China has lowered its annual economic growth target to “around” 6.5 per cent, as Beijing plans to focus on risk control in the final year of President Xi Jinping’s first term. The figure, down from the government’s target growth range of 6.5 to 7 per cent for 2016, was revealed on Sunday morning by Premier Li Keqiang in his annual “work report” to China’s parliament, the National […]
By Kevin Yao and Xiaochong Zhang | BEIJING BEIJING China has cut its growth target this year as the world’s second-largest economy pushes through painful reforms to address a build-up in debt and strives to keep a lid on risks in its financial sector. China aims to expand its economy by around 6.5 percent in 2017, Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening of the annual meeting […]
By Sophie Louet and John Irish | AUBERVILLIERS, France AUBERVILLIERS, France Embattled French presidential candidate Francois Fillon defended his political plans on Saturday as the only credible future for the country and vowed to stay in the race, a day before a Paris rally called to demonstrate the strength of his support. Once the frontrunner, conservative Fillon is mired in a scandal over his wife’s pay, and […]
Digital and in-app transactions can reach unbanked audiences with convenient, fast and low-overhead services 04 March 2017 Dubai – The Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG), comprising businesses engaged in the money exchange and remittance industry, believes the rise of fintech in the GCC can help the remittance sector serve wider audiences faster through digital-first channels. The announcement comes as the Fintech industry booms globally and is […]
Good morning. Here’s our morning roundup of all the media news you need to know. Want to get this briefing in your inbox every morning? Subscribe here. So what have you heard more often: “Fox & Friends” shilling for President Trump or sophisticated people confiding their real reason for reading The New Yorker is the cartoons? Ah, if only Bob Mankoff had long ago negotiated some piece […]
There were no surprises in Yellen’s speech in Chicago on Friday in which the Fed chair confirmed the sudden and dramatic hawkish turn hinted at earlier in the week by Dudley and Williams, and which sent March rate hike odds from the low 30s to nearly 100% in the span of days. According to Yellen, the FOMC would “evaluate whether employment and inflation are continuing to evolve […]
Plot twists, accusations and 25,000 pages of evidence — a snapshot of the case that will determine Nawaz Sharif’s fate. Panama Papers leaked; Sharif family under spotlight — Feica/Dawn. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) makes 11.5 million secret documents available to the public for the very first time. The documents, coming from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, contain confidential attorney-client information for more than 214,488 […]
04 March 2017 MARC has affirmed its ratings of A and BBB on special purpose vehicle RCE Advance Sdn Bhd’s (RCEA) outstanding RM5 million Class B and RM10 million Class C notes under the RM420 million Fixed Rate Medium-Term Notes (MTN) Programme respectively. The outlook on the ratings is stable. There is currently no outstanding Class A notes under the programme upon the repayment of RM5 million on November 15, 2016. The rating […]
PARIS/LONDON France’s PSA Group (PEUP.PA) is set to announce a deal to buy Opel from General Motors (GM.N) on Monday after striking an agreement with the U.S. carmaker and winning the blessing of its board for the acquisition. The maker of Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars said on Saturday it would hold an early Monday press conference with GM, at which the transaction is expected to be […]
Jon Corzine, the former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs chief who oversaw the collapse of MF Global, is poised to take the stand next week in a potentially explosive trial over the alleged negligence of the company’s auditor, PwC. The world’s second-biggest professional services firm was the auditor of MF Global, the futures brokerage that collapsed in October 2011 after huge bets on the debt of […]
Investors have poured nearly $80bn into US equity funds since November’s election as optimism over the new administration’s pro-growth agenda received a boost after President Donald Trump addressed Congress this week. Funds invested in US stocks counted $6.7bn of additions in the week to March 1, lifting flows since November 8 to $79.4bn, according to data from EPFR. The inflows have partially reversed a near constant exodus […]
Bahrain’s fiscal deficit will fall only marginally to 12.3 percent of GDP this year from 13.6 percent in 2016 as oil prices settle well below the country’s breakeven figure, according to ratings agency Fitch. The agency said it expects Brent to average $45 per barrel in 2017, nearly $40 below the breakeven price for the Gulf kingdom. Fitch Ratings affirmed Bahrain’s long-term foreign and local currency issuer […]
