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Bloomberg Italy’s record bond sale this week has cast a light on the price tag of the country’s political tension with the European Union (EU). The government’s decision on financing its pandemic costs will saddle taxpayers with 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion) of interest expense over the five-year life of the security. That’s 1.5 billion euros more than if Rome ...

Bloomberg Economists at JPMorgan Chase & Co. see the US recovery from the coronavirus pandemic going even more slowly than previously thought, downgrading their forecast for 2021 growth and projecting an unemployment rate of at least 10% through next year’s first quarter. The lockdowns of state economies to combat the spread of the coronavirus will translate into an unprecedented 40% ...

Bloomberg Argentina will improve the terms of its offer to restructure $65 billion of overseas bonds after the country defaulted on interest payments. Economy Minister Martin Guzman didn’t give any details on his plans in an interview at his office, but said discussions with creditor groups continue. The latest proposals from bondholders have shrunk the gap between the parties’ positions, ...

Bloomberg Organisers of the New York auto show who had postponed the event to August are now calling it off for this year. “Because of the uncertainty caused by the virus, we feel it would not be prudent to continue with the 2020 show,” Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, said in a statement. The ...

Bloomberg Memorial Day marks the start of the prime season for theme parks. From now through Labour Day, they typically welcome the lion’s share of guests and generate most of their annual revenue. But the coronavirus pandemic has left Six Flags Entertainment Corp., Cedar Fair LP and SeaWorld Entertainment Inc., three of the world’s largest theme-park operators by attendance, with ...

DUBAI / WAM Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said that the bonuses distributed to Emirati owners of Dubai taxi plates over the past 10 years under the orders of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai have exceeded AED1.5 billion. Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director General ...

Bloomberg Beijing is accelerating its bid for global leadership in key technologies, planning to pump more than a trillion dollars into the economy through the rollout of everything from wireless networks to artificial intelligence. In the masterplan backed by President Xi Jinping himself, China will invest an estimated $1.4 trillion over six years to 2025, calling on urban governments and ...

LONDON / WAM Biopharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca, said on Thursday it had received the first agreements to supply at least 400 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine it is developing with the University of Oxford, reported Reuters. The British drugmaker said it has a total capacity sourced for one billion doses through 2020 and into 2021, and continues to increase capacity ...

Bloomberg Oil was headed for its longest run of daily gains since February 2019 after a drop in US crude stockpiles added to signs that the market is starting to balance. West Texas Intermediate futures rose for a sixth day in New York to near $34 a barrel. American inventories fell for a second week, and there was a record ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) joined the Arab Coordination Group (ACG) Institutions’ $10 billion commitment to help developing countries respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and help their economic recovery. The support, agreed at a virtual ACG meeting, will initially focus on helping developing countries obtain the medical supplies and protective equipment they need. It will ...