News

  New Delhi / Reuters India’s 2016/17 wheat imports are expected to surge more than five-fold to the highest in a decade, as a severe drought linked to an El Nino weather event and unseasonal rains push domestic output down to the lowest since 2011, a Reuters survey shows. A spike in overseas purchases by India, the world’s second largest ...

  Islamabad / Reuters Pakistan’s government will guarantee 100 billion rupees ($955 million) worth of Islamic bonds to fund what would become the country’s fourth largest hydropower plant, aiming to address power shortages that have hindered economic growth. The deal would be one of largest infrastructure sukuk sold to date, helping expand a funding format that has largely been confined ...

  TOKYO / Reuters Japan’s Mori Building Co said on Wednesday it would spend about 400 billion yen ($3.7 billion) on constructing three high-rise towers as part of a grand plan to redevelop a central Tokyo district, and may seek a partner to fund the project. The development is part of Mori’s 1 trillion yen plan to redevelop the Toranomon ...

  MANILA / WAM Emerging risks and destabilisers as diverse as widening income inequality, slower growth, and climate change, are reshaping Asia’s economic landscape at such a rapid pace that governments must build far greater resilience into their national plans, says the Independent Evaluation at Asian Development Bank (ADB). “The urgency for countries to adapt to the new environment is ...

Bloomberg Greek PM Alexis Tsipras will seek help from French President Francois Hollande after talks between his government and its creditors failed — again — to produce the approval needed to release funds from his country’s third bailout. Tsipras will meet his French counterpart in the Elysee Palace with Greek officials still struggling to convince inspectors from the European Commission, ...

  Frankfurt / AFP Volkswagen announced on Wednesday that its top executives were willing to accept “sharp reductions” in their annual bonuses as the embattled carmaker struggles to stem the fallout from its massive engine-rigging scandal. “The supervisory and executive boards are in agreement that given the current situation, a signal should be sent regarding the issue of management board pay,” ...

  Paris / AFP France said on Wednesday it was on track for modest growth this year at the same rate as earlier projections and also left its public deficit forecast untouched. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the eurozone’s second biggest economy is expected to be 1.5 percent in 2016 and the same next year, the finance ministry said. That’s ...

  Bloomberg Poland has returned to the international debt market with a reopening of the 20-year euro-denominated bond it sold in January, days before a shock credit rating downgrade left investors nursing losses on Polish assets. The country is offering bonds maturing in January 2036 with guidance of about 130 basis points above midswaps, according to a person familiar with ...

Bloomberg Russia’s ruble advanced for a fourth day, the longest winning streak in almost three months, as investors turned their attention to a weekend meeting between oil producers that’s driving up the price of crude on speculation suppliers may freeze output. The currency strengthened 0.4 percent to 65.486 against the dollar in Moscow, bringing the gain over the past four ...

  Bloomberg Two years ago, BP Plc said international sanctions against Russia could hurt its business there. Didn’t happen. Instead, London-based BP has found a haven in Russia, buttressed by a falling ruble, lower taxes and the lowest operating costs among the world’s biggest oil companies. BP earned 22 percent of adjusted pretax profit from its share in Moscow-based OAO ...