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Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet signed off on plans to raise another 62.5 billion euros ($70 billion) in debt to finance the country’s largest stimulus program in recent history. The proposal has yet to be approved by parliament and would increase net borrowing to 218 billion euros this year. In March the Bundestag, or lower house, had already authorised a ...

Bloomberg European car sales showed first signs of a tepid recovery in May as showrooms reopened after a two-month shutdown because of the coronavirus. New auto registrations across the region fell 57% year-over-year, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. While that’s the worst May since the group started tracking the data in 1990, it’s an improvement over the 78% plunge ...

Bloomberg UK inflation slowed to just a quarter of the Bank of England’s (BOE) target in May, boosting the case for policy makers to add to their stimulus plan at their meeting this week. Consumer prices increased just 0.5% from a year earlier, the weakest since 2016, amid falling prices of auto fuel and recreational goods. The core rate, which ...

Bloomberg Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to help Canada’s small businesses pay their rent is off to a slow start, with some landlords hesitant to sign up and others bogged down by red tape. The federal government said earlier this month landlords had applied for only C$90 million ($66 million) from a rent assistance fund on behalf of about 26,000 ...

Bloomberg A tunnel intended to connect Finland and Estonia faces a delay of up to seven years after Finnish policy makers picked a route opposed by the developer. The Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council’s assembly voted to route the project under the capital and not Espoo, the adjacent city. Finnish entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka, formerly of Rovio Entertainment Oyj, plans to appeal the ...

Bloomberg Alternative assets such as infrastructure and real estate have been a popular way for Nordic pension funds to pump up returns. But the latest crisis just exposed how risky many corners of the asset class are, when liquidity suddenly dries up. As the chief investment officer of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co., Mikko Mursula oversees about 46 billion euros ...

ABU DHABI / WAM For the fourth year in row, the United Arab Emirates is leading the Mena region in the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2020, issued by the World Competitiveness Centre of the World Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland, which puts the UAE at 9th place among the most competitive countries in the world. The UAE ...

Bloomberg Global oil demand will rebound next year as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic, but recovering to pre-crisis levels may take a couple of years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. Fuel use around the world will remain 2.5% lower next year than in 2019, largely because of the “the dire situation of the aviation sector,” the Paris-based ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) announced the issuance of the largest Chinese Yuan (CNH) dual listed Formosa bonds from the Mena region, with a CNH 1.4 billion five-year issuance. Despite the challenging market backdrop, FAB attracted a high quality orderbook of over CNH 1.6 billion, which enabled the bank to upsize its target issuance from CNH ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE condemned Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist militia’s attempts to target civilian areas in Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia with explosive-laden drones intercepted by Coalition forces. In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the UAE reiterated its full solidarity with Saudi Arabia against any threats to its security and stability, affirming support for all ...