February, 2023

• 17 February

  Japan’s trade deficit smashes record, topping $26.1 billion

  

    Bloomberg Japan’s trade deficit surged to a record in January, as one-off factors including the lunar new year holidays dragged on exports amid a backdrop of a slowing global economy. The trade gap jumped to Â¥3.5 trillion ($26.1 billion) from Â¥1.45 trillion in December, topping Â¥3 trillion for the first time in comparable data going back the late 1970s, ...

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• 17 February

  Samsung invests in Swedish app

    Bloomberg Samsung Electronics Co joined the latest funding round for Swedish fertility tracking app Natural Cycles as lead investor, seeking to introduce the female-health technology to its Galaxy series smartwatches. The Natural Cycles app, which monitors body temperature to gauge fertility, in 2018 became the first contraceptive of its kind to be approved by the US Food and Drug ...

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• 17 February

  India’s Modi likely to retain wheat export curbs as polls loom

  

    Bloomberg Keeping the cost of staple foods in check to protect the poor will be a top priority for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he plans for polls in several states this year and the all-important general election in 2024. That means the government will likely extend export curbs for wheat, which is an essential part of the ...

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• 17 February

  China warns US rising tensions may jeopardise talks

  

    Bloomberg China questioned whether the US genuinely seeks to repair ties damaged by the dispute over a balloon just as the two nations’ top diplomats head to a security conference in Germany, where they may have an opportunity to meet on the sidelines. The balloon saga “tests the US’s sincerity and capability to properly handle crises and stabilise relations ...

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• 17 February

  With China dispute in sight India builds all-weather border road

    Bloomberg India will begin work on its first all-weather highway to carry troops and hardware to its disputed Himalayan boundary with China and add 9,000 additional soldiers to bolster defenses at its border as tensions linger. The cabinet cleared the project to build a 4.1 kilometre (2.55 miles)-long tunnel through the mountains in the border state of Himachal Pradesh. ...

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• 17 February

  Commerzbank sees this year’s profit beating 2022 on rates

  

  Bloomberg Commerzbank AG said it expects profits for this year to be significantly above the €1.4 billion euros ($1.5 billion) earned in 2022, as rising interest rates continue to hand European lenders their best results in years. The Frankfurt-based bank reported net income of €472 million for the fourth quarter, beating analyst expectations, and said that the result for the ...

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• 17 February

  US rates may be heading higher than Wall Street

  

  Bloomberg Last year, most US investors and central bankers underestimated how high inflation would climb. Now they may be underestimating how high interest rates will need to go to bring it back down. In spite of the Federal Reserve’s most aggressive credit tightening campaign in four decades, the US economy and financial markets started the New Year with a bang. ...

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• 17 February

  India’s largest home financier prices record rupee debt offer

  

    Bloomberg Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) priced its biggest ever rupee bond issuance ahead of a merger with its banking unit, which will create an Indian financial services behemoth valued at more than $200 billion. India’s largest mortgage lender will raise 250 billion rupees ($3 billion) selling notes due in a decade at a coupon of 7.97%, according to ...

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• 17 February

  Polish banks risk FX loans nightmare after European Union’s court opinion

  

    Bloomberg Polish banks risk a new nightmare scenario after an adviser to the European Union’s top court said they can’t seek extra remuneration from thousands of customers whose risky Swiss Franc-denominated mortgages were annulled after being deemed unfair. In cases where contested mortgage deals are voided by local courts, lenders can’t claim payments beyond reimbursements of the loan principal, ...

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• 17 February

  Nigeria’s Buhari extends cash-exchange deadline

    Bloomberg Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari delayed a plan to outlaw some old high-value banknotes to April 10 as the West African nation struggles with a shortage of cash. The central bank in October announced that it would redesign 200-, 500- and 1,000 naira notes in a bid to mop up excess cash and rein in inflation. That led to ...

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