August, 2022

• 17 August

  Germany seals deal with Uniper, RWE on floating LNG terminals

  

    ­­­Bloomberg The German government struck a deal with energy companies to import liquefied natural gas through two new terminals in an effort to alleviate a supply crunch that’s crippling the economy. Economy Minister Robert Habeck signed a memorandum of understanding with Uniper SE and RWE Supply & Trading GmbH, which will operate the floating terminals in Brunsbuettel and Wilhelmshaven, ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Italy’s right-wing clings to the past — and falls flat

  

  In 2001, Silvio Berlusconi was running for prime minister and produced what became a symbol of an epoch. On prime-time national TV, he signed his political manifesto promising to cut taxes, increase pensions and carry out a massive investment program. He went on to win that election and remained a central figure in Italian politics until the euro crisis forced ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  No respite from scorching Singapore rents

  

  Singapore’s property market is in the throes of a 2008-type mania, with landlords squeezing tenants for the last possible cent. The previous bout of frenzy ended with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. This time, too, stratospheric apartment rents will return to earth, though the process is unlikely to be as swift as the city-state’s expat community might hope for. Among ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Crypto is failing where digital yuan may succeed

    Does an industrial-sized dog whistle go off when advocates boast about cryptocurrency’s ability to evade US government sanctions? Back in March, a founder of Tornado Cash — a so-called “mixer” service that masks cryptocurrency transactions by mixing them with others — told Bloomberg it would be “technically impossible” for sanctions to be enforced against decentralised protocols. Surprise: Tornado has ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  China’s surprise data could spell recession

    Against all expectation (not a single economist polled by Bloomberg had predicted it), the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has cut interest rates. The ease was only by 10 basis points, to the bank’s one-year lending rate, but it was still in the exact opposite direction to the monetary route being taken in the west and in the rest ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  British Airways staff back pay deal, amounting to 13% raise

  

  Bloomberg British Airways check-in staff approved a pay settlement that their union said amounts to a 13% raise, while Uber Technologies Inc agreed to raise fares in the UK to boost earnings for its drivers. BA employees “overwhelmingly backed” the settlement, the Unite union said, after announcing last month that an agreement had been reached to avert strikes at the ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Malaysia Airlines orders 20 Airbus A330neo jets

  

    Bloomberg Malaysia Airlines said it will acquire 20 Airbus SE A330neo wide-body planes as it seeks more fuel-efficient jets amid a travel rebound. The Southeast Asian carrier will purchase 10 A330-900 aircraft, with the rest coming from lessor Avolon Holdings Ltd existing order book, it said in a statement. The model is a re-engined version of the original A330 ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Chinese airlines likely to follow multibillion-dollar US exit plan

  

  Bloomberg The decision by five Chinese state-owned companies to leave US stock exchanges adds to skepticism that authorities in both countries can reach an agreement on disclosure rules, with analysts seeing state-controlled airlines as the next potential group to depart, possibly followed by internet giants. China and Hong Kong are the only jurisdictions worldwide that don’t allow inspections by the ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  China Ikea shoppers panic as store locked down on Covid risk

  

  Bloomberg Scenes of mayhem unfolded in an Ikea in Shanghai as health authorities tried to lock down the store and quarantine those on site after learning someone who had been in contact with a Covid-19 patient had visited. News of the flash shutdown sent shoppers fleeing and screaming in an effort to get out of the building before the doors ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Business travel not to hit pre-Covid level until 2026

    Bloomberg The recovery of global business-travel spending to the pre-pandemic level of $1.4 trillion has been pushed out 18 months to mid-2026 by inflation, economic slowing and high energy prices, the Global Business Travel Association is forecasting. The return to the 2019 level also is being slowed by supply-chain disruptions, labour shortages, lockdowns in China and the effects of ...

  Read More »