March, 2016

• 28 March

  Obamacare is on back burner in prez race

  No issue has aroused more partisan passion over the past six years than the Affordable Care Act. Yet the law is playing only a secondary role in the U.S. elections. Sure, Republican presidential candidates cater to their base by vowing to repeal and replace Obamacare, and on the Democratic side, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont promises to replace it with ...

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• 28 March

  Why Trump is a very un-American strongman

  

  US politics today presents, to this foreign observer at least, a very un-American spectacle. A country originally built on immigration is awash with popular hatred against immigrants. A candidate of the right rails against free trade and foreigners, while that of the left proclaims his faith in socialism. Xenophobia is rife. Class war seems perilously close to the surface. The ...

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• 28 March

  The CCP’s uneasy relation with China’s private sector

  

  The Chinese Communist Party’s relationship with the private sector is a sensitive one, both in ideological and practical terms. Though it remains a nominally communist state, China’s role as an economic superpower is owed entirely to the fundamental overhaul of its state-controlled economy. Starting with Deng Xiaoping’s “Reform and Opening” campaign in 1978, the government gradually ceded control over the ...

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• 28 March

  US stock-index futures rise as oil’s rebound spurs ruble gains

  

  BLOOMBERG U.S. stock-index futures advanced and the dollar headed for the longest rally since October against the yen as speculation grew the world’s largest economy is strong enough to withstand another interest-rate increase. Oil rose for the first time in three days, sending Russia’s ruble toward the biggest gain in more than a week. Contracts on the Standard & Poor’s ...

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• 28 March

  Emirates Securities Market down by -0.46 percent

  

  ABU DHABI / EMIRATES BUSINESS The Emirates Securities Market Index has decreased by -0.47% to close at 4393.78 points. Accordingly the Market Capitalization has lost AED 3.38 billion attaining AED 712.73 billion. A total of 398.31 Million Shares were traded with a total value of AED 447.32 million during the trading session of 2016-03-28 through 5102 transactions. The number of companies which ...

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• 28 March

  Negative rates a headache for Japan Central Bank

  

  Tokyo / Reuters Driving interest rates below zero, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has turned a comatose government bond market into an enormous free-for-all, complicating the central bank’s own efforts to kick-start growth and end deflation. The $9 trillion market for Japanese Government Bonds (JGBs) had been all but paralysed since the BOJ began a massive monetary easing three years ...

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• 28 March

  Bank of Korea releases names of new board member candidates

  

  Bloomberg Bank of Korea (BOK) released names of four board member candidates to replace members whose terms end on April 20 The BOK recommended Lee Il Houng, head of Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. Finance Ministry recommended Cho Dong Chul, chief economist for state-run Korea Development Institute. Financial Services Commission recommended Standing Commissioner Koh Seung Beom. The Korea Chamber ...

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• 28 March

  BMCE Bank’s profit for 2015 up 1pc to Moroccan Dirham1.95bn

  

  Rabat / Reuters Moroccan lender BMCE Bank of Africa’s net profit rose 1 percent to 1.95 billion dirham ($201.76 million) in 2015 as strong growth in banking activities offset non-recurrent charges and higher bad loans. Consolidated net banking income rose 3 percent to 11.8 billion dirhams in the same period, it said in a statement on Monday. Banking income was ...

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• 28 March

  $100 million from World Bank to create 100,000 Jordan jobs

  

  Amman / AP Jordan will get a cheap $100 million loan to help create 100,000 jobs for Syrian refugees and its own citizens, the World Bank president has announced. The long-term loan, almost interest free, is part of an attempt by the international community to improve conditions for refugees in overburdened regional host countries, including Jordan and Lebanon. More than ...

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• 28 March

  Household spending and home building fuel modest US growth

  

  WASHINGTON \ AP Consumer spending and home construction are helping sustain modest U.S. economic growth despite problems caused by a strong dollar, low oil prices and an excess of business stockpiles. The economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, grew at a 1.4 percent annual rate in the October-December period, the government said. That was better than the 1 ...

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