March, 2016

• 21 March

  China plans to triple solar power capacity in 5 years

  

  Beijing / Bloomberg China plans to more than triple solar power capacity by 2020 to as much as 143 gigawatts to help reduce carbon emissions. The country will add 15 to 20 gigawatts of photovoltaic power annually in the next five years, Nur Bekri, head of the National Energy Administration, said in a conference in Beijing on Monday. China accounted ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  Alibaba sells ‘online’ goods worth US$463bn even as China slows

  Beijing / Bloomberg Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. sold 3 trillion yuan ($463 billion) of goods through its online shopping websites in the year ending March, as China’s largest e-commerce operator moved deeper into the untapped countryside and courted foreign brands. The company wants to bring in more quality non-Chinese goods and continue to increase its footprint in rural areas to ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  India’s stealth rate cut could have an outsized effect

  

  New Delhi / Bloomberg India just ushered in an interest-rate cut, via the backdoor. Although paying postal-savings depositors slightly less for their cash may appear a minor tweak, the move could end up having a bigger salutary effect on bank balance sheets, and the country’s nervous bond market, than the Reserve Bank of India’s 125 basis-point reduction since early 2015. ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  Nepal PM eyes transit deal with Chinese president

  Beijing / DPA Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli will meet China’s President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Li Keqiang on Monday, while witnessing the signing of several agreements between Nepal and China. Nepali officials have set their sights on signing of Transit and Transportation Agreement with China that will pave the way for Nepal to use the nearest Chinese ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  Telecoms firm misses Thai 4G payment deadline

  Bangkok / AFP Thailand’s 4G expansion was thrown into disarray on Monday after a telecoms company that beat more established rivals at an auction last year failed to meet its first payment deadline, voiding the bid. The failure is a blow to the country’s junta who had earmarked money from the lucrative auctions for use in key infrastructure projects and ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  Power outage hits Bangkok rail link, hundreds stranded

  BANGKOK / AP About 750 passengers were stranded on Bangkok’s Airport Rail Link due to a power outage during Monday morning rush hour, prompting several people to walk along the train’s overhead tracks to the next station. Bangkok’s Erawan medical emergency center said seven people fainted on the train while waiting more than two hours for operations to resume. The ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  Brexit could cost UK 950,000 jobs by 2020, says CBI study

  

  Bloomberg Leaving the European Union might cost the UK £100 billion ($145 billion) in lost economic output and 950,000 jobs by 2020, the Confederation of British Industry said as it stepped up its campaign against a so-called Brexit. An exit could, according to the study, meaning unemployment would be 2-3 percent higher by 2020 than if Britain remained in the ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  Pound slides as British politics flares concerns

  

  Bloomberg The pound fell from a one-month high versus the dollar after a senior member of the U.K. government resigned on Friday, deepening the rift in the ruling Conservative party just three months before the referendum on Britain’s European Union membership. Sterling weakened against all of its 16 major peers and was the worst performing currency among the Group-of-10 nations. ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  The ‘Leave.eu’ campaign & the cold call to a Newcastle hypnotist

  

  Bloomberg Ricky Moore, who stages the Hypnotist Laughter Show at comedy clubs in northern England, took a phone call a few weeks ago that turned out to be an unusual booking. He was asked if he’d be willing to sign a letter urging Britons to quit the European Union. He agreed, even though he didn’t know who exactly was calling ...

  Read More »
• 21 March

  Ukraine’s Central Bank governor sees financial stability hostage of politics

  

  Bloomberg Ukraine’s political gridlock, already holding up billions of dollars in aid, is also threatening financial stability and postponing monetary easing, according to the nation’s central bank governor. Delays in talks on a cabinet revamp present a further danger to the hryvnia after the currency slumped 9 percent against the dollar this year, Valeriya Gontareva said in an interview. Policy ...

  Read More »