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Bloomberg Italy’s credit rating outlook was raised to positive from stable by S&P Global Ratings, which said the progress in implementing reforms will boost economic growth, benefiting fiscal consolidation. S&P affirmed the BBB rating on Italy, which is two notches above junk. The country’s prospects are looking brighter as increasing rates of vaccination have allowed it to avoid renewed lockdowns. ...

Bloomberg Alphabet Inc’s Google is slashing the fees it takes from subscription services on its app store following pressure from developers and lawmakers. Beginning January 1, the Google Play Store will charge third-party subscription apps a 15% commission, the company said. Previously, subscription apps were charged 30% for first year, then 15% thereafter. Google also charged 15% for first $1 ...

Bloomberg The cost of hedging against inflation in the UK over the next decade rises to the highest level in 25 years as investors brace for price pressures in the economy to persist. The so-called 10-year breakeven rate climbed as much as 11 basis points to 4.25%, the highest since 1996. That predates the Bank of England’s independence in 1997, ...

Bloomberg Retailers in Canada reported fewer sales in September amid supply chain bottlenecks and a reopening of the economy that allowed consumers to spend more on services. Receipts likely fall 1.9%, a preliminary estimate by Statistics Canada indicated, after a gain of 2.1% in August — slightly ahead of a 2% consensus estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The ...

Bloomberg France’s 2022 budget deficit will be wider than forecast only a month ago after President Emmanuel Macron’s government announced plans to contain energy prices, hand out checks to more than half the population, and make high-risk investments in future industrial sectors. With just six months to go until elections, Prime Minister Jean Castex said that around 38 million people ...

NEW YORK / WAM In a statement to the UN Security Council’s quarterly open debate on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question, the UAE noted recent positive developments to advance peace in the Middle East and to help resume the negotiation process and build confidence between the parties to advance the Middle East Peace Process. The ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Fertiglobe plc, a subsidiary of Adnoc and OCI, on Wednesday announced the successful completion of its initial public offering (IPO) bookbuilding process, and the final offer price of its initial public offering. Fertiglobe is the world’s largest seaborne exporter of urea and ammonia combined, the Middle East and North Africa’s largest producer of nitrogen fertilisers by ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Managing Director and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), reinforced the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) commitment to India’s energy security and said the UAE will always remain India’s trusted partner of choice. Speaking virtually at the 5th India Energy ...

DUBAI / WAM The UAE Space Agency has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Israel Space Agency to enhance cooperation in scientific research, space exploration and knowledge transfer to accelerate economic growth and human progress. Sarah bint Yousif Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency, said, “Sharing knowledge and expertise ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Emirates Development Bank (EDB) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio) have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on promoting business setup and foreign direct investments into Abu Dhabi. The MoU between EDB and Adio aims to help private sector companies establish and grow in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, while ...