Section 2: Economic events
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Canada
Enbridge announced plans to build a new 150,000 barrel-per-day Monarch pipeline project to move crude from Cushing, Oklahoma to Houston. Canadian Natural Resources announced it will be launching the next Horizon phase to push production to 232,000 barrels-a-day from the current 110,000 and the construction of Kirby, a steam-assisted gravity drainage project expected to produce 45,000 barrels-per-day by 2013. Encana cut its capital spending plan by $200 million (US) for the rest of the year due to low natural gas prices. Questerre Energy and its partner Talisman Energy deferred completion for two test wells on the south shore of the St. Lawrence for six months due to high labour costs.
World
China raised its key interest rate for the first time since 2007 by a quarter point, lifting the one-year loan rate to 5.56% and the one-year rate paid on deposits to 2.5%. Major banks were ordered to increase their reserves, allowing them to lend $1.1 trillion (US) this year, down from a record $1.4 trillion (US) in 2009.
The Bank of Japan cut its key interest rate from 0.1% to a range of zero to 0.1% and set aside $60 billion (US) for new asset purchases of private sector assets and government bonds.
Britain announced an austerity budget cutting 490,000 public sector jobs over four years, average departmental spending cuts of 11% over four years, welfare and child benefit reductions and a raise in the state pension age from 65 to 66 by 2020 in efforts to reduce its $245.2 billion (US) deficit. Still, nominal spending will rise 6% over the next four years, led by interest payments.
France raised its pension age from 60 to 62, which led to numerous strikes that curtailed gasoline supplies for several days.
The moratorium on oil exploration in the Gulf of Mexico was lifted but companies have to demonstrate compliance with new regulations before receiving a permit to drill.
Russia unveiled a five-year $60 billion (US) privatization plan with 900 firms slated to be privatized.
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