indications have been conducted globally, including in China, the US, Southeast Asia, and Europe, the statement said.

Ongoing or completed pivotal clinical studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of toripalimab cover a broad range of tumor types including cancers of the lung, nasopharynx, esophagus, stomach, bladder, breast, liver, kidney and skin,among others, according to the statement. 

“As the third largest pharmaceutical company in MENA, with a history of more than 40 years, Hikma is well established and respected and offers deep-rooted expertise, with unparalleled local knowledge. The company has also demonstrated strong commercial capabilities, particularly in areas such as oncology and biotechnology,” said Ning LI, CEO of Junshi Biosciences. “We anticipate that toripalimabcould be the first marketed Chinese anti-PD-1 antibody in MENA. We look forward to working closely with Hikma to establish toripalimab’s position in the MENA markets in order to provide patients with high-quality innovative care,” Ning added.

Mazen Darwazeh, Hikma’s executive vice chairman and president of MENA, said: “Anti-PD-1s have changed the way cancer is treated over the past few years but, unfortunately, patient access to these treatments in the region has been sub-optimal. Toripalimab has a compelling clinical profile with impressive efficacy and safety data, and we are thrilled to be collaborating with Junshi Biosciences to equip doctors and patients in MENA with this innovative treatment.” 

“This agreement strengthens our biotech and oncology portfolio and enables us to increase patients’ access to PD-1s, an important milestone in delivering on our purpose of putting better health, within reach, every day,” Darwazeh added.

TOKYO — Prices in Japan rose at their fastest pace since 1981 in November, data showed Friday, fuelled in part by higher energy costs.

Core consumer prices, which exclude volatile fresh food costs, climbed 3.7 per cent last month compared to a year earlier, data released by the internal affairs ministry showed.

Prices jumped the most for processed food items and were also higher for electricity and durable goods like air conditioners.

The November figure is well below the sky-high levels that have sparked concern in the United States, Britain and elsewhere, but far exceeds the Bank of Japan's long-term goal of 2 per cent. 

Even excluding fresh food and energy, the index was up 2.8 per cent.

"Although low by international standards, Japanese consumer price inflation at three per cent to four per cent is high enough to feel uncomfortable with stagnant wage growth," wrote Sarah Tan, economist at Moody's Analytics, in a note.

The headline core consumer price index (CPI) has risen consistently since the beginning of the year, putting pressure on the Bank of Japan to tweak its longstanding monetary easing policies.

The US Federal Reserve and other central banks have sharply hiked interest rates this year to tackle inflation.

But Japan, which since the 1990s has swung between periods of sluggish inflation and deflation, has gone against the grain and continues to keep interest rates at ultra-low levels as it tries to kickstart its economy.

The Bank of Japan says it sees the recent price increases as temporary and that there is no reason to change course yet.

The starkly different approaches taken by the BoJ and the Fed have driven down the value of the yen against the dollar this year from about 115 yen per dollar in March to as low as 151 yen.

The currency has recovered somewhat, helped by government interventions.

This week, the Japanese central bank delivered a shock tweak to its ultra-easy monetary policy, prompting the yen to strengthen rapidly.

While the adjustment falls short of a rate hike, analysts said it could help arrest the yen's declining value.

Koya Miyamae, senior economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, said prices were likely to continue rising in the short term.

"The core CPI rose in November due to rises in food prices and gas. The index will likely rise further, nearing or potentially rising above four percent in December," he told AFP.

"But core CPI will remain above two per cent next year, while the pace of the rise in wages is not catching up with inflation," he added.

Most analysts expect price rises in Japan to peak around the end of the year or early 2023.

"Inflation will likely average four per cent in December given delayed pass-through of higher producer prices," Tan said.

"It is expected to decline in 2023 as policy support kicks in," with global inflation also moderating as commodity prices temper and supply chain disruptions are fixed.

ISTANBUL — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday announced the third major minimum wage hike in a year to try and cushion the impact of a historic jump in consumer prices ahead of crunch elections. 

