Bloomberg As the Hong Kong government posts its first deficit in more than 15 years, all eyes will be on financial secretary Paul Chan’s budget release on Wednesday and how he’ll tap cash reserves to stimulate an economy under pressure from months of unrest and the coronavirus outbreak. Anti-government protests drove the city into recession last year and economists now ...

Bloomberg Malaysia’s political upheaval is jeopardising the economy’s outlook at a time of heightened global risks and brewing discontent among locals about rising living costs. The ruling coalition collapsed Monday amid a power struggle between 94-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his planned successor. The political uncertainty is stalling economic policy, including a stimulus package that was due to be ...

Bloomberg Several Chinese cities, including Beijing, have dramatically improved their air quality in recent years, while Indian metropolises remain some of the world’s worst polluted, according to a new report. Beijing — once infamous for its toxic haze — has reduced smog levels and dropped down a list of the world’s most polluted cities, falling to 199 from 84 three ...

Bloomberg Nissan Motor Co gave the starkest warning yet on the future of the Japanese group’s car factories in western Europe, with a plant in the UK threatened by Brexit and another in Spain suffering from a slump in demand. The Sunderland site in England, which makes models that account for the bulk of European sales, remains under a cloud ...

Bloomberg SoftBank Group Corp’s Vision Fund 2 is investing $100 million in compliance and employee-monitoring software company Behavox, according to people familiar with the matter. The investment, which is in the form of preferred shares, values Behavox at about $500 million, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The investment group will also be ...

Bloomberg Singapore will loosen restrictions on Chinese work-permit holders in the country to help businesses in manufacturing and services industries that have been hit by labour disruptions during the coronavirus outbreak. For a six-month period beginning March 2, the Ministry of Manpower will allow companies in those sectors to hire Chinese workers who are already in the country, with the ...

Bloomberg The sale of a stake in Mexico’s giant Zama oil field promised to help Premier Oil Plc pay down debts and strengthen its balance sheet, but an ownership conflict is complicating that process. Some international oil companies operating in Mexico are waiting for Talos Energy Inc, the field’s primary shareholder, and state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos to resolve their dispute before ...

Bloomberg Exxon Mobil Corp fell to a 15-year low amid a broad selloff in equity and commodity markets and just over a week before CEO Darren Woods is scheduled to present the oil explorer’s long-term strategic plan to investors and analysts. The shares have been under pressure since Exxon disclosed disappointing fourth-quarter results in late January and prospects for a ...

Bloomberg After months of planning, BP’s new CEO Bernard Looney made his big green pitch: Europe’s second-largest oil company will cut its emissions to net zero by 2050, he said earlier this month. Many thought that made BP the world’s first supermajor to take responsibility for all its emissions. It did not do that. Every company has three types of ...

Bloomberg China Three Gorges New Energy Co, a state-owned clean energy developer, has started construction of 25 renewable power plants in an investment worth $8.3 billion. The projects will have a combined capacity of 3.92 gigawatts, the company said in a WeChat statement. The plants will be built in 14 provinces including Guangdong, Jiangsu, Fujian, Ningxia and Hebei, it said. ...