July, 2021

• 18 July

  ECB takes first step in long march towards digital euro

  

  Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) is about to take the next step in reinventing the region’s money as it marches towards the creation of a digital euro. Policy makers will decide whether to move to an exploratory phase, which President Christine Lagarde reckons could take about two years. Ultimately, euro-zone citizens could be holding a virtual central-bank currency by ...

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• 18 July

  New Zealand central bank to end quantitative easing

  

  Bloomberg New Zealand’s central bank (RBNZ) said it will reduce monetary stimulus by ceasing quantitative easing, a surprise move that sent the currency higher as traders priced in an interest-rate increase as early as August. The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Adrian Orr, on Wednesday held the official cash rate at 0.25%, but said it will halt ...

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• 18 July

  BofA struggles with tepid loan income as consumers shun debt

  

  Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) is struggling to build back its lending income as consumers, flush with cash from government stimulus programs, avoid taking on new borrowings. Loans and leases in the consumer banking unit fall 12% from a year earlier. Net interest income, on a fully taxable equivalent basis, was $10.3 billion last quarter, the bank said. That ...

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• 18 July

  Apple, Goldman planning ‘buy now, pay later’ service

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc is working on a new service that will let consumers pay for any Apple Pay purchase in installments over time, rivaling the “buy now, pay later” offerings popularized by services from Affirm Holdings Inc and PayPal Holdings Inc. The upcoming service, known internally as Apple Pay Later, will use Goldman Sachs Group Inc as the lender for ...

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• 17 July

  Apple seeks 20% rise in new iPhone supply

  

  Bloomberg Apple Inc has asked suppliers to build as many as 90 million next-generation iPhones this year, a sharp increase from its 2020 iPhone shipments. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant has maintained a consistent level in recent years of roughly 75 million units for initial run from a device’s launch through the end of year. The upgraded forecast for 2021 ...

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• 17 July

  VW targets higher returns as batteries, software boost sales

  

  Bloomberg Volkswagen ratcheted up its mid-decade profitability goal as it hones plans to become the electric-car leader and cash in on what it expects to be a massive new revenue stream from software. Europe’s largest automaker will target an 8% to 9% operating return on sales in 2025, up from 7% to 8% previously. After wooing investors with a Tesla ...

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• 17 July

  Sony embraces robotics to cut costs

  Bloomberg Sony Corp predicts that robots will take over its manufacturing of televisions, smartphones and cameras as the company shifts attention to services, the Financial Times reported. Unmanned production lines are expected to cut costs by 70% at Sony’s mainstay TV factory in Malaysia by the fiscal year 2023, compared with 2018, the FT cited Kimio Maki, head of Sony’s ...

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• 17 July

  Nestle eyes lab-grown meat market to tap future growth

  

  Bloomberg Nestle SA is planning to enter the cultured-meat market in a move that could see the world’s largest food company help deliver the nascent technology faster to the mass market. The Swiss giant has been working on alternative meat products that would blend cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients. The meat is being developed with Israeli cell-based startup Future Meat ...

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• 15 July

  ERC provides relief to refugees affected by fire in Iraqi Kurdistan

  

  ERBIL / WAM The Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) provided relief aid to people affected by the fire that erupted in the Sharia Refugee Camp in Dohuk, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. A delegation from the ERC supervised the distribution of food, medical supplies, clothes, cooking equipment and other necessities to thousands of Iraqi refugees at the camp. The delegation, which is visiting ...

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• 15 July

  Adnoc invests AED2.8 billion in rigless services to boost output

  

  ABU DHABI / WAM The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), on Wednesday announced an investment of $763.7 million (AED2.8 billion) in integrated rigless services across six of its artificial islands in the Upper Zakum and Satah Al Razboot (SARB) fields to support its production capacity expansion to 5 million barrels per day (mmbpd) by 2030. The investment is in ...

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