There is plenty of talk about how social media, artificial intelligence and robots will change our world. Virtual reality has received less attention. Yet more than 1 million headsets were shipped in the third quarter of 2017, and increases in computing power and bandwidth may make this innovation “the next big thing.” As I see it, even if the early ...

Bloomberg An inflation rate that’s breached India’s target and growth that continues below potential will probably prompt the cen-tral bank to keep interest rates unchanged through the coming year. The benchmark repurchase rate will stay at 6 percent until at least the first quarter of 2019, according to most economists in a Bloomberg survey published this month. While swap markets ...

Bloomberg Sweden’s central bank formally ended a program of bond purchases after almost three years, but pledged support for the nation’s debt market into 2019 in a step designed to ensure a smooth retreat from record stimulus. In the Stockholm-based Riksbank’s last meeting of 2017, policy makers kept their key interest rate unchanged at minus 0.5 percent, as expected by ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to ask Governor Haruh- iko Kuroda to lead the Bank of Japan for another five years, according to a Kuroda associate and BOJ adviser. “I expect Kuroda will continue to be governor,” Masahiro Kawai said in an interview. The chances are “very high” because both Abe and Finance Minister Taro Aso have expressed ...

Bloomberg Bangladesh is getting tough with the nation’s bankers as it attempts to avert a looming crisis caused by rising bad loans and weak capital ratios. The central bank said it ousted the chief executive officer of Farmers Bank, a small private-sector lender, accusing him of “gross irregularities in lending.” That followed the removal earlier in the month of the ...

Bloomberg Having subdued Australia’s housing market frenzy, Governor Philip Lowe now has to steer his way through the hangover. Despite being saddled with record household debt and wretched wages growth, Australia’s economy is showing signs of picking up steam, with hiring on a tear and firms investing. The dual narratives have prompted the central bank to sit still on record-low ...

Bloomberg For a half-century, Boeing Co. mechanics in a sprawling factory north of Seattle have riveted together aluminum panels into the familiar hump-backed form of the 747 jumbo jet. Test pilots then put each new plane through its paces on an adjacent air strip before sending it off to roam the globe. This airplane, more than any other, made long-range ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Azizi Developments, one of the fastest growing developers in the UAE, has announced that it will invest AED9.1billion ($2.5 billion) across its operations in the UAE in 2018, significantly higher than its investments in 2017. The budget was approved by Mirwais Azizi, Azizi Group Chairman during Azizi Developments’ year-end gala dinner, in the presence of His ...

RIYADH / AGENCIES Saudi Arabia released a 2018 state budget on Tuesday that is the largest in the kingdom’s history, as it slowed an austerity drive to support flagging economic growth. The kingdom will boost spending in an attempt to boost economic growth as the government enters a critical 12 mo- nths for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to ...

ABU DHABI / Emirates Business The Ministry of Economy and the Department of Economic Development – Abu Dhabi have officially launched TIP platform, a platform that will host a community of pioneers in technology and innovation locally, regionally and globally. TIP will also have specialised sub-platforms and will soon launch an award managed by TIP. Through this agreement, The Takamul ...