More than 40 per cent of Turkey's workforce earns the lowest income allowed by law.

Erdogan relied on support from the working classes to rise to power nearly two decades ago — and will need it again to secure reelection in polls which are due by next June.

But Turkey's poor have been hit the hardest by an economic crisis that has seen the official annual inflation rate reach 85 per cent.

On Thursday the Turkish leader said the country would boost the monthly take-home pay to a minimum of 8,500 liras ($455).

The minimum wage stood at 2,826 liras in December 2021.

It was raised to 4,253 liras last January and then to 5,500 in July.

But an accompanying plunge in the lira's value means that the wage has been raised only fractionally in dollar terms in the past year.

'Unsustainable' 

Turkey's latest economic crisis started when Erdogan — a lifelong opponent of high interest rates — pressured the central bank to bring down chronically high consumer prices by lowering borrowing costs.

Conventional economic theory urges policymakers to fight inflation by curbing demand and raising the price of doing business through higher interest rates.

Erdogan's approach set off a currency crisis that saw the lira lose nearly half its value in a matter of weeks late last year.

The government has responded by spending its reserves on currency support measures and imposing complex economic rules aimed at bringing inflation under control.

Erdogan promised on Thursday that inflation will slow to 20 per cent by the end of next year.

"We will witness a rapid decline of inflation rates starting this month," he said in televised remarks.

Analysts expect inflation to start falling sharply because the data will be compared to readings from a period 12 months ago when prices were soaring at breakneck pace.

But they also think it will remain substantially elevated until Erdogan either reserves course or a new government embraces economic orthodoxy.

The central bank on Thursday showed no signs of comprise by keeping its benchmark interest rate at 9 per cent.

Turkey's official inflation reading of 84.39 per cent means that banks lose 75.39 per cent of a loan's value if they lend money for a year at the official interest rate.

This threatens to cripple lending and dramatically slow economic growth.

"Economic growth will continue to slow in the first half of next year, and it's very possible that President Erdogan puts pressure on the [central bank] to loosen policy even more ahead of next year's election," Nicholas Farr of Capital Economics wrote in a note to clients.

Attempts to force Turkish exporters to sell dollars "and foreign financing have helped stabilise the currency in recent months, but this is unsustainable and we are forecasting it to fall by around 20 per cent against the dollar by end-2023," Farr said.

LONDON — Striking ambulance workers in England and Wales manned picket lines on Wednesday, escalating a pay dispute with the government following walkouts by nurses and other public sector staff.

The series of stoppages are causing misery Britain in the run-up to Christmas, with railway workers and passport control officers set to ruin festive holiday getaways as the government vows to resist the growing pay demands.

As paramedics and call handlers walked out Wednesday, the government and unions furiously traded blame over the possible loss of life.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay, writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, accused the unions of making a "conscious decision" to "inflict harm" on patients.

GMB union national secretary, Rachel Harrison, hit back calling his comments "insulting" to ambulance workers, who were "forced" to strike "because year after year the government has failed to listen to them".

Employees across the UK economy are demanding salary rises above decades-high inflation — currently running at nearly 11 per cent — which is spurring the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation.

On Tuesday, thousands of members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland took to picket lines, five days after their first strike in its 106-year history.

Unions representing both nurses and ambulance workers in the state-run National Health Service (NHS) have threatened further stoppages in the new year if the government keeps refusing to discuss pay.

'Immense pressure' 

Around 40 staff formed a picket line outside West Midlands Ambulance Services' hub in Longford in central England, standing behind a banner reading "our NHS is under siege".

As passing ambulances sounded their horns in support, a Unite union representative, Steve Thompson, said the walkout was about trying to retain and improve services, as well as pay.

"This is about telling them [the government] that we are not going to allow it [a deterioration in services] to happen. We are not going to roll over," he said.

"We want the government to actually wake up and realise that this situation is serious."

Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, said the UK's emergency health system had been under "immense pressure" for the last three years.

