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Bloomberg Italy and Spain, the two European countries most severely hit by the coronavirus, are suffering even deeper slumps after record contractions in the first quarter. Lockdowns that shut hotels and restaurants meant companies experienced unprecedented declines in output and new orders in April, and cut jobs like never before in the history of IHS Markit’s Purchasing Managers’ Surveys. Prospects ...

Bloomberg General Motors Co. is in discussions with banks to raise a new $2 billion loan to increase liquidity as it deals with a continuing slump in consumer demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The loan is structured as a 364-day revolving credit facility and is a precautionary measure to raise company’s liquidity, the people said, asking not to be ...

Bloomberg Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is examining ways to move millions of workers off government support and back into their jobs as the UK leaves its lockdown. In March, as the UK went into lockdown to slow the spread of coronavirus, Sunak announced a furlough program where workers received 80% of their wage to stay home. It’s now ...

Bloomberg China fired back at US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo, saying he has no evidence to back up claims that the virus that causes Covid-19 escaped from a lab in the central city of Wuhan. The US attacks on China were part of an election year strategy by President Donald Trump’s Republican Party ahead of this year’s election, Chinese ...

ABU DHABI / WAM His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has said that as the country and the world face testing times during the coronavirus pandemic, the 44th anniversary of the UAE Armed Forces’ Unification Day comes as a reminder of this nation’s “perseverance” and “ability ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Department of Government Support, as represented by the Abu Dhabi Digital Authority (Adda) has announced the launch of the digital payment platform, ‘Abu Dhabi Pay’ through Abu Dhabi Government Services ecosystem (Tamm). The launch of Abu Dhabi Pay is a new step towards accelerating the pace and impact of digital transformation and innovating more solutions ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi on Tuesday announced the launch of the ‘Abu Dhabi Specialist Programme’, an e-learning platform which will provide travel trade industry professionals with destination-related information about the emirate through a series of online courses. In a statement, DCT Abu Dhabi noted that the programme will be rolled out ...

DUBAI / WAM The Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced the launch of the Federal Automated Revenue Estimation System (FARES) as part of its strategy to further enhance government operations in order to advance digital transformation in the country. The system will automate ministry’s revenue estimations model and further improve integration of data to calculate estimates based on statistical and accounting ...

Bloomberg Indonesia’s economic growth slowed sharply in the first quarter of the year, amid expectations the coronavirus pandemic will take an even heavier toll on Southeast Asia’s biggest economy in months ahead. Gross domestic product rose 2.97% in the first quarter from a year ago, the statistics office said on Tuesday. That was worse than the median estimate of 4% ...

Bloomberg Singapore, which is looking to increase virus testing fivefold among its population, faces a global shortage of some test kits and materials, according to its health minister. The city-state has to be “mindful” there’s a worldwide shortage, and therefore “we have to ensure that we have a continued supply and stock of these materials to allow us to continue ...