Bloomberg Australian lending to businesses is growing at the quickest pace since the global financial crisis in a sign that the ‘animal spirits’ long sought by the country’s central bank are finally stirring. Loans to companies climbed 7.4 percent in April from a year earlier, the most since January 2009, according to the Reserve Bank of Australia. Record low ...
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Danske removes human element in currency trading
Bloomberg Danske Bank A/S is pitching a new product to help clients net their currency transactions and reduce the need for human traders. The second-biggest Nordic bank won a contract last week with Sweden’s government to provide the service and is now using that success to attract corporate clients. “For Danske Bank to be the primary, one-and-only supplier of ...
Read More »Rate hike likely in coming months: Yellen
Bloomberg Treasury 10-year futures contracts fell by the most in more than one week after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said that improvement in the US economy would warrant raising interest rates in the coming months. Ten-year Treasury futures contracts for September delivery slid 15/32, or $4.69 per $1,000 face amount, to 129 1/4 in New York, based on ...
Read More »Chinese bank divulges yuan’s rate mechanism
Bloomberg A Chinese state-run bank has revealed the inner workings of the yuan’s reference rate mechanism, including details on the lenders that provide prices as well as how the system was tweaked following market turmoil in January. The 14 contributors, which must consider the previous day’s yuan closing price, have to take into account movements in baskets of currencies ...
Read More »Caution sounded over Russian central bank’s next move
Bloomberg Even after almost a year of unchanged rates, caution is still a virtue for economists gauging the Russian central bank’s next move. All but two of the 25 economists surveyed by Bloomberg agreed with the International Monetary Fund’s advice to keep the pace of future easing gradual. The rest said they concur with a call by the head ...
Read More »Saudi Arabia best emerging market for banks: Citigroup
Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s planned privatisations, including a share sale in the world’s biggest oil company, represent the biggest investment banking opportunity in the emerging markets, according to the Citigroup Inc. Implementation of the Kingdom’s plans to restructure the economy — known as Vision 2030 — “could translate into a fantastic wallet for the investment banks,” Omar Iqtidar, Citigroup’s head ...
Read More »No plans to change Saudi exchange rate policy
RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia would not benefit from altering its exchange rate policy and does not intend to do so, its new central bank governor told the state-linked Al Arabiya channel. Ahmed al-Kholifey said the riyal currency has been suffering due to market speculation that the policy might change. “The agency does not intend to change the exchange ...
Read More »QNB closes syndication of €2.25bn three-year loan
Reuters Qatar National Bank (QNB) has closed the syndication of a 2.25 billion euro ($2.50 billion), three-year loan, it said on Sunday. The loan facility, in which 14 banks participated, was increased from 1.5 billion euros due to “strong market over-subscription”, QNB said in a bourse statement. The loan’s annual interest rate is EURIBOR plus 1.05 percent. The money ...
Read More »PBOC should allow bigger yuan moves: Ex-adviser
BLOOMBERG China should quietly allow wider moves in the yuan, a strategy that will reduce the cost of limiting declines, although US pressure against a big devaluation will be a deterrent, according to a former People’s Bank of China adviser. “The currency basket should be allowed to fluctuate within a big band, at least 20 percent,†Yu Yongding said ...
Read More »Suriname lands $478mn loan to boost economic reform plan
PARAMARIBO / AP Suriname has landed a $478 million loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost an economic reform programme amid a drop in commodity prices, becoming the second South American country to seek such a bailout in nearly a decade. The IMF said it will immediately disburse $81 million as part of a two-year deal announced ...
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