He told Times Radio the last year had been "the worst we've ever seen it" when it came to delays in getting patients into hospital from ambulances due to a lack of beds.

And he said accident and emergency departments were expecting people to make their own way to hospital on Wednesday — even those with strokes and heart attacks.

The government insists it must stick to modest increases for public sector workers recommended by independent pay review bodies.

"The best way to help them and help everyone else in the country is for us to get a grip and reduce inflation as quickly as possible," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said.

But the RCN has criticised the government's stance and accused Barclay of adopting a "macho" negotiating style during recent brief meetings.

It has warned that nurses would take wider industrial action next month if the government "keeps giving our nursing staff the cold shoulder".

Ministers have drafted in 750 military personnel to drive ambulances and perform logistics roles to mitigate the impact of Wednesday's ambulance strike which will affect almost all areas of England and Wales.

Despite the government's insistence that it will not negotiate, polls indicate most people support nurses, and to a lesser extent other workers walking out.

YouGov polling published on Tuesday showed two-thirds of Britons support striking nurses, with 63-per cent support for ambulance staff. 

LONDON — UK nurses on Tuesday staged a second one-day strike amid an increasingly acrimonious fight with the government for better wages and warnings that patient safety could be jeopardised.

Up to 100,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland walked out for the first time in the union's 106-year history last Thursday.

They want an above-inflation pay increase to make up for years of real-terms salary cuts, but the government insists it cannot afford anything above a roughly 4-5 per cent rise.

On the picket line outside a central London hospital opposite parliament, Mamta Pun, 25, said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's stance on the pay dispute was "a slap in the face for all healthcare staff, the general public and patients".

The intensive care nurse at the St Thomas' Hospital, where former premier Boris Johnson was treated in intensive care for COVID-19, said she and her colleagues finished shifts "anxious, scared, terrified" because of their workload.

Outside Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, northwest England, Suni George, 45, said his pay had hardly changed in his 17 years as a nurse.

"We get a lot of tax so even when the annual income looks like it's gone up, we don't have more money," he said.

The striking nurses are among growing numbers of UK public and private sector workers taking industrial action over pay and working conditions, as they grapple with a cost-of-living crisis worsened by decades-high inflation.

The UK consumer prices index is currently running at nearly 11 per cent, with inflation in double digits and energy prices soaring on the back of the war in Ukraine.

Ambulance workers, including paramedics and call handlers, are set to strike on Wednesday, prompting fears that many emergencies will not be dealt with.

A second walkout is scheduled for December 28, while others, including postal, railway and Border Force staff, are staging stoppages over the busy Christmas travel period.

'Unaffordable' 

The RCN has criticised Sunak's government for refusing to discuss pay as part of stalled negotiations.

RCN chief Pat Cullen said nurses would take wider industrial action next month if the dispute was not resolved.

"If this government keeps giving our nursing staff the cold shoulder as they have to date then, it's really unfortunate, that come January, we will see more hospitals being involved and striking and that means more nursing staff involved," she said.

The union has also accused Health Secretary Steve Barclay of adopting a "macho" negotiating style during brief meetings held recently.

"The RCN's demands are unaffordable during these challenging times and would take money away from frontline services while they are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic," Barclay said on Monday.

He and other ministers have reiterated that they can only accept the recommendations of an independent pay review body.

The government-appointed body of economists and human resources experts urged hiking healthcare sector pay at least £1,400 ($1,740) on top of a 3 per cent increase last year.

But critics argue it is constrained by government-imposed budget limits and that its assessment, published in July, predates current higher inflation rates. 

Military 

Sunak is expected to be grilled about his response to the strikes and the cost-of-living crisis by senior MPs later on Tuesday. 

Ministers plan to draft in 750 military personnel to drive ambulances and perform logistics roles to mitigate the impact of the strikes.

Despite the government's dogged insistence that it will not negotiate over pay, polls indicate the majority of people support the nurses' stance, and to a lesser extent other workers walking out.

