Dubai / WAM HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Minister of Finance and Governor of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the United Arab Emirates, announced on Wednesday the launch of a new initiative to create a unified global legal and legislative framework for the Islamic finance sector. Launched by the UAE Ministry of Finance in partnership with the IDB, ...

Bloomberg India increased a special tax on gasoline and diesel as pressure builds on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to bridge a ballooning budget deficit. Additional levies on gasoline were raised by 10 rupees ($0.13) a litre effective on Wednesday and that on diesel by 13 rupees, according to government statements. Pump prices will, however, not change, the government said. ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong’s retailers will need to get creative to survive the deepening recession that’s enveloped the city as tourists from the mainland who fuelled past rebounds are unlikely to come to the rescue this time. The city’s retail sales by value in March sank 42% from a year earlier to HK$23 billion ($2.97 billion), according to a government release. ...

Bloomberg JPMorgan Asset Management’s alternative investment arm has struck a joint venture with New Ease China to capitalise on the nation’s booming logistics sector as online shopping skyrockets. JPMorgan Global Alternatives will partner with Shanghai-based logistics real estate investor New Ease to invest in properties across China, according to a statement on Wednesday. The initial portfolio consists of logistics facilities ...

Bloomberg Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has bought a 50% stake in a Singapore office tower in a deal valuing the property at S$1.68 billion ($1.2 billion). The agreement was struck with a consortium led by Perennial Real Estate Holding, with the sale expected to close around June, according to a statement. Alibaba and Perennial will then create ...

Bloomberg India’s dominant services industries crashed last month, signaling a massive contraction in the economy during the strict stay-at-home restrictions. The services purchasing managers index (PMI) plunged by 43.9 points to 5.4 in April, the lowest in the world, hitting single digits for the first time and staying below 50, the dividing line between contraction and expansion, according to data ...

Bloomberg Africa’s most populous nation is getting almost nothing from its massive oil wealth. While headline Brent-crude futures have rallied sharply in the past few weeks — rising above $30 a barrel — a glut of Nigerian oil is fetching about $10 less than that. It’s a level that means fiscal revenue for the continent’s biggest economy has cratered. “It’s ...

Bloomberg Suncor Energy Inc is going further into a defensive crouch, cutting its capital-spending plans for a second time and shrinking its dividend payout, as the Covid-19 pandemic hammers crude demand. Capital spending this year will be C$3.6 billion to C$4 billion ($2.6 billion to $2.9 billion), down from an already-reduced range of C$3.9 billion to C$4.5 billion announced in ...

Bloomberg Standing nearly 100 feet tall on the rocky shore of the island Bjorko in southwest Sweden, a white wind tower looks indistinguishable from thousands of similar tubes that help generate clean energy all over the world. But inside is another story. The interior of the tower is a tableau of creamy white boards, soaring into the air like a ...

Bloomberg On the same day Opec-style oil quotas in Texas were pronounced dead on arrival, shale drillers disclosed more supply cuts in response to the crude market collapse. Diamondback Energy, Parsley Energy and Centennial Resource Development became the latest Permian Basin shale explorers to say they were curbing output. A pandemic-fueled crash in oil prices has been so severe that ...