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Bloomberg Singapore advised the public to stay at home in its latest effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, a day after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the city state is facing a grave economic challenge posed by the pandemic. The public should only head to malls for essential items such as food, the government said in an ...

Bloomberg Sugar mills in India, the world’s third-biggest shipper, will probably miss their export target this year as a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disrupts logistics at ports. The country won’t be able to ship 5 million tons in the year to September, as expected earlier, because of a shortage of labor at ports and mills, ...

Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will provide $50 billion in emergency facilities to low-income and emerging-market countries to mitigate the economic shocks of the coronavirus, including $10 billion in concessional loans. “Our member countries need us more than ever,” the IMF said on its website Wednesday. “Discussions between IMF teams and country officials are advancing quickly.” The IMF has received ...

Bloomberg They’d just bet millions on a hotel makeover, were waiting tables while pursuing their dream, or toiling in an already tough oil market. Canadians have seen their world upended in a matter of days as the coronavirus shuts down huge swaths of the economy. Now, they’re trying to figure out how to make ends meet and negotiate a maze ...

Bloomberg Media companies including AT&T Inc. and ViacomCBS Inc. are pressing the pause button on asset sales worth more than $5 billion because of the global coronavirus pandemic. AT&T’s auction of four regional sports networks, ViacomCBS’s offloading of its publishing arm and closely-held Ion Media Networks Inc.’s $3.5 billion sale process have been held up amid a downturn in financing ...

Bloomberg The shutting of European borders in a bid to contain the coronavirus pandemic is about to derail a 200 billion-zloty ($47 billion) industry. The Polish construction sector, which employs 400,000 people and accounts for 8% of gross domestic product, faces unprecedented trouble amid concerns over the Ukrainian workforce it depends on. The builders are gradually heading back to their ...

DUBAI / WAM UAE consumers will now be able to shop online with trust and confidence with DubaiStore, a new UAE e-commerce marketplace platform created by Digital Economy Solutions (DES), which has gone live. The new e-commerce platform is an initiative that will facilitate small- and medium-sized businesses to sell their products online, offering healthy competition to big e-commerce players, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Etihad Airways has announced suspension of all flights departing from Abu Dhabi International Airport for two weeks, and subject to further directives by the relevant authorities. According to a statement released by the airline, the announcement was made following the UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA) and the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM The UAE announced on Wednesday the detection of 85 new coronavirus (Covid-19) cases and the recovery of seven more individuals. The announcement was made by the Ministry of Health and Prevention during a regular press briefing on Wednesday, wherein Dr. Farida Al Hosani, the official spokesperson for the UAE health sector, highlighted the latest Covid-19 developments ...

Dubai / Emirates Business Islamic Arab Insurance Company (Salama), the UAE’s largest and oldest takaful provider, announced its audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019, reporting a net profit of AED 55 million. The gross written premium grew by 6.25% to reach AED 1,106 million in 2019 compared to AED 1,041 million in 2018. Salama’s focus on ...