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IMF mulls Fed-like program to get dollars to more economies

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may launch a new program to help address the global shortage of dollars, providing a backup to the Federal Reserve’s campaign to keep greenbacks flowing around the world economy. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva is preparing to offer short-term dollar loans to countries that lack enough Treasuries to participate in a Fed program that ...

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Denmark faces budget deficit of 6.5% of GDP

Bloomberg Denmark faces a budget deficit of 6.5% of gross domestic product this year under the most optimistic scenario provided by the Danish Economic Councils, an independent government adviser. Under that scenario, GDP would fall by 3.5% this year as the economy quickly returns to normal activity, the advisory, known as the Wise Men, said in a statement on Monday. ...

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German economy likely to shrink by 10% this quarter

Bloomberg Germany’s economy will likely shrink this quarter at more than twice the pace recorded at the height of the financial crisis, according to the country’s leading research institutes. Output is predicted to slump 9.8% in April-June period, the most since records for quarterly data began in 1970. The economy is set to contract 4.2% over the course of this ...

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Glaxo takes aim at Covid-19 in $250m deal

Bloomberg UK pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline Plc is joining dozens of companies in the hunt for coronavirus therapies, signing a partnership with Vir Biotechnology Inc. and agreeing to invest $250 million in the US company. Glaxo and Vir will work together to find experimental antibodies to treat or prevent Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, the British drugmaker said. The ...

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Argentina default plan burns traders who trusted local debt

Bloomberg In Argentine trading circles, a consensus had emerged of late that the government was likely to treat some local creditors the same way it would treat those who own its foreign bonds when widely anticipated restructuring talks finally got underway. In fact, dollar-denominated bonds issued in the local market were trading just a few weeks ago at almost the ...

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Global oil powers close in on historic deal to curb output

Bloomberg The world’s largest oil producers are hammering out the terms of an unprecedented deal to mitigate the devastating impact of the coronavirus crisis as they prepare for an extraordinary meeting this week. Saudi Arabia and Russia are closing in on an agreement to curb output, which could drain some of the oil surplus threatening to overwhelm storage tanks and ...

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Europe weighs $540 billion plan to stem virus recession

Bloomberg It’s crunch time for the European Union (EU) as it strives to overcome internal differences and agree to a plan that would stem a virus-led downturn, which may eclipse the severity of the Great Recession more than a decade ago. The EU’s finance ministers on Tuesday will seek to endorse a list of measures worth more than half a ...

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India jobless rate rises 23% amid lockdown

Bloomberg India’s unemployment rate could have climbed to more than 20% as the economy lost jobs after a nationwide lockdown took effect in the last week of March, according to a survey by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. The jobless rate was 23.4% for the week ended April 5 based on a sample size of 9,429 observations, Mahesh ...

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150% rise in number of e-stores: TRA

Abu Dhabi / WAM The number of stores providing e-services for consumers in the UAE rose by 150 percent in the past two weeks, according to an updated list published by the Telecommunications Regulation Authority (TRA). This significant surge reflects the expansion of e-services in accordance with the high demand from consumers in the United Arab Emirates. The updated list ...

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EPA launches new initiatives to help local publishing industry

Sharjah / Emirates Business The Emirates Publishers Association (EPA) has announced several initiatives, which aim to support the local publishing industry to overcome the current challenges facing the sector posed by the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, and offer them the required impetus to continue production of quality content. The announcement was made during EPA’s fifth board meeting, conducted remotely, ...

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