Chinese government officials on Monday outlined steps they are taking to try to boost domestic demand by getting consumers to spend more as a tariff war launched by U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to curb the country's exports.

The central bank will study creating new tools to increase low-cost funding for important consumption areas, said Che Shiyi from the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

Wall Street was poised to open slightly lower Monday morning after U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he was pushing forward with more tariff hikes despite concerns about their impact on the economy and markets.

Futures for the S&P 500 inched back 0.1%, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.3%. Nasdaq futures were essentially unchanged.

The government will not resort to writing off deposits but will rather adopt an organized mechanism for returning them gradually, Finance Minister Yassine Jaber has said.

China has ordered banks and other financial institutions to encourage more consumer financing and use of credit cards as part of a campaign to get people to spend more.

The order Friday from the country's financial regulator is part of the ruling Communist Party's latest push to build more confidence among consumers who are opting to save rather than spend, worried over jobs and the outlook for the economy.

Qatar will provide natural gas supplies to Syria with the aim of generating 400 megawatts of electricity a day, in a measure to help address the war-battered country's severe electricity shortages, Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported Friday.

Syria's interim Minister of Electricity Omar Shaqrouq said the Qatari supplies are expected to increase the daily state-provided electricity supply from two to four hours per day.

The British economy unexpectedly shrank during January, piling pressure on Treasury chief Rachel Reeves before a key statement about the state of the public finances later this month.

Official figures Friday showed that the economy, the world's sixth-largest, saw output drop by 0.1% during the month, in contrast to expectations for a modest increase and December's solid 0.4% gain.

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday welcomed the new Lebanese government's request for support in addressing severe economic challenges.

Lebanon in January elected a new president after a more than two-year vacuum, and then formed a government led by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam. In February the IMF said it was open to a new loan agreement with the country following discussions with its recently-appointed finance minister.

U.S. President Donald Trump threw a curve ball at China by linking the fentanyl issue to his tariffs on imports. The Chinese government is swinging back.

First it issued a report detailing its efforts to control the illegal trade in fentanyl, specifically the ingredients for the opioid that are made in China. Then, the Chinese foreign minister blasted the U.S. for responding to Beijing's goodwill with tariffs. And this week, Chinese officials expressed their indignation at a rare background briefing with journalists.

Senior European Union officials were in South Africa for a summit Thursday with President Cyril Ramaphosa that centers on bolstering trade and diplomatic ties as both feel the impact of the Trump administration's confrontational foreign policy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa will meet with Ramaphosa at his Cape Town office in the first EU-South Africa summit since 2018.

Vaccines could be a key means of suppressing bird flu and avoiding the slaughter of millions of chickens, which is blamed for egg prices averaging nearly $6 a dozen. But the move has been delayed in part because of concerns it could jeopardize chicken exports worth billions of dollars a year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to spend $100 million to study bird flu vaccines to fight the disease in concert with meat chicken, egg and turkey groups. That's part of a larger $1 billion effort to invest in more protections to keep the virus off farms that President Donald Trump believes will help lower egg prices.