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Dubai / WAM The UAE is launching a fiscal risk management project with the IMF’s help and will produce its first fiscal stress test this year, according to Christine Lagarde, Managing Director and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Speaking at the main session of the Fourth Annual Arab Fiscal Forum organized by the IMF, Arab Monetary Fund, AMF, ...

Sharjah / WAM The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), a Sharjah-based global humanitarian organisation dedicated to helping people in need worldwide, announced the commencement of a project to establish the first Ready Made Garments (RMG) Factory for Kids Wear, in Upper Egypt. The project, to be implemented by Egypt Network for Integrated Development (ENID), under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), ...

Bloomberg Chevron Corp. vowed to cut greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with the Paris Accord on climate change, potentially averting a shareholder rebellion at its annual general meeting. The US oil major pledged to reduce air pollution intensity by 25 to 30 percent by 2023, as recommended in the Paris agreement that took effect in 2016. The target applies across ...

Bloomberg Brexit is driving companies out of the UK, and the Netherlands is raking in the corporate refugees. About 250 companies are in talks with the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency to potentially relocate activities to the country, according to a statement. The candidates would join 42 companies that made the move last year, and the 18 early birds in 2017. ...

Bloomberg The European Commission slashed its growth forecasts for all the euro region’s major economies from Germany to Italy and warned that Brexit and the slowdown in China threaten to make the outlook even worse. The European Union’s executive arm delivered a downbeat report that shaved a whole percentage point off its 2019 projection for Italy, now seen with minimal ...

Bloomberg German online payments firm Wirecard AG has seen its stock plunge by more than a third in recent days on reports of accounting misdeeds at its Singapore unit. Now, the company is fighting back by questioning the foundations of the allegations. A preliminary review last May by a respected Singapore law firm lists allegations of potential financial irregularities, money ...

Bloomberg Publicis Groupe SA is setting off alarm bells on Madison Avenue as the ad industry’s earnings season gets under way. The French owner of Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett Worldwide suffered a surprise drop in fourth-quarter sales, blaming cuts in ad spending by consumer brands in the US. So-called organic revenue fell 0.3 percent in the quarter, missing ...

Bloomberg Call it the Masayoshi Son mathematical distortion field. The founder of SoftBank Group Corp. added about 1.94 trillion yen ($17.6 billion) to the market value of his company— by unveiling a plan to buy back shares worth less than a third of that amount. Based on his own stake, Son’s net worth rose by about $5 billion. His fortune ...

Bloomberg The Philippine Congress approved the 3.76 trillion-peso ($72 billion) budget for 2019, ending an impasse that put on hold funding for new government projects. Lawmakers ratified the spending plan in Manila, just before a three-month recess until May 20. The Philippines missed the year-end deadline to approve the 2019 budget — the first time in almost a decade — ...

Bloomberg Lenders dumped shares of Anil Ambani group companies they held as collateral after their market value plummeted about 126 billion rupees ($1.8 billion) this month, adding to the litany of woes plaguing the Indian billionaire. Creditors sold a total 5.5 billion shares in four companies — Reliance Power Ltd., Reliance Infrastructure Ltd., Reliance Communications Ltd. and Reliance Capital Ltd. ...