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Germany, UK Issue Travel Warnings For US Due To Government Shutdown http://www.economywatch.com/news/germany-uk-travel-warning-us-government-shutdown.03-10.html Germany and the United Kingdom have become the first countries to issue advisories for travellers to the United States, warning of possible delays at immigration and tourist sites as the U.S. government remains partially shut due to a budget impasse. In a notice posted on its website, the German Foreign Ministry warned that "travellers should expect longer wait times at immigration control," even though air traffic controllers and Customs and Security operations at U.S. airports should be operating normally; while the U.K. government also warned of delays in air travel and at immigration. According to a report by the Daily Mail, the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), the U.K.'s travel trade association for tour operators and travel agents, also warned British tourists that they were unlikely to receive a refund on their holidays unless a "significant part" of their trip has been affected by closures as a result of the U.S. shutdown. According to ABTA, around 30,000 Britons are currently holidaying in the U.S., with only a fraction booking trips to national parks, which have all been closed. Britons comprise the largest European tourism contingent to the U.S., according to U.S. Commerce Department statistics, followed by Germans. On Wednesday, European leaders expressed disappointment at the federal government shutdown, but were optimistic of minimal damage to the economy, as long as U.S. politicians can reach an agreement within two weeks. "The German government is following the developments and events in the United States very closely and we regret that there has not yet been a resolution of the conflict over the US budget," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert to reporters, as cited by AFP. "We hope that there will be progress soon that will allow the conflict to end."

(Reuters) - European shares saw their strongest gains in a week on Tuesday after a pick-up in German economic sentiment data bolstered hopes the region's biggest economy would rebound quickly from its recent weakness. Wall Street was expected to return from a three-day weekend with further gains, as it looks to build on the seven straight weeks of rises that have pushed the S&P 500 to a five-year high. Following last week's GDP figures showing that the euro zone saw a weaker end to 2012 than expected, Germany's ZEW survey of investors and analysts brightened the mood as it comfortably beat expectations to hit its highest level since April 2010. "Financial market experts have made their peace with the weak fourth quarter of 2012," said ZEW president Wolfgang Franz after its headline figure jumped to 48.2 points from 31.5 in January. "In their opinion the German economy faces less of a headwind from the euro crisis than throughout the last months." European stock markets, which had lost around 1.5 percent since the end of January, extended early gains after the data to put them on track for their biggest advance in a week. The FTSEurofirst 300 had added 0.9 percent by 1330 GMT, led by a 1.5 gain on Paris's CAC-40 and 1.2 percent rises on Frankfurt's DAX, in Milan and in Madrid. "Even if the real economy only lives up to half the expectations, ... any fears of a technical recession should turn out to have been unjustified," ING economist Carsten Brzeski said of the German outlook following the ZEW survey. The euro also rose and German government bonds turned negative after the figures, though both moves proved to be brief. The euro was little changed at $1.3350 as afternoon trading gathered pace and benchmark Bunds were back in positive territory at 142.82. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi's reiteration on Monday that the bank would continue to monitor the euro's recent strength kept downward pressure on the currency, as some took the comments as a hint tha

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Wednesday saw many banks simultaneously slash deposit interest rates, while the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office announced a slight decrease in the city's consumer price index. The interest rate for deposits of a term between one and three months at Vietcombank was lowered from the rate cap of 8 percent a year to 7.5 percent a year. The country's third-largest partly-private lender also dramatically cut the rate for deposits of a term of over 12 months, dropping it from 10.5 percent to 9.5 percent. ACB meanwhile imposed a 0.2 percentage point cut on rates for one- to six-month terms, while offering a 7.6 percent a year rate for 9-month term deposits. Some industry insiders, however, believe the unexpected interest rate cuts were a sign of banks embracing another order to slash rates by the State Bank of Vietnam. The banking system is likely to see another interest rate adjustment, as the government has recently asked the central bank to continue lowering deposit interest rate in order to reduce lending rates. The deposit interest rate was capped at 8 percent last year under the government's bid to assist businesses with lower lending rates. CPI declines Other insiders said the rate cuts came since banks have anticipated the development of the CPI in March, which saw a slight decrease of 0.29 percent, according to the statistics office. The city's CPI rose 1.15 percent in the first quarter of this year. Six out of 11 commodity baskets posted slight decreases, the office said. The deepest decrease -- 0.62 percent -- was recorded in the commodities and services basket, followed by food and restaurant services (0.6 percent), and culture-entertainment-tourism services (0.47 percent). Beverages and cigarettes dropped by 0.35 percent, while transport saw a 0.34 percent decline, and garments and textiles-headwear-footwear, 0.08 percent. In the increase group, housing-electricity-water-fuel prices, and construction material prices respectively rose by 0.38 percent

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