Bloomberg Thailand plans to borrow an additional 700 billion baht ($22.3 billion) to fund measures to counter the worst wave of Covid-19 outbreak to hit Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, people familiar with the matter said. A meeting of the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha approved the new borrowing plan from the finance ministry, the people said, declining to ...
Read More »International News
Singapore’s Sea doubles revenue over tech battle
Bloomberg Sea Ltd, Southeast Asia’s most valuable company, more than doubled revenue in the first quarter, though losses swelled as it spent to ward off competition in the regional e-commerce and online entertainment arenas. Sales rose to $1.76 billion in the three months ended March from $714.9 million a year earlier, the Singapore-based company said. Net loss widened to $422.7 ...
Read More »Philippines slashes GDP growth outlook amid coronavirus fight
Bloomberg The Philippine government cut its economic outlook for this year and next as it struggles with a surge in coronavirus cases that threatens its recovery. Gross domestic product is now tipped to grow 6% to 7% this year, down from a previous estimate of 6.5%-7.5%, according to the Development Budget Coordination Committee, which sets the government’s economic assumptions for ...
Read More »Chinese firm GDS considers buying GLP’s data centres
Bloomberg GDS Holdings Ltd is considering acquiring GLP Pte’s data centres business as the Chinese cloud computing company seeks to expand its digital infrastructure capacity in the world’s second-largest economy, according to people familiar with the matter. GDS, a developer and operator of high-performance data centers across China, is holding preliminary talks with Singapore investment manager GLP over a potential ...
Read More »Mumbai gets import bids for Sputnik
Bloomberg Mumbai’s municipality has received bids to import 10 million Sputnik vaccines and expects more proposals as authorities attempt an ambitious plan to vaccinate every resident of the world’s second-most densely packed city within two months. India’s financial capital estimates to spend about 7 billion rupees ($96 million) to buy the shots, Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told Bloomberg TV ...
Read More »Indonesian travel startup explores $2b SPAC deal
Bloomberg Indonesian online travel company Tiket.com is exploring going public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) as it seeks to expand its business, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The startup is in talks with COVA Acquisition Corp for a deal that would value the combined entity at about $2 billion, according to the ...
Read More »UK’s unemployment rate dips to 4.8% as lockdown eases
Bloomberg The UK labour market strengthened more than expected in April as the economy began to emerge from coronavirus restrictions. The number of people on payrolls rise 97,000, and vacancies increased 13%, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. The jobless rate in first quarter falls unexpectedly to 4.8% as employment surged 84,000, the first gain since the pandemic ...
Read More »Biden eyes more US jobs in expansion of vaccine sharing abroad
Bloomberg President Joe Biden began to make good on his promise that the US would be an “arsenal†of coronavirus vaccines for the world, announcing he’d share FDA-authorised shots after criticism that his administration had hoarded hundreds of millions of doses. But he also signaled that he intends for US manufacturers to hold or grow their share of the global ...
Read More »Apple’s EU battles set to heat up as Epic US trial plays out
Bloomberg While Apple Inc.’s attentions turned to a California court clash with Epic Games Inc, Europe’s top antitrust enforcer issued a reminder that the tech giant’s legal battles across the Atlantic are also heating up. EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager warned that a probe into the company’s Apple Pay product is moving ahead on top of an investigation into how ...
Read More »World’s oranges, coffee at risk as Brazil runs out of water
Bloomberg Brazil, the world’s biggest exporter of coffee, sugar and orange juice, just had a rainy season that brought hardly any rain. Soils are parched and river levels are low in the nation’s Center-South region, a powerhouse of agricultural output. The drought is so severe that farmers are worried they’ll run out of the water reserves that help keep crops ...
Read More »