Bloomberg As the novel coronavirus starts to gather speed in Europe, the Middle East and the US, there’s one place it is seemingly being contained: Singapore. With no reported virus-related deaths despite 96 cases, and a slowing rate of infection that’s been outpaced by recoveries, the Asian city-state is emerging as a litmus test of whether the deadly pathogen can ...
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India mulls loans to telcos to pay dues
Bloomberg India is considering options including offering subsidised loans to cash-strapped wireless carriers that owe $13 billion in past dues, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The proposals include asking the companies to pay 20% of the principal upfront and the rest over a period of 16 years at an interest rate of 0.5% over the yield on ...
Read More »China is making progress in battle to get back to work
Bloomberg China is slowly starting to get back to work, as it battles the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 2,900 people and sickened tens of thousands. Government controls and the fear of going outside have curtailed spending, and many factories are still not working at full capacity due to a lack of staff, with workers still in their ...
Read More »MUFG’s securities arm cuts equities staff in Tokyo
Bloomberg Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc’s securities joint venture with Morgan Stanley is cutting equities staff in Tokyo, including several managers, people with knowledge of the matter said. Managers Yasutaka Takedomi and Toru Kaneda are among five to 10 employees in the sales trading team who are leaving Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co, the people said, asking not to ...
Read More »Singapore to halve emissions by 2050
Bloomberg Singapore enhanced its pledge to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases it emits, saying it now aims to halve emissions from an expected peak in 2030 within the following two decades. The Southeast Asian city-state expects the emissions ceiling to be 65 million tons of carbon dioxide around 2030, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean said in Parliament. That will ...
Read More »Virus overshadows Johnson’s post-vote UK economy bounce
Bloomberg The economic bounce from Boris Johnson’s Brexit breakthrough could be cut short as the coronavirus casts a pall on the nascent recovery. While there have been signs of a rebound in investment, retail sales and even house prices, Britain is an open economy that’s particularly susceptible to global events. The virus is already having an impact on the UK, ...
Read More »France mocks UK threats on trade talks as ‘for birds’
Bloomberg French Europe Minister Amelie de Montchalin fired a series of warnings at Boris Johnson over the next stage of Brexit talks, saying the UK’s threat to leave the European Union without a trade deal was “for the birds.†Speaking in London a day after Johnson published his proposals for a free trade deal with the EU, de Montchalin rejected ...
Read More »Apple’s Cook sees supply chain changes
Bloomberg Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook suggested the iPhone maker wouldn’t make any quick moves out of China in light of interruptions due to the coronavirus and called the situation a “temporary condition.†“We’re talking about adjusting some knobs, not some sort of wholesale, fundamental change,†he said in an interview aired on Fox Business. Apple’s China-focused supply ...
Read More »Brazil may cut GDP forecast amid coronavirus weakness
Bloomberg Brazil’s government is likely to cut its 2.4% growth forecast for the economy in 2020 to take into account the impact of the coronavirus in slowing global activity, a person familiar with the matter said. A lower-than-expected gross domestic product expansion would lead to reduced inflationary pressure, which may open some space for the central bank to cut the ...
Read More »Uber drivers, pizza delivery workers get lift from Vestager
Bloomberg Uber Technologies Inc drivers and takeout delivery workers have a new champion in European Union’s (EU) antitrust chief, who wants to help them fight for better pay and conditions. In an interview with Bloomberg, Margrethe Vestager says she’s looking at ways to help “people who work in a weak negotiating position†amid concerns about the plight of workers in ...
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