Bloomberg Hungary is set to deliver a second interest-rate increase in as many months to combat the European Union’s fastest inflation, though economists disagree on the size of the move. The eastern European country and the nearby Czech Republic both tightened monetary policy in June as a rally in global commodities and the easing of lockdowns pushed consumer prices sharply ...

Bloomberg South Korea’s central bank remains confident of the country’s robust recovery from the pandemic slump and looks largely on track to raise interest rates this year after economic growth cooled more than expected last quarter. Asia’s fourth-largest economy grew 0.7% during the three months to June from the previous quarter, the Bank of Korea said on Tuesday, below economists’ ...

Bloomberg ICICI Bank Ltd posted a 78% jump in profit in the first quarter, helped by strong net interest earnings and lower bad loan buffers amid the recent deadly coronavirus wave. Net income at India’s second-largest private lender stood at 46.16 billion rupees ($620 million) in the three months to June, compared with 25.99 billion rupees a year ago, according ...

Bloomberg Christine Lagarde promised that the European Central Bank (ECB) has learned from the errors of past crises and won’t derail the current economic recovery by withdrawing emergency support too early. The ECB president spoke as the central bank put into action the new monetary policy strategy it hammered out over the past 18 months. It revised guidance on interest ...

Bloomberg Meituan has shed more than $60 billion of its market value over two frenetic trading sessions, after Beijing unveiled sweeping reforms against private-sector companies that darkened the outlook for the world’s No 2 economy. China’s top food delivery company slid a record 18% on Tuesday in Hong Kong, on top of a 14% plummet the previous day. Spreads on ...

Bloomberg ESG asset managers are accelerating their use of new climate-investing benchmarks created by European authorities, in a development that’s set to make it harder to get away with greenwashing. While only about $1.2 billion is now tied to gauges that meet European Commission requirements — a tiny fraction of the $35 trillion of ESG assets worldwide — inflows have ...

SHARJAH / WAM The Sharjah Real Estate Registration Department recorded 40,346 real estate transactions worth AED12.2 billion, marking a 40.5 percent increase till June 2021 against the same period last year, according to the department’s statistical report for the first half of 2021. Moreover, the total area covered in sales transactions was 75.2 million square feet. This showed a 96.1 ...

DUBAI / WAM The distribution of food parcels has been completed in Egypt, providing an equivalent of 30 million meals to low-income families and underprivileged “100 Million Meals” campaign. In partnership with the Food Banking Regional Network, 928 local humanitarian organisations and Egypt Food Bank, around 504,000 beneficiaries across Egypt received parcels of easy-to-store food items including flour, sugar, rice ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Bowardi, Minister of State for Defence Affairs, received on Monday Sharifi Bahodur Mahmudzoda, Tajikistan’s Ambassador to the UAE. The meeting held at the Ministry of Defense was also attended by Matar Salim Ali Al Dhaheri, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, and a number of its senior officers and officials. Al Bowardi ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Three leading technology companies are growing their presence in Abu Dhabi, as the emirate doubles down on its focus to support the growth of innovation-focused companies. The Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) announced on Monday individual partnerships with Callsign, Lyve and RIZEK to provide the three companies financial and non-financial incentives as part of its AED2 ...