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Bloomberg As the European Union (EU) seeks to disburse funds from its 750 billion-euro ($888 billion) recovery program as soon as next year, some of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic are struggling to work out how to best keep their finances in check once they take on billions of euros of new loans. Spain, Greece and Portugal plan ...

Bloomberg The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) effort to name a new leader hit a new roadblock on Wednesday after the Trump administration said it won’t back the appointment of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to be the WTO’s next director-general. The US could not support a consensus decision to appoint Okonjo-Iweala, Deputy US Trade Representative Dennis Shea said during a meeting of WTO ...

Bloomberg Argentina is considering fiscal incentives to encourage companies to hire workers after unemployment spiked to the highest in at least 16 years amid pandemic. Labour Minister Claudio Moroni said he’s been working with the Production Ministry to lower some employer contributions. The incentives will probably be aimed at hard-hit industries in Argentina’s least-favoured provinces, he said. “The idea is ...

Bloomberg Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government has approved a new relief package to help sectors hit hardest by the latest coronavirus restrictions amid growing protests in cities including Milan and Turin. Conte’s cabinet signed off on measures worth about 5 billion euros ($6 billion) to partially compensate businesses that suffer from the partial lockdown approved over the weekend. The ...

Bloomberg Consumer confidence unexpectedly pulled back in October as Americans became more concerned about prospects for employment, incomes and the economy. The Conference Board’s index decreased to 100.9 from a downwardly revised 101.3 reading in September, according to a report Tuesday. The reading fell below the median estimate of 102 in Bloomberg’s survey of economists. The gauge of expectations slipped ...

Bloomberg The UK’s recovery already looks well past its peak, putting the economy on a shaky footing as it enters a winter of stricter restrictions to control the coronavirus. The worrying outlook prompted JPMorgan Chase to almost halve its forecast for fourth-quarter growth, with the bank expecting regional lockdowns to have a wider impact on sentiment across the country. That ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on reinforcing bilateral relations in the humanitarian and development fields. The MoU was signed by Sultan Al Shamsi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for International Development Affairs, and John Rakolta, ...

Bloomberg Green power is set to draw around $11 trillion of investment in the coming decades as the cost of renewables plummets and more of the world’s energy comes from electricity. That’s the latest analysis from BloombergNEF (BNEF) in its annual New Energy Outlook report. It’s further evidence of how cheap renewable power sources will continue to push aside fossil fuels ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri, UAE Minister of Economy, has discussed bilateral relations shared by the UAE and Spain with Reyes Maroto Illera, Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism of Spain. The discussion took place during a virtual meeting between the ministers, with the participation of Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Group CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) reinforced the close and deep-rooted economic ties between the UAE and India during a virtual session with Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. Speaking at the interactive session between Prime Minister Modi and ...