Bloomberg Saudi Arabia has promised it will reduce the overall tax rate paid by its national oil company to make its 2018 initial public offering — potentially one of the largest in history — more appealing to investors. “Definitely the fiscal regime will be changed,” Saudi Arabian Oil Co. Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser said in a Bloomberg Television …

  Bloomberg Aker ASA, the investment company controlled by Norwegian billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, is considering a sale of offshore-engineering business Aker Solutions ASA, according to people familiar with the matter. Aker ASA, which owns more than a third of Aker Solutions via a holding company with the Norwegian government and a direct stake, is discussing options with potential adviser …

  Bloomberg Kuwait Investment Authority is planning to manage more of its own assets as the world’s fifth-largest sovereign wealth fund seeks to take more risk to boost returns. The KIA, as the fund is known, wants to increase the allocation of funds managed in-house to as much as 8 percent from 1 or 2 percent at present, Managing Director …

  Bloomberg Saudi Arabia’s growth this year will be “significantly higher” than the International Monetary Fund’s new forecast, according to Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan. Economic expansion will be “north of 1 percent,” Al-Jadaan said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The IMF lowered its forecast to 0.4 percent from 2 percent in its World Economic …

  Bloomberg Qualcomm Inc. forced Apple Inc. to use its chips exclusively in return for lower licensing fees, unfairly cutting out competitors, the US said in a lawsuit against the biggest maker of mobile phone chips. Qualcomm’s exclusive deal with Apple was detailed in a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit accusing the chipmaker of illegally maintaining a monopoly for semiconductors used …

  Bloomberg The cost of living in the US climbed for a fifth month on the back of shelter and fuel prices, pushing inflation closer to the Federal Reserve’s goal. The consumer-price index rose 0.3 percent in December, matching the median projection of economists, after a 0.2 percent gain the previous month, Labor Department figures showed on Wednesday in Washington. …

  Bloomberg Apple Inc. is raising App Store prices in the UK as much as 25 percent, bending to the pound’s drop in value following the country’s vote to leave the European Union. Apps that cost 79 pence ($1.20) will increase to 99 pence, according to a notification sent to app developers today, seen by Bloomberg. Apps that costs $2.99 …

  Bloomberg The UK economy lost fewer jobs than expected and wage growth picked up towards the end of 2016, suggesting the labor market remains relatively resilient. The number of people in work fell by 9,000 to 31.8 million in the three months through November, whereas economists had predicted a 35,000 decline. The jobless rate stayed at 4.8 percent, the …

  Bloomberg Iceland, the world’s tiniest developed economy, is now pondering whether it has the might to take on the currency markets. The center-right coalition that took office this month wants an overhaul of Iceland’s monetary policy framework, which could lead to fixing the currency or letting it trade within a band, Finance Minister Benedikt Johannesson, 61, said. The review …

  Bloomberg Mark Zuckerberg, saying it’s the first time he’s testified in a trial, vehemently denied claims that the virtual-reality headset maker acquired by Facebook Inc. in 2014 had stolen technology for the Oculus Rift. Facebook’s co-founder and chief executive officer, who has hailed virtual reality as his company’s next big thing, was called to the witness stand by ZeniMax …