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HANNOVER / WAM The Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) – a joint initiative by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Industry and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) on Monday announced that the third edition of its Summit (GMIS 2020) will be converted into a series of digital sessions. The summit invited thought-leaders from the global manufacturing community …

Sydney / WAM Australia will spend AU$130 billion ($79.85 billion) to subsidise the wages of an estimated six million people, marking a third tranche of stimulus designed to limit the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic on the country’s economy, Reuters has reported. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the six months of funding was necessary to ensure businesses were able …

Bloomberg The global oil market is broken, overwhelmed by an unmanageable surplus as virus lockdowns cascade through the world’s largest economies. Onshore tanks in many markets are full, forcing traders to store excess oil in idle supertankers. Refineries are starting to shut down because nobody needs the fuels they produce. In physical oil markets, barrels are already changing hands for …

RIYADH / WAM The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday that it will extend the suspension of workplace attendance in both public and private sectors and international passenger flights among efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus. In a statement issued by an official source at the Ministry of Interior, all domestic flights, trains, buses and taxis also …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump signed the largest stimulus package in US history, a $2 trillion bill intended to rescue the coronavirus-battered economy. “This will deliver urgently needed relief,” Trump told reporters at the White House, as he was joined by GOP leaders but no Democrats. “We’re going to keep our small businesses strong and our big businesses strong.” The hard-won …

Bloomberg The bustling streets are silent across much of India as the country heeds Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 21-day lockdown to break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus, but the WhatsApp groups are buzzing. As the number of infections continue to rise, the anger and anxiety once expressed by the honking of horns at rush hour is finding voice …

Bloomberg Oil turned lower on an unprecedented hit to consumption, even as policy makers attempted to kickstart the global economy. Futures in London erased earlier gains to trade down 4.2%. The boss of trading house Vitol Group said demand is down about 15 million to 20 million barrels a day and will shrink further with India’s decision to go into …

Bloomberg The euro area is preparing to make available credit lines from its bailout fund worth up to 2% of each country’s output, as the region’s finance ministers seek to lay out the next phase of their fiscal response to the coronavirus outbreak. The tentative progress comes as an array of forecasts and sentiment indicators have pointed to a severe …

Bloomberg The global economy is taking a battering not seen in decades, the outcome of severe restrictions on businesses and households by governments desperately trying to contain a pandemic that’s killed almost 17,400 people worldwide. The first major numbers outlining the damage tell a story of companies seeing demand plunge at a record pace, activity shrinking and confidence dropping. Government …

Bloomberg The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of UAE has lifted restrictions on some programs that allow voice calls over the Internet, including Microsoft Skype for Business and Google Hangout, to help people work from home and avoid spreading the coronavirus. The applications allowed on all networks in the country are: Microsoft Times, Zoom, and Blackboard. The applications, which will be compatible with …