Bloomberg ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch lender, saw expenses increase as a proportion of income last year as Chief Executive Officer Ralph Hamers said the bank increased spending on measures that will help it cut costs further in the future. ING reported a cost-to-income ratio of 59.9 percent in the fourth quarter, a rise from a year earlier and …

Bloomberg The Bank of Japan increased the amount of bonds it offered to buy at a regular operation for the first time since July, helping to bring down yields and weaken the yen. The BOJ sought to buy 330 billion yen ($3 billion) of 3-to-5 year debt, more than the 300 billion yen at the last operation, it said a …

DAMMAM / WAM The Middle East and North Africa (Mena) will need investments of approximately $180 billion to add a capacity at 7.4% annually until 2021, which corresponds to additions of more than 130GW, according to estimates by Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP). ‘‘Governments continue to meet this challenge by expediting new projects and upgrading their infrastructure to meet increasing …