Bloomberg Ethiopia’s fast-growing economy has Asian investors lining up to build a new $4 billion oil refinery, even as a Blackstone Group LP-backed fuel pipeline project is shelved. The proposed 120,000 barrels-a-day plant has generated interest from Japanese, South Korean and Indian investors, said Zemedeneh Negatu, chairman of US-based Fairfax Africa Fund. The refinery in Awash, east of the capital …

Bloomberg Norway’s vast resources of Europe’s cheapest and greenest electricity has helped its energy-intensive industry gain an edge and produce everything from aluminum to chemicals and tankers. But now the nation’s powerful unions are objecting to plans by grid managers and utilities to get in on the act by spending more than $6 billion on cables to profit from selling …

Riyadh / Reuters Saudi Aramco, the state oil company of Saudi Arabia, is considering entering India as part of its Asian expansion, Nikkei said, citing Aramco’s CEO who said that plans for an Indian refinery are crystallising. “Saudi Aramco is looking at additional investments in China, and India is also a very important destination which we are giving great consideration, …

Bloomberg European Union policy makers are softening plans to stop clients pulling money from banks suffering a financial crisis, according to a draft plan seen by Bloomberg News. Regulators have been debating the length of time that traders and other clients should be suspended from yanking funds when a lender is deemed to be failing. An earlier proposal for two …

Bloomberg The Czech central bank will probably raise interest rates for the third occasion in less than a year on Thursday and for the first time since 2013 release a currency outlook that may guide investors on what to expect in further monetary tightening. The Czech National Bank will raise its main interest rate to 0.75 percent from 0.5 percent, …

Bloomberg For a central bank that’s become used to an almost limitless ability to steer markets, Hungary’s rate meeting served as a measure of reckoning, with officials looking to guide their latest round of unconventional easing back on track. Policy makers, who had to scramble to revamp the rules after a swap sale sparked the biggest bond sell-off in more …

Bloomberg Traders in India’s battered bond market want the central bank to play the role of a savior. With the market reeling under the worst selloff in almost two decades, investors say the Reserve Bank of India should consider buying support as well as expand the quota limits for global funds. Absent that, they expect the declines to continue. “To …

Bloomberg ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch lender, saw expenses increase as a proportion of income last year as Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers said the bank increased spending on measures that will help it cut costs further in the future. ING reported a cost-to-income ratio of 59.9 percent in the fourth quarter, a rise from a year earlier and …

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan increased the amount of bonds it offered to buy at a regular operation for the first time since July, helping to bring down yields and weaken the yen. The BOJ sought to buy 330 billion yen ($3 billion) of 3-to-5 year debt, more than the 300 billion yen at the last operation, it said a …

DAMMAM / WAM The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) will need investments of approximately $180 billion to add a capacity at 7.4% annually until 2021, which corresponds to additions of more than 130GW, according to estimates by Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP). ‘‘Governments continue to meet this challenge by expediting new projects and upgrading their infrastructure to meet increasing …