Bloomberg Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson exposed fresh divisions in the UK government by declining to endorse a new proposal that Britain should consider paying the European Union for continued access to its markets after Brexit. In a series of television interviews on Sunday, Johnson steered clear of echoing Brexit Secretary David Davis and Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond, ...
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$38bn Finnish fund moves assets to US as Europe founders
Bloomberg One of the Nordic region’s biggest asset managers is adjusting its portfolio to reflect a lack of confidence in Europe and a growing faith in the prospects of a US boom. Ilmarinen, a Finnish pension fund that oversees about 36 billion euros ($38 billion) in assets, plans to adjust its investments so it’s no longer underweight the US, ...
Read More »â€˜AT&T, Verizon shouldn’t exempt own apps from data caps’
Bloomberg US regulators are calling out AT&T and Verizon for exempting their own video apps from data caps on customers’ cellphones. This may not result in any changes in how the wireless carriers operate, however, as agency leaders appointed by Donald Trump, the incoming president, are expected to look more favorably on such practices. The Federal Communications Commission sent ...
Read More »Quebec: Canada’s newest jobs hotspot
Bloomberg Quebec’s unemployment rate fell to the lowest on record last month while Alberta’s surged to a two-decade high, underlining the swing in Canada’s economic momentum through the recovery from an energy crash. Joblessness in the mostly French-speaking province fell to 6.2 percent in November from 6.8 percent in October, and in Alberta it climbed to 9 percent. The national ...
Read More »Toyota to revamp America’s top-selling Sedan
DETROIT / AP Toyota plans to reveal a new version of America’s top-selling sedan next month at a time when US buyers are moving away from cars toward SUVs and trucks. The Japanese automaker said that it would show off the 2018 Camry at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show in January. It is likely to arrive in showrooms ...
Read More »Historic OPEC deal boosts Iran budget
Tehran / AFP Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani presented his budget on Sunday, with OPEC’s decision to cut production helping to boost its expected oil revenues. Rouhani’s 2017-2018 budget is based on oil prices of $50 per barrel, up from $40 last year, with a focus on unemployment, water resources, railways and the environment. The sums look realistic after last week’s ...
Read More »Egypt hikes tariffs on imported goods
Cairo / AFP Egypt is raising tariffs on some imported goods to up to 60 percent following a decree by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the finance ministry said. The ministry said the measure was introduced to “reduce importsâ€, which have seen Egypt’s trade deficit soar to more than $49 billion (46 billion euros). Sisi’s list of hundreds of imported ...
Read More »Modi to ‘amazonize’ $400bn in state bids across India
Bloomberg India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to move all government purchases, from paper clips to power plant turbines, to an Amazon-like online marketplace that could eventually be worth a fifth of the country’s $2 trillion economy. Modi’s government, which on Nov. 8 announced a sudden decision to replace 86 percent of India’s cash in a bid to cut ...
Read More »NSIG interested in majority stake in Siltronic AG
Bloomberg China’s National Silicon Industry Group, a state-backed semiconductor investment fund, is interested in acquiring a majority stake in German silicon-wafer maker Siltronic AG, the latest potential Chinese takeover that could face political opposition, according to people familiar with the matter. The group, known as NSIG, has contacted Wacker Chemie AG about potentially acquiring the Munich-based chemical maker’s 58 ...
Read More »Philippines seeks B’desh help on $81mn heist
Manila / AFP The Philippines has asked Bangladesh to share details of its investigation into an $81 million cyber-heist from the Bangladesh central bank after the proceeds ended up in Manila, the finance department said. The money was shifted electronically from the Bangladesh central bank’s account with the US Federal Reserve to a Manila branch of the Rizal Commercial ...
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