KARACHI: The Panama Papers — a huge leak of documents detailing the alleged secret offshore holdings of global elite — were released in April 2016. The leak made headlines all-over the world, but its impact was probably most keenly felt in Iceland. Just two days after the leak appeared, Iceland’s prime minister had to resign from his office over protests by the people. Thousands of people had […]
By Noel Randewich | SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO Technology companies have been a driving force behind the U.S. stock market’s recent record rally, and despite mounting evidence of stretched valuations the sector remains a top pick for investors expecting a wave of capital expenditures by U.S. corporations. Corporate tax cuts and reduced regulations planned by President Donald Trump will give companies reason to spend more on cloud […]
Deutsche Bank said on Friday night that it was laying the groundwork for a “potential capital raise of approximately €8bn” as well as considering several other strategic adjustments as it aims to revive its fortunes after a torrid 12 months. Alongside the capital increase, Germany’s biggest lender said it could garner further funds by selling a minority stake in its asset management arm. It is also considering […]
Ismail, a 20-year-old Emirati, has rarely ever stepped into a bank branch. “You won’t believe I haven’t visited my branch for over a year. All my transactions are done online,” he says, as he clicks an app on his phone to make a payment. “I just paid my bill and that’s how it works for me. All the services are at my fingertips and I save immense […]
Banksy, who rarely comments on his work and keeps his real identity a secret, has made trips to the West Bank for years and has previously, under cover of night, painted the barrier itself. On a recent trip, he painted a mural on the barrier, just steps from his current project, showing a girl being pulled aloft by balloons. Continue reading the main story Last year, four […]
Investors are aggressively betting against US shopping centres using a derivatives index of commercial mortgage-backed securities that has slumped 10 per cent from its peak in January. The health of the US retail industry has been declining for several years but recent lacklustre holiday sales, alongside rising interest rates and a stronger dollar, have reflected the intensifying pressure across the roughly $150bn industry for commercial mortgages tied […]
BRUSSELS, March 03, 2017 – The Panama Papers scandal has highlighted how certain financial intermediaries and other providers of financial and tax advice appear to have actively helped their clients to conceal money offshore. It is against this backdrop that ALDE MEPs Petr Ježek (PANA Co-Rapporteur) and Michael Theurer (ALDE PANA Coordinator) hosted a high-level seminar Thursday, bringing together experts on this field, both at the technical […]
By Lindsay Dunsmuir and Howard Schneider | CHICAGO CHICAGO The Federal Reserve is set to raise its benchmark interest rate later this month as long as economic data on jobs and inflation holds up, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Friday, in comments that likely cement a rate hike at its next meeting. Several of Yellen’s U.S. central bank colleagues in recent days had also put a […]
COLOMBO Tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka fell in February for the first time since a nearly three-decade-long civil war ended in May 2009, government data released on Friday showed. It snapped a 93-month streak of tourist increases on the island, popular for its Indian Ocean beaches and varied wildlife. Tourism accounts for close to 5 percent of Sri Lanka’s economy. Arrivals in February edged down 0.4 percent […]
The heads of the London Stock Exchange Group and Deutsche Börse went to Brussels at the start of February on the verge of clearing a major obstacle for their historic €29bn merger. Xavier Rolet and Carsten Kengeter thought EU regulators were set to bless the deal they had been working on for more than a year. But midway through the meeting, Mr Kengeter stepped out to take an emergency […]
While equity market euphoria at the prospect of President Donald Trump’s spendthrift, deregulatory agenda remains undimmed, bond investors are sending a very different message. US equity gauges have continued to climb this year, propelled by hopes of deregulation, tax cuts, government spending and more business-friendly policies. This week all four of the biggest stock indices achieved yet another “Grand Slam” of fresh records in the wake of […]
NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO Institutional investors anxious not to be left out of this year’s marquee initial public offering helped Snap Inc (SNAP.N) pull off the biggest U.S.-listed technology share sale this week since Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba Group Holding Inc (BABA.N) smashed records in 2014. Keen to boost returns and with a dearth of new stocks to buy, the IPO of a buzzy social media group was […]
