Bloomberg Indonesia’s central bank cut its policy rate for the first time in four months, urging banks to lend more to help drive an economic recovery. Bank Indonesia cut its seven-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 3.75%, the lowest since the benchmark was introduced in 2016, as predicted by 11 of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. “I ...

Bloomberg China’s central bank remains on course to taper its emergency support even as a string of defaults by government-linked companies sends tremors through the credit markets. Officials have been preparing investors about the possibility of withdrawing some of that stimulus as the economic recovery picks up pace. While a surge in market interest rates following the defaults appears to ...

Bloomberg Absa Group Ltd said it’s unlikely to pay an ordinary dividend this year as the South African bank conserves cash to deal with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Earnings before one-time items and accounting adjustments will probably decline more than 40% from a year earlier, Johannesburg-based Absa said. It’s withholding payouts despite having strong buffers and forecasting ...

Bloomberg Apple slammed Facebook and other internet giants for their ad-targeting practices in response to a letter questioning a decision by the iPhone maker to delay a new privacy feature. The Cupertino, California-based technology company criticised Facebook’s approach to advertising and user tracking, according to a written reply sent to several human rights and privacy organisations, including the Electronic Frontier ...

Bloomberg Ford Motor Co’s Lincoln luxury line hopes some interior redecorating will revive its slowest selling sport-utility vehicle (SUV): the mid-sized Nautilus. Lincoln has built its comeback on brash behemoths like the Navigator SUV. But sales of the Nautilus, with two rows of seats, have fallen 31.2% this year even as the brand’s total SUV deliveries rose. So Ford overhauled ...

Bloomberg General Motors (GM) is laying the groundwork for a bigger bet on electric vehicles, telling investors at a virtual conference it plans to boost spending on them by more than a third to $27 billion as part of a push to introduce 30 battery-powered models by 2025. The initiative represents an increased investment of $7 billion and 10 more ...

Bloomberg Nikon Corp plans to reduce about 2,000 employees, or 10% of its total workforce, due to a slump in its core camera business, Nikkei reported. Its business was also impacted by the performance of Intel Corp, one of Nikon’s key clients of semiconductor equipment, the daily reported, without saying where it got the information. In the company’s reform agenda, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE has strongly condemned the cowardly terrorist shooting attack targeting Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) medical staff working in mobile healthcare clinics in the Yemeni city of Taiz. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) said in a statement that the targeting of humanitarian workers is a flagrant violation of international norms and conventions, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The volume of non-oil trade exchange between the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the Sultanate of Oman through the emirate’s ports reached AED 23.67 billion during the past five years, which reflects the growing economic relations between the two brotherly countries, in a way that enhances the process of sustainable development, according to General Administration of ...

FUJAIRAH / WAM Oil products stockpiles at the Port of Fujairah, the most important bunkering hub in the Middle East, jumped to a six-week high even as fuels for power generation and marine bunkers tumbled to the lowest in almost two years, as fuel oil shipments to South Korea resumed. Total inventories as of November 16 stood at 20.436 million ...