International News

Bloomberg The US returned to Malaysia another $300 million that was recovered as part of the Justice Department’s forfeiture lawsuits targeting assets that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and his associates bought with funds allegedly stolen from the country’s 1MDB investment fund. With the latest repatriation, the US has sent $600 million back to Malaysia as part of the continuing ...

Bloomberg Get your potassium while you can. The coronavirus pandemic may limit supplies of bananas in Asia. Growers in the Philippines, the world’s second-biggest exporter, said overseas shipments may drop by nearly 40% this year as lockdowns and social distancing measures curb output and transport. The country’s exports of the fruit are expected to plunge to about 2.5 million tons ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s gold shops are running out of cash because so many people want to sell ornaments, jewelry and bars amid an economic slowdown. “I’m asking people to sell gradually, not in large amounts, as shops may face a cash crunch,” Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha said in a briefing on Wednesday in Bangkok. The yellow metal remains a popular way ...

Bloomberg India’s southwest monsoon, which waters more than half of the country’s farmland and is crucial for economic growth, is expected to be normal this year, the weather office said. Annual rainfall during the June-September rainy season is likely to be 100% of the long-term average, Madhavan Nair Rajeevan, secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, said.

Bloomberg Denmark may issue securities in foreign currencies for the first time in years as the government debt office pulls out the stops to finance programs to support the economy through the coronavirus crisis. While issuing in Danish kroner is the preferred option, Denmark is “one of the few countries in the world with the highest credit rating” and therefore ...

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said all European countries can and should react “forcefully” to the economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic, endorsing governments’ efforts to increase spending. “Fiscal deficits in Europe are said to increase by about 6% of GDP in 2020. This is large, but it’s entirely appropriate in the current crisis,” European Department Director Poul ...

Bloomberg The US government will nearly double the amount it pays hospitals and medical centers to run Abbott Laboratories’ large-scale coronavirus tests, an incentive to get facilities to hire more technicians and expand testing that fallen significantly short of machines’ potential. Abbott’s m2000 machines, which can process up to 1 million tests per week, haven’t been fully used because not ...

Bloomberg Brazil’s economic team wants to adopt a flexible fiscal target for 2021 as uncertainties caused by the novel coronavirus make it difficult to estimate the impact of the crisis, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter. The government has until April 15 to send a bill to Congress with forecasts for next year. The bill has ...

Bloomberg Tesla Inc. is headed for its seventh straight session of gains after Credit Suisse upgraded the electric-car company whose stock has been on a tear since its first-quarter delivery report. Shares of the Model 3 maker rose as much as 8.1% before the start of regular trading, putting them on track for a more than 50% climb in the ...

Bloomberg A protracted lockdown could see the UK economy shrink by more than a third this quarter, increasing unemployment by more than 2 million and sending the budget deficit to its highest since World War II. The dire projections were outlined by Office for Budget Responsibility. They are based on a scenario in which Britain remains in lockdown for three ...