Bloomberg The Bank of England cut its growth forecasts and issued its strongest warning yet that a vote to leave the European Union would hurt the economy. With just six weeks to go until Britain’s referendum, the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Mark Carney, said there were more signs it was weighing on growth and clouding the ...
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Greeks leery of debt-relief talks as they brace for tax wave
Bloomberg Ioannis Plotas doesn’t share his prime minister’s belief that the start of debt-relief discussions on Monday is a step forward for Greece. Rather, the 52-year-old is worried that the latest hikes in income tax and social security contributions passed by Greek lawmakers on Sunday to appease creditors will drive the dry cleaning shop he runs with his sister ...
Read More »Fed faces 2015 deja vu as markets discount rate-increase chances
Bloomberg For Janet Yellen’s Fed, 2016 is beginning to look all too familiar — another saga of disappointment and downgrade. Last year, Federal Reserve officials started off signaling two interest-rate increases but those plans didn’t work out: Weak first-quarter U.S. growth delayed action in June, international concerns took September off the table and liftoff finally happened in December. This ...
Read More »Brazil’s Senate ‘impeaches’ Rousseff after long fight
BRASILIA / AFP Brazil’s Senate voted on Thursday to impeach President Dilma Rousseff after a months-long fight that laid raw the country’s fury over corruption and economic decay, hurling Latin America’s largest country into political turmoil just months before it hosts the Summer Olympics. Rousseff’s enraged backers called the move a coup d’etat and threatened wide-scale protests and strikes. Her ...
Read More »DED honours consumer-friendly companies
Dubai / WAM HH Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai International Marine Club (DIMC) has honoured the top performers in the fourth ‘Consumer Friendliness Index’ of the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai at a special ceremony held on Wednesday. Retailers from seven sectors were honoured along with LuLu Hypermarket and Alshaya Group, ...
Read More »UAE, Nepal to strengthen economic ties
KATHMANDU / WAM Bidhya Devi Bhandari, President of Nepal, received HH Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu. During the meeting, Sheikh Abdullah conveyed the regards of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan to the President of Nepal, wishing her good health and happiness, and more ...
Read More »Toyota tips 35% profit dive on strong yen
Tokyo / AFP Toyota on Wednesday warned that its annual net profit will fall by about a third as a stronger yen, and a slowdown in Chinese growth and other emerging markets dent its bottom line. The surprise new forecast — which would mark Toyota’s first profit decline in five years — tipped a 1.5 trillion yen ($13.8 billion) ...
Read More »Brazil’s Senate opens Rousseff impeachment vote session
BrasÃlia / AFP Brazil’s Senate on Wednesday launched a pivotal debate on the future of President Dilma Rousseff, who faces likely suspension and an impeachment trial that could end 13 years of leftist rule in Latin America’s biggest country. Even allies of Rousseff, 68, said she had no chance of surviving the vote, expected later in the day after ...
Read More »Queen calls Chinese delegation ‘very rude’
London / AFP Queen Elizabeth II was caught on camera describing some Chinese officials as “very rude†in a rare diplomatic gaffe by the long-serving British monarch over a state visit that drummed up billions in Chinese investment. Her comments, aired on Wednesday, came just hours after Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday also made inadvertently public remarks, referring ...
Read More »Spotlight on nearly zero-energy buildings
DUBAI / Emirates Business Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC), an independent forum aimed at conserving the environment by strengthening and promoting green building practices, puts the spotlight on Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (nZEBs) at a Focus Day organised in partnership with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Dubai Chamber) and the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy. Discussing the definitions ...
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