YouGov polling during December reported by The Sunday Times suggested nearly two-thirds back the nurses, while half were supportive of ambulance staff stoppages.

However, after a year of strikes on the railways, only 37 per cent backed its workers amid their ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.

MILAN — Italy's new hard-right government has abandoned plans to allow merchants to refuse card payments under 60 euros ($64), following pressure from the European Union.

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti confirmed the U-turn as he set out amendments to the 2023 budget late on Sunday.

The European Commission last week approved the general direction of far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's first budget, but warned moves to boost the use of cash risked efforts to fight tax evasion.

"We must find solutions that are compatible with the recommendations and reference standards, also at the European level," Giorgetti told a parliamentary commission.

The government had proposed merchants be allowed to refuse card payments for transactions worth less than 60 euros without incurring penalties, alongside measures to raise the maximum for cash payments in shops from 2,000 to 5,000 euros, which also drew criticism from Brussels.

The plan to raise the ceiling on cash payments will go ahead.

The European Commission had previously recommended that Italy fight tax evasion by strengthening e-payments and limiting the thresholds for cash payments.

The application of sanctions on merchants who refused card payments was also one of the goals agreed under an EU post-pandemic recovery plan, from which Italy stands to receive almost 200 billion euros in grants and loans by 2026.

The Bank of Italy has also criticised cash payments as aiding tax evasion, which costs Italy about 100 billion euros per year.

Another measure criticised by Brussels, a tax amnesty on debts of up to 1,000 euros from the period 2000 to 2015, has been postponed for three months, under the latest budget draft.

LONDON — At St Mary's primary school in London, almost half of children are entitled to a free school lunch owing to the fact they are from England's poorest families.

And while charities argue that more pupils should be allowed access to taxpayer-funded meals amid a cost-of-living crisis caused by sky-high inflation, the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is resisting such calls. 

At 48 per cent of pupils, the proportion of St Mary's children entitled to a free school lunch is far higher than the UK average. 

"It's shocking to think that a number of children and our families are struggling to make ends meet and are struggling to provide the food that they need for their families," Claire Mitchell, part of the school's leadership team, told AFP. 

Other families who ought to benefit from free school meals cannot because they earn above the cut-off point, which stands at £7,400 ($9,163) per year in England.

"The threshold is just set too low, and is out of step with the other devolved nations in the UK," according to Stephanie Slater, founder and chief executive of charity School Food Matters. 

"In Northern Ireland, the threshold is £14,000 pounds. In Scotland and Wales they are just beginning to roll out universal free school meals, meaning that every child in every school will eventually get a free meal at lunchtime."

By comparison, just over one-third of pupils in England benefit from the assistance worth about £2.40 a day.

And according to the Child Poverty Action Group, one in three children in England which it says live in poverty do not qualify.

'Started with pandemic'

At St Mary's, a Roman Catholic school, many parents are struggling to cope with spiralling energy and food bills.

The school has its own food bank offering donated staple items like bread and milk for free.

"The pandemic is for us where we really started noticing the change when families were either losing jobs or unable to access as many hours at work as they were previously," said Mitchell. 

According to the Sutton Trust, the number of families unable to afford school meals in England has jumped by 50 per cent during the inflation surge.

The charity has meanwhile hit out at the government for not widening access in a recent budget. 

England and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford, who benefitted from free school lunches, has led a campaign for greater availability. 

He has been joined by the likes of singer Zayn Malik, London mayor Sadiq Khan and Ken Murphy, chief executive of British supermarket giant Tesco.

"When we talk about hunger, we're talking about children coming to school and relying on a hot, nutritious meal at lunchtime," said Slater. 

For those not entitled to a free lunch but who find themselves in difficulty, "schools will either subsidise free meals for those children out of their own school budgets, or families are sending in packed lunches that are inadequate because they're struggling to find good nutrition", she told AFP.

For Mitchell, a hungry child "will struggle to focus and concentrate".

"If they're not reaching their full potential now... it'll be harder to catch up".