March, 2023

• 12 March

  UAE’s new initiative to boost Emiratisation in key sectors

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM The UAE has launched a new initiative called the ‘Industrialist Programme’, which is designed to build local capacities and increase Emiratisation in the industrial sector. The programme is the result of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT), the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MoHRE) and the ...

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• 12 March

  Pence: ‘History will hold Trump accountable’ for Capitol attack

  

  BLOOMBERG Former Vice President Mike Pence offered his sharpest criticism to date of Donald Trump, holding his former boss responsible for the Capitol insurrection in early 2021 as he teased his own White House ambitions for 2024. “History will hold Donald Trump accountable” for what happened on January 6, 2021, Pence told an audience of several hundred policy makers and ...

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• 12 March

  Ukraine war: Russian strikes destroyed 152,000 residences

  

  BLOOMBERG Russian missiles and artillery have destroyed more than 152,000 residential buildings since the start of the invasion, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a televised interview. Ukraine has already registered 66,300 criminal proceedings of the alleged crimes committed by Russian troops from the start of full-scale invasion, according to Klymenko. “Most of the crimes are violations of the ...

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• 12 March

  US-sanctioned aerospace expert named China defense minister

  

  BLOOMBERG China has named a general sanctioned by the US to be its new defense minister, setting up a potentially awkward encounter if he’s ever paired up with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for a meeting. General Li Shangfu is set to become Minister of National Defense and State Councilor — China’s equivalent of a cabinet member — according to ...

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• 12 March

  UK’s opposition Labour thinks standing up for families can shape next election

  

  BLOOMBERG Rishi Sunak’s political opponents think they’ve found his weak spot — the family. With an election edging closer, Keir Starmer’s Labour is making a move onto traditional Tory territory, accusing the prime minister of abandoning working parents. Sensing victory after 13 years in the wilderness, Labour wants to make an overhaul of Britain’s hugely expensive child care system a ...

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• 12 March

  China retains central bank chief Yi in unexpected move

  

  BLOOMBERG China reappointed several top economic officials in a leadership reshuffle Sunday, giving investors greater continuity as Beijing overhauls financial regulation and grapples with escalating tensions with the US. People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Yi Gang, 65, will remain in his post, as will the finance and commerce ministers. He Lifeng, a close ally of President Xi Jinping, was ...

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• 12 March

  Canada banks erase $14b in value on SVB contagion

  

  BLOOMBERG The fallout from Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse has led to a continent-wide selloff in financial stocks erasing C$19.7 billion ($14.2 billion) in value from Canada’s top banks in the last four days. Some of the nation’s biggest lenders, including Bank of Nova Scotia, Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank fell more than 2%. With banking equities far and away ...

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• 12 March

  Biden World Bank pick urges private lenders to step up

  

  BLOOMBERG President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the World Bank called on private-sector lenders to increase efforts to fight poverty across world, citing the need for trillions of dollars in lending that public institutions alone can’t meet. The World Bank needs to leverage its current balance sheet and maximize existing resources, but the total resources of development banks are in ...

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• 12 March

  UK plans £11 billion 3-year business tax break in budget      

  

  BLOOMBERG Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt will hand business a three-year tax break worth about £11 billion by replacing the UK’s most generous ever investment allowance with a temporary measure in next week’s budget, according a government official with knowledge of the matter. Corporation tax rises from 19% to 25% in April, when the so-called super-deduction also expires, a ...

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• 12 March

  The 4% yield on UK bonds lures investors who never buy gilts

  

  BLOOMBERG Before this year, Dan Boardman-Weston hadn’t bought UK government bonds in more than a decade. Now yields close to 4% are putting short-dated gilts on his radar. New investors like Boardman-Weston, who runs BRI Wealth Management, are a boon for Chancellor Jeremy Hunt. He’s expected to focus the UK government’s bond sales on closer maturities when he unveils the ...

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