May, 2016

• 19 May

  The Olympic sinkhole

  

  Brazil can’t seem to catch a break. It’s suffering the worst economic slump in decades; its president may be thrown out of office; it’s contending with the zika virus. Now, to add to these indignities, come the huge subsidies to pay for this summer’s Olympics. The costs exceed $10 billion, with only a fraction to be covered by revenues from ...

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• 19 May

  Tough job ahead for Taiwan’s new president

    Taiwan is between a rock and a hard place. It needs China for economic reasons, but continues to be apprehensive about Beijing’s “assertive policy”. The future path of Taiwan’s independence-leaning president-elect Tsai Ing-wen is fraught with economic challenges as the island’s economy has been contracting year-on-year for three straight quarters. Beijing’s fears that Tsai may not sustain the ‘one ...

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• 19 May

  There’s no reason to fear a currency war

    Narayana Kocherlakota The U.S. government seems concerned about what will happen if other big nations push down the value of their currencies against the dollar. Actually, it could be good for the global economy. Ahead of this week’s meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven developed nations, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has warned that the U.S.’s counterparts ...

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• 19 May

  China defends market economy hopes after EU condemnation

  On Monday, China heavily criticized the European Parliament for a resolution passed last week that squarely took aim at Beijing’s bid for market economy status at the World Trade Organization (WTO). In the non-binding resolution last Thursday, EU legislators declared that China still fails to meet the criteria for a market economy as defined by EU law and that there ...

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• 19 May

  Taiwan’s transition a strategic chance for US

  

    Taiwan will inaugurate a new president this week who China hates but America should love. On Friday, Taiwan’s newly elected president, Tsai Ing-wen, will come into office amidst a storm of controversy and scandal. She will then begin a long hard slog through a cross-Strait political minefield, alienated from the world and increasingly unpopular at home. That is, if ...

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• 19 May

  Amid protests, Vietnamese look to Obama’s visit

  

    Duyen Bui SPECIAL TO EMIRATES BUSINESS Vietnamese officials and the Vietnamese people are waiting in anticipation to welcome U.S. President Barack Obama in about a week. But each have very different reasons for awaiting Obama’s visit. The Vietnamese government will be laying out the red carpet for the leader of its former enemy, with whom it now seeks alliances ...

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• 19 May

  Stocks retreat to six-week low as Fed dents metals

  

    BLOOMBERG Global stocks slid to a six-week low and commodities fell as markets braced for the possibility that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as soon as next month. A gauge of the dollar’s strength stood at a seven-week high. The MSCI All Country World Index declined for a third day after the minutes of the last Fed ...

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• 19 May

  Egyptian stocks drop on missing airliner; Mideast markets slump

  

    Bloomberg Egyptian stocks declined after the nation’s flagship airline said one of its passenger planes went missing on the way back to Cairo from Paris. Most equities dropped across the Middle East as oil retreated. The EGX 30 Index fell 1.8 percent to 7,499.49 at the close. About 538 million Egyptian pounds ($61 million) of shares traded, 21 percent ...

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• 19 May

  Etihad for more Italy-Germany route tie-ups for carriers

  

    Dubai / Bloomberg Etihad Airways is confident that Air Berlin Plc and Alitalia SpA are making progress in their turnarounds as the UAE carrier seeks to stem losses at the European affiliates. Etihad wants to strengthen ties between the Italian and German airlines’ route networks and cooperate in other areas to enable them to compete with mainline operators such ...

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• 19 May

  Retail sales in Britain rebound sharply in April

  

    London / AFP British retail sales jumped by 1.3 percent in April from a month earlier, official figures showed on Thursday, handing a boost to the economy following a string of weak data. Sales by volume shot higher last month compared with a drop of 0.5 percent in March, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. March’s ...

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