BOGOTA / AP Citibank is planning to sell the consumer banking operations it has operated for a century in Argentina, Brazil and Colombia as South America’s three biggest economies suffer a major downturn. The New York-based bank said Friday in a statement that its decision was prompted by a desire to allocate resources where it can generate the best returns. ...

Colombo / AFP Sri Lanka’s central bank raised benchmark interest rates for the first time in nearly four years by 50 basis points ahead of a possible IMF bailout. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka raised its lending rate from 7.5 to 8.0 percent, saying that relatively cheap money had the potential to fuel demand-driven inflation that could undermine the ...

Frankfurt / Bloomberg With German government bonds on their longest winning streak in more than a year, investors are set to scour inflation data next week for clues as to whether the European Central Bank will provide more stimulus next month. A measure of euro-region inflation expectations stayed near a record low this week even as the central bank pledged ...

WASHINGTON / AP The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is giving managing director Christine Lagarde a second five-year term. Lagarde, the first woman to hold the post, was the only candidate nominated. Her new term starts July 5. Lagarde, 60, was named the IMF’s 11th managing director in 2011. She has led the multinational lending agency through the European ...

MOSCOW / Bloomberg Marine Le Pen’s National Front party is reaching out to Russian banks for the 25 million euros ($27.7 million) it needs to bankroll its 2017 presidential campaign, the party’s treasurer Wallerand de Saint Just said. “I will look for funds where I know I might get them,” Saint Just said in a telephone interview. “I found some ...

Bloomberg Bank of America Corp.’s Bruce Thompson, who stepped down as chief financial officer last year, will stick with the company in a role dealing with the lender’s biggest corporate clients. Thompson, 51, was set to pursue opportunities at another firm after Paul Donofrio, 55, was named CFO in July, people with knowledge of the situation said at the time. ...

Sunaina Rana / EMIRATES BUSINESS With a dream to set up a public space dedicated to art decorative in UAE, like what Le Louvre museum has done in Paris or what Design Museum has done in Milano, world-famous art collector Guillaume Cuiry is contributing remarkably in enhancing the art scene of the Emirates. He is undoubtedly one of the main ...

Our Correspondent / Emirates Business Aiman Kabli is CEO and founder of Lunchmatcher, a professional networking app. Prior to this Kabli has been a seasoned global HR professional with over 12 years’ experience in international staffing and human resource management. He holds an MBA in strategic management from the University of North Texas, and has recruited for large multinationals in ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Suhail bin Mohammed Faraj Faris Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy, said that the UAE supports any initiative to freeze the oil production ceiling by consensus of the members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and Russia. Several OPEC-member countries and others have recently agreed to freeze production at last January’s levels in a move ...

Paris / AFP The OECD on Thursday cut its 2016 economic growth forecast to 3.0 percent from 3.3 percent owing to disappointing data, sluggish demand, weak investment and a high risk of financial instability. “Financial instability risks are substantial,” the 34-member Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said in its latest interim outlook, urging a strong collective response to combat ...