March, 2023

• 20 March

  India to spend $12 billion on airports as travel rebounds

  

  BLOOMBERG India will spend about 980 billion rupees ($12 billion) over the next two years on airports, with airline orders for hundreds of new planes to meet resurgent travel demand putting pressure on existing infrastructure. The world’s fastest-growing aviation market aims to boost the number of airports to 220 by 2025 from the current 148, for which private builders will ...

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• 20 March

  China’s surprise RRR cut puts focus on bank lending rates

  

  BLOOMBERG Chinese banks kept their benchmark lending rates unchanged on Monday despite the central bank’s surprise easing action last week, with economists betting there could be scope for lower rates in coming months. Lenders held the one-year loan prime rate at 3.65% and left the five-year rate, a reference for mortgages, flat at 4.3%, according to a statement released by ...

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• 20 March

  Bank of Japan hints at policy shift caution ahead of Ueda’s term

  

  BLOOMBERG The Bank of Japan (BOJ) indicated a cautious stance towards pivoting from massive easing before achieving its inflation target, helping cool market speculation over any big monetary policy shift at the start of incoming governor Kazuo Ueda’s term. “The risk from a hasty policy change that could lead to missing a chance of such achievement should be considered as ...

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• 20 March

  Bank Indonesia governor gets approval for his second term

  

  BLOOMBERG Indonesia said Perry Warjiyo, who steered the Southeast Asian economy’s monetary policy through the pandemic years, will continue as central bank governor for a second term. His appointment was approved by a parliament commission on Monday, after he was named the lone candidate by President Joko Widodo. A second term at Bank Indonesia will allow Warjiyo, 64, to continue ...

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• 20 March

  ECB isn’t done on rate hikes if baseline holds up: Kazaks

  

  BLOOMBERG The European Central Bank (ECB) must fight inflation until the job is done, while acknowledging the rising risk of pushing interest rates too high as the peak nears, Governing Council member Martins Kazaks said. Price pressures remain too strong and warrant further action — assuming the market turmoil that saw off Silicon Valley Bank and rocked Credit Suisse Group ...

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• 20 March

  UBS to buy Credit Suisse in $3.3bn deal to end crisis

  

  BLOOMBERG UBS Group AG agreed to buy Credit Suisse Group AG in a historic, government-brokered deal aimed at containing a crisis of confidence that had started to spread across global financial markets. The Swiss bank is paying 3 billion francs ($3.2 billion) for its rival in an all-share deal that includes extensive government guarantees and liquidity provisions. The price per ...

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• 20 March

  Indonesia’s GoTo posts narrower adjusted loss on cost cuts in Q4

  

  BLOOMBERG GoTo Group reported a narrower adjusted loss for the fourth quarter, helped by extensive cost cuts at the Indonesian ride-hailing and e-commerce provider. The adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) shrank to 3.1 trillion rupiah ($202 million) in the quarter through December from 6.5 trillion rupiah a year earlier, the Jakarta-based company said. Net revenue, which ...

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• 20 March

  Vietnam attracts more Japanese investments

  

  HANOI / WAM Vietnam is attracting more Japanese investments to digital transformation and green growth, as recommended in the Vietnam-Japan Joint Initiative (VJI), the state news agency VNA reported. Phase VIII of the initiative, launched in 2003, concluded in March 2023, under which 497 out of the 597 items were completed. To promote its role, the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning ...

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• 20 March

  Sea makes changes to deliver profits over long haul

  

  BLOOMBERG Sea Ltd has made the changes it needs to deliver profits over the long haul, billionaire founder Forrest Li said in a memo to staff, assuring workers who had survived months of steep job cuts that the worst is over. The Asian internet giant’s first-ever quarterly net profit marks a turning point for the company, the chief executive officer ...

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• 20 March

  Stocks decline, bonds rally as banking stress deepens

  

  BLOOMBERG European stocks decline and US equity futures retreated as the emergency weekend sale of Credit Suisse Group AG to UBS Group AG failed to soothe market jitters over the health of the banking system. Investors turned to the safest assets, spurring gains in Treasuries, while gold rose on haven demand. The Stoxx Europe 600 index dropped 0.7%, with a ...

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