International News

Bloomberg Indonesia unveiled an emergency fiscal stimulus plan worth 22.92 trillion rupiah ($1.55 billion) as it seeks to protect Southeast Asia’s largest economy from the coronavirus crisis. The package which includes a raft of tax breaks, would help push the budget deficit to 2.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), from an initial target of 1.76%, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati ...

Bloomberg Workers in Japan’s biggest labour union are getting the smallest pay raise in seven years, another blow for households facing a higher sales tax and the likelihood of a deep recession triggered by the coronavirus. Average monthly pay for members will rise by 1.91%, according to initial results from this year’s wage negotiations released by the Japanese Trade Union ...

Bloomberg India’s move to restrict overseas travellers from entering the country is likely to weigh on economic growth and cause a loss of precious foreign exchange, Citigroup said in a report. Travel and tourism accounted for 9.2% of India’s gross domestic product in 2018 and provided for 8.1% of total employment, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Foreign ...

Bloomberg Malaysia adjourned former leader Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial over concern his lawyer may have been exposed to the new coronavirus. Former Prime Minister Najib’s entire defense team couldn’t attend the proceedings as they were ordered to self-quarantine, said a representative from the law firm Shafee & Co. His lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah attended an event, when he came in ...

Bloomberg A monthlong lockdown in the Philippine capital to contain the spread of coronavirus is set to curb economic growth and make an interest-rate cut next week more likely. Growth could weaken to below 6% in the first quarter of the year, according to Nicholas Mapa, an economist at ING Bank in Manila. With more than 12 million people, the ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada will introduce a “significant” fiscal stimulus package, as part of a coordinated effort with other Group of Seven countries to counter the virus-driven global economic slowdown and calm markets. Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz were due to hold a press conference in Ottawa, along with Jeremy Rudin, ...

Bloomberg Hundreds of high-risk companies in Europe need to repay or refinance nearly $100 billion in the coming months, a prospect that becomes more daunting by the day amid the relentless collapse in credit markets. From Germany’s Thyssenkrupp AG to Telecom Italia, around 600 European high-yield and non-rated bond borrowers have $92.5 billion bonds maturing by the end of 2021, ...

Bloomberg Co-working startup the Wing will close all locations, taking precautions following the global spread of the coronavirus. The company, whose offerings focus on women, has 11 branches in the US and London. Offices will remain closed through at least March 31, the startup said. The announcement follows moves at many other companies asking employees to stay home. Amazon.com Inc., ...

Bloomberg Instagram plans to sell advertisements in IGTV, its home for longer videos, a bid to compete with YouTube for a larger share of the booming market for online video. Instagram started reaching out to its top video creators, asking them to partner on ad tests. Those in the program will receive a 55% share of all advertising in IGTV, ...

Bloomberg Tesla Inc. will probably sell about 10% fewer cars this year than previously expected as the coronavirus outbreak weighs on demand for vehicles, Morgan Stanley said. The bank slashed its 2020 sales target for Tesla to deliver 452,000 cars from the previous estimate of 500,000, according to a note to clients. Morgan Stanley reduced its price target on the ...