Banking

Bloomberg Morocco’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged despite rising inflation that’s prompted a damaging product boycott. The central bank kept the key rate at 2.25 percent, citing medium-term inflation and growth prospects. Last month the general affairs minister said the economy could withstand annual price growth of as much as 3 percent, above the 2.7 percent reached ...

Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc expects Africa to account for a bigger slice of revenue if the region is able to put in place policies that will further spur economic growth, Chairman Jose Vinals said. “If they do the right thing, they’ll grow faster than other countries which are more advanced,” he said in an interview in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. ...

Bloomberg Taiwan’s central bank will keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday as a brewing trade war adds to risks facing the export-oriented economy, according to a Bloomberg survey. A majority of 33 economists said Taiwan will hold the discount rate for banks at an eight-year low of 1.375 percent, while only three predicted an increase of 12.5 basis ...

Bloomberg Harsher Federal Reserve stress tests this year won’t stop US banks from increasing their payouts to shareholders. As the annual review gets underway this week, the 25 largest lenders are gearing up to announce dividends and buybacks totaling roughly $30 billion more than last year, representing a 25 percent increase, according to analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg. JPMorgan Chase ...

Bloomberg Economists are increasingly questioning whether the Bank of England will raise interest rates in the coming months. Less than 55 percent of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect a hike in August, down from 60 percent in a similar poll in May. BOE officials are gathering this week for their June policy meeting, the minutes of which have the potential ...

Bloomberg Chanda Kochhar, chief executive officer of ICICI Bank Ltd. will be going on leave as a panel appointed by the lender probes allegations against her. The bank’s board, which met in Mumbai, has decided to accept her request for going on leave, according to exchange filings. Sandeep Bakhshi, CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co., will be chief operating ...

Bloomberg The People’s Bank of China is using both money and words to try to ease market concerns about escalating trade tensions and the weakening economy. The central bank injected another 200 billion yuan ($31 billion) into the economy via its medium-term lending facility on Tuesday. Combined with the funds it added earlier this month, that’s a net injection of ...

Bloomberg Mario Draghi promised that the European Central Bank will take its time to lift interest rates, reinforcing last week’s agreement by policy makers to keep borrowing costs unchanged at least through the summer of 2019. “We will remain patient in determining the timing of the first rate rise and will take a gradual approach to adjusting policy thereafter,” the ...

Bloomberg HDFC Bank Ltd, the world’s most expensive major lender, is considering relying entirely on the Indian market for a share sale that could raise as much as 155 billion rupees ($2.3 billion), people with knowledge of the matter said. The Mumbai-based bank is weighing seeking all the capital through a qualified institutional placement in India, rather than its usual ...

Bloomberg UBS Group AG had the credit rating for its main operations raised by Moody’s Investors Service, which said the restructured investment bank and wealth management business should help the lender weather a market downturn. The long-term issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings of UBS AG, which comprises the main banking and wealth management businesses of UBS, were raised one ...