International News

Bloomberg Argentina raised prices for natural gas that should save the government $4 billion a year as part of its drive to cut subsidies that were the main cause of the largest fiscal deficit in almost two decades last year. Government-controlled gas prices for residents, businesses, transport and power plants were raised, according to a resolution published in the Official ...

AFP The latest data on Brazil’s industrial production showed deepening recession in Latin America’s biggest economy, though its trade surplus grew and the currency is rising on prospects of a new government. Industrial output shrank nine percent over the 12 months leading up to February, government statistics showed, with the car-making, machinery and electronic sectors hit the hardest. The slide ...

Tokyo / Bloomberg Sharp Corp.’s President Kozo Takahashi and Foxconn Technology Group’s Chairman Terry Gou formally signed a rescue deal on Saturday, ending a takeover drama that spanned four years of often difficult negotiations. Takahashi and Gou, flanked by the flags of Taiwan and Japan, shook hands in front of more than 300 reporters gathered at the Osaka-based company’s Sakai ...

Kuala Lumpur / Bloomberg An Indonesian consortium led by veteran investment banker Agus Projosasmito is preparing to offer about $2 billion for control of Newmont Mining Corp.’s operations in the country after lining up bank financing, people with knowledge of the matter said. The investor group plans to bid for about 80 percent of local operating company PT Newmont Nusa ...

MUMBAI / Reuters India’s Geometric Ltd said it will sell its IT services business to HCL Technologies Ltd in an all-stock deal valued at 12.37 billion Indian rupees, as HCL looks to strengthen its engineering and automotive services portfolio. Geometric shareholders will receive 10 shares in HCL for every 43 shares of Geometric as part of the stock-swap. The deal, ...

Kuala Lumpur / DPA 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MBD) said its subsidiary Powertek Investment Holdings Sdn Bhd has fully settled its 3 billion ringgit (US$769.8 million) loan ahead of its maturity date. In a statement, the state investment arm said this was made possible with the help of the 1MDB rationalisation plan initiated by the government. “1MDB is pleased to announce ...

New Delhi / Bloomberg Gail India Ltd. bought the second shipment of liquefied natural gas from Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana in a deal that makes it the first Asian importer of US shale gas. The nation’s biggest supplier will receive the cargo, bought on spot basis, at the Dabhol import terminal on the country’s west coast ...

New Delhi / Bloomberg The monsoon is set to bring cheers to Indian farmers this year after the first back-to-back shortfall in rainfall in three decades ravaged crops. Showers during the four-month rainy season starting June will probably be normal as the El Nino is seen returning to neutral conditions by the middle of the year, according to Skymet Weather ...

Greece / AFP Greece on Saturday demanded “explanations” from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after Wikileaks said the lender sought a crisis “event” to push the indebted nation into concluding talks over its reforms. IMF officials, in an internal discussion, allegedly voiced exasperation with Greece on its slow pace of reform, complaining Athens only moved decisively when faced with the ...

BERLIN / Reuters Germany’s spending on social security could get out of hand as the population ages, a budget specialist in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives warned, contrasting current optimism over plans for no new net borrowing until 2020. Buoyed by record-low unemployment, rising wages and steady economic growth, the German government agreed last month to its biggest increase in the ...