LOC10:30
07:30 GMT
The US President and Vice President of China sign at the White House the first part of the trade agreement
By Shaimaa Al-Ruwaished
KUWAIT, Dec 29 (KUNA) -- The prevailing novel coronavirus (COVID-19), now mushrooming into diverse strains, left wide scale impact on nations' economies with the US incurring a record state deficit and the UK major economic recession.
Jan. 2: Greece, Cyprus and Israel inked an agreement for establishing a natural gas pipeline in the Mediterranean.
Jan. 10: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) approved an agreement with Ethiopia to execute a development program worth USD 305 million for aiding more than 13 million farmers.
Jan. 15: US President Donald Trump and the Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese State Council Liu He inked first chapter of a commercial deal at the White House.
Jan. 16: The US Senate endorsed by a majority a new commercial deal with Canada and Mexico to replace The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).
Jan. 29: US President Donald Trump signed a new commercial accord with Canada and Mexico replacing NAFTA that he considered as unfair for the US.
Feb. 4: Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohammad and his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan declared an accord on establishing economic partnership between the two countries.
Feb. 16: US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer declared the increase of fees by 5-15 percent on imported aircraft from the EU.
April 8: European aircraft-maker Airbus Industries scaled back aircraft production by around 33 percent because of the novel coronavirus.
April 15: The French government announced USD 120 billion assistance package to alleviate the loss of the companies that were affected from coronavirus.
April 23: President Donald Trump issued an executive order restricting certain categories of immigrants from entering the United States for 60 days as the country reels from COVID-19 pandemic.
April 23: European Union leaders approved 540 billion euro (USD 585 billion) package of safety nets to rescue the European economy as a result of COVID-19.
May 4: World leaders pledged 7.4 billion euros (USD eight billion) for European Commission's coronavirus vaccine fundraising conference that was held in Brussels.
May 4: The Iranian parliament approved to reform the country's currency rial by removing four zeros from the monetary unit.
May 16: US House of Representatives approved a USD three trillion bill crafted by Democrats to provide more aid for battling the coronavirus and stimulating a faltering economy that rocked by the pandemic.
May 27: The international labour organizations stated that more than one in six young people out of work due to COVID-19.
June 19: British public debt exceeded two trillion pounds sterling for the first time in the county's history since 1963.
June 30: The European Union announced pledging Fourth Conference on "Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region" with euro 6.9 billion (USD 7.7 billion).
Oct. 16: White House and Treasury data showed historical US deficit of USD 3.1 trillion.
Oct. 26: Turkish lira recorded historical decrease against US Dollar with eight liras equal USD one in currency exchange rate.
Nov. 6: Malaysian government issued the biggest budget in the country's history, USD 77.88 billion, to counter the effects of coronavirus on the economy.
Nov. 21: The UK and Canada reached an agreement to keep commercial ties as is post-Brexit.
Dec. 3: Spanish parliament endorsed the 2021 state budget, projecting high taxes, expenditure, higher investments in various sectors and support for medium and small companies.
Dec. 4: Turkey launched the first train cargo trip to China via two continents, two seas and five countries.
Dec. 10: France fined Google euro 100 (USD 120 million), Amazon euro 35 million (USD 42 million) for non-abidance by the digital tracking system Cookies.
Dec. 15: Britain and Mexico inked a free trade agreement due to go into effect after interim Brexit period.
Dec. 16: European Parliament approved long-term EU budget for 2021-27 at a total value of euro 1.074 trillion (USD 1.305 trillion).
Dec. 18: The NATO approved a civil budget of euro 258.9 million (USD 317.4 million) and a military budget valued at euro 61.1 billion (USD 97.1 billion) for 2021.
Dec. 18: US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross declared 77 Chinese companies were blacklisted for US national security considerations. (end)
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