Banking

Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s government has ruled out adopting the US dollar as the country’s sole official currency, terming it “suicidal,” the state-run Sunday Mail reported, citing Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube. Ncube said such a move could result in foreign currency deficits and deflation for the African nation. “We cannot adopt the United States dollar alone as the official currency,” Ncube told ...

Bloomberg Paraguay’s central bank surprised economists by delivering its biggest interest rate increase in a decade as rising prices for food and imported fuel push inflation well above target. The central bank’s board unanimously voted to tighten by 125 basis points to push its key rate to 2.75%. The decision followed a 50 basis-point hike last month and a 25 ...

Bloomberg The finance industry is ratcheting up pressure on Hong Kong to ease its strict quarantine rules and abandon its zero-Covid-19 policy after a survey found almost half of major international banks and asset managers are contemplating to move staff or functions out of the city. In a letter sent over the weekend to Financial Secretary Paul Chan that was ...

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc became the first Wall Street bank to agree to do a deep dive into its business to see if, and how, it contributes to racial discrimination. The audit will be conducted by attorneys at Covington & Burling LLP, Citigroup said on its website. The bank said the audit will focus on its 2020 commitment to dedicate $1 ...

Bloomberg Bank of Russia may have stunned bond and currency markets with the size of its rate hike, but entrenched inflation means traders shouldn’t assume the hawks are done. “It’s too early to say the tightening cycle is over,” Governor Elvira Nabiullina told a press conference after lifting the main rate 75 basis points to 7.5%, the sixth straight hike ...

Bloomberg ICICI Bank Ltd.’s net income rose about 30% in the second quarter to a record, led by strong loan growth as consumer demand improved after a drop in the number of coronavirus cases. Net income at the country’s second-largest private lender stood at the highest-ever 55.1 billion rupees ($735 million) in the quarter-ended September, compared with 42.5 billion rupees ...

Bloomberg Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will launch a digital currency on Monday aimed at improving the payments system in the West African nation, according to the central bank. The eNaira, which took several years to develop, will “make financial transactions easier and seamless for every strata of the society,” the Central Bank of Nigeria said in emailed statement. The digital ...

Bloomberg Talks between the Italian government and UniCredit SpA over the sale of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA have collapsed, dealing a blow to Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s efforts to end the bank’s troubles. The Treasury and UniCredit ended negotiations after being unable to overcome stumbling blocks related to a capital injection in Monte Paschi and the businesses ...

Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. called on the UK to relax capital rules for retail banking introduced in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the Mail on Sunday reported. The UK currently requires big banks with deposits of 25 billion pounds ($34 billion) or more to ring-fence the retail operations, meaning the banks can’t use the funds in the ...

Bloomberg A new era for UK mortgage market is approaching as the Bank of England (BOE) prepares to raise interest rates, and markets are already shifting rapidly. Sterling swap rates, used by banks to set the cost of home loans, have jumped in recent weeks, converging with mortgage prices and squeezing the margin for lenders. That doesn’t look sustainable, and ...