Banking

Bloomberg Romania left borrowing costs unchanged as the central bank complains that surprise tax measures to shore up the budget are restricting its ability to function. The benchmark was kept at 2.5 percent for a sixth straight meeting, matching the predictions of all but one economist surveyed by Bloomberg. The fiscal package, which triggered the country’s biggest market crash since ...

Bloomberg The secret behind Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s surprise U-turn on monetary policy can possibly be found in comments he made in New York a year and a half ago. Asked how he’d respond to what was then a hypothetical scenario of below target price rises and low unemployment, Powell replied: “My own view would be that we have ...

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc is considering options for its Islamic banking unit in Malaysia, including a potential sale, people with knowledge of the matter said. The London-based lender has been gauging interest from potential buyers for the business, known as Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd, according to the people. It is weighing an exit from Malaysia’s Islamic banking market as fierce ...

Bloomberg The Philippines central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged for a second straight policy meeting, while cutting inflation forecasts for this year and next. The overnight reverse repurchase rate was held at 4.75 percent, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement in Manila. The decision was in line with the forecasts of all 22 economists surveyed by ...

Bloomberg India’s central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark interest rate in Governor Shaktikanta Das’s debut policy meeting, a shift that provides more of the stimulus Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government needs to stoke growth as an election nears. The repurchase rate was reduced by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent, a decision predicted by just 11 of 43 economists surveyed ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank officials see no urgent need to offer new long-term loans to banks and aren’t certain to do so at their next policy meeting in March, according to people familiar with the matter. Officials aren’t yet convinced about the necessity for more liquidity and are nervous that an offering could fuel perceptions that they’re helping out particular ...

Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell gave a brief but positive assessment of the economy at an event organized for educators. “The US economy is now in a good place,” Powell said evening in response to audience questions during a meeting with teachers at the central bank’s headquarters in Washington. “At the moment, unemployment is low, prices are near two ...

Bloomberg Deutsche Bank AG Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing said the bank will seek to increase revenue without sacrificing discipline as he attempts to reboot the troubled German lender. “We have our costs under control and built a solid foundation with a strong capital base and a very low risk profile,” Sewing said, according to prepared remarks that he was ...

Bloomberg Brazil held its benchmark interest rate unchanged and signalled that Congress needed to approve cost-cutting measures before borrowing costs can fall. The bank board, led by its President Ilan Goldfajn, kept the Selic rate at 6.50 percent for a seventh straight meeting in a decision expected by all 42 economists in a Bloomberg survey. It was likely the last ...

Bloomberg Major US banks shaved about $21 billion from their tax bills last year — almost double the IRS’s annual budget — as the industry benefited more than many others from the Republican tax overhaul. By year-end, most of the nation’s largest lenders met or exceeded their initial predictions for tax savings. On average, the banks saw their effective tax ...