Banking

Bloomberg Citigroup Inc expanded restrictions on employee business travel this week as the coronavirus continued its spread around the world, according to people familiar with the matter. The bank added Italy to the list of countries off-limits to employees after restricting travel to and from Asia for the last several weeks, the people said, asking not to be named discussing ...

Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the coronavirus “poses evolving risks” to the US economy and signalled the central bank is prepared to cut interest rates if necessary to sustain the country’s longest-ever expansion. The rare statement by Powell before the financial markets closed for the US weekend came as stocks posted their seventh-straight daily loss, a slump which ...

Bloomberg The Bank of Thailand eased some foreign-exchange rules as part of a previously announced plan to temper the baht. The threshold for proceeds that do not need to be repatriated rises to $1 million from the current $200,000, effective from March 2, the central bank said in a statement, adding that the “relaxation includes not only export proceeds but ...

Bloomberg The world economy is now on course for its weakest year since the financial crisis as the coronavirus damages demand in China and beyond, according to analysts at Bank of America Corp (BofA). Global growth will slip to 2.8% this year rather than the 3.1% previously predicted, the slowest since 2009, economists led by Ethan Harris said in a ...

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc’s revenue will fall short this year and it will miss a key profitability target as the coronavirus outbreak and a weakened Hong Kong economy hammer the Asia-focused lender’s business. The slump in Asia, which accounts for the majority of the bank’s earnings, will contribute to 2020 revenue growth falling short of its own forecasts, according to ...

Bloomberg When Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann was asked if he gets frustrated by frequent calls for a major fiscal stimulus in Germany, he couldn’t help smiling. That’s how he reacted in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Matt Miller, on a matter where colleagues at the European Central Bank must often be on his case. Since she became the institution’s chief ...

Bloomberg Switzerland’s negative central bank policy rate that allows the government to get paid to borrow money “inevitably raises the question” whether fiscal policy isn’t too restrictive, according to UBS Group AG. Switzerland has a low debt-to-output ratio, with a constitutionally guaranteed debt break meant to prevent out-of-control spending. The burden of keeping the economy on track falls on the ...

Bloomberg It is “still too soon” to say whether the coronavirus outbreak will cause a material change in the US outlook, said Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida, signalling officials won’t be rushed to judgment on the need to cut interest rates. “Monetary policy is in a good place and should continue to support sustained growth, a strong labour market, ...

Bloomberg If the coronavirus outbreak morphs into a regional economic crisis, the European Central Bank (ECB) isn’t yet poised to rush to the rescue. With interest rates deep below zero and the latest batch of asset purchases still ongoing, room for additional monetary support is severely limited. For policy makers in Frankfurt, that makes their case for governments such as ...

Bloomberg Global banks including UBS Group AG and Bank of America Corp are broadening their contingency plans across Asia to ensure they can keep trading and other operations running as the spread of the coronavirus accelerates outside China. Credit Suisse Group AG is among lenders starting to implement alternative work arrangements in South Korea, adding Asia’s fourth-largest economy to the ...