August, 2021

• 9 August

  Ecuador central bank doubles BIS credit line to $840m

  

  Bloomberg Ecuador’s central bank doubled its emergency credit line with the Bank for International Settlements to $840 million as a precautionary measure in case of a downturn, its governor said in an interview. The credit line is part of efforts to strengthen the bank after previous administrations used its funds for government spending, Guillermo Avellan said. Those actions hurt the ...

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• 9 August

  JPMorgan: Digital currencies must balance inclusion, banks

  

  Bloomberg The creation of central bank digital currencies to address economic inequality with new retail loan and payments channels must be designed so they don’t “cannibalise” a country’s commercial financial system, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. If set up hastily, retail CBDCs could risk “disintermediating commercial banks” and lead to the exodus of 20% to 30% of their funding ...

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• 9 August

  Westpac sells Life Insurer unit to Dai-Ichi for $660m

  Bloomberg Westpac Banking Corp has agreed to sell its life insurance unit to Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc’s Australian subsidiary TAL for $660 million as Australia’s second-largest lender continues to jettison non-core assets to focus on lending. The completion of the transaction, confirming an earlier Bloomberg report, is expected to happen in the second half of next year, Westpac said. Under ...

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• 9 August

  Citi sells its Australia retail unit as CEO Jane Fraser begins revamp

  

  Bloomberg Citigroup Inc has sold the first of 13 markets Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser put on the block, agreeing a deal to offload its Australian consumer unit to National Australia Bank Ltd. The Australian lender will pay the US bank cash for the net assets of the Citigroup Consumer Business plus a premium of A$250 million ($184 million), according ...

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• 9 August

  India holds rates amid dissent on lower-for-longer stance

  

  Bloomberg India’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged at a record low to support the economy, even as a split appeared among policy makers on continuing with the lower-for-longer stance. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) six-member Monetary Policy Committee retained its main repurchase rate at 4%, as predicted by all 29 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Policy makers voted ...

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• 9 August

  Stocks drift; commodities slump on stimulus, virus

  

  Bloomberg Stocks were steady with US futures on Monday, while commodities tumbled as investors weighed concerns about a pullback in stimulus and a resurgence in the fast-spreading delta virus variant. The Stoxx 600 Index traded little changed as gains in technology firms offset declines in energy shares and miners. Crude oil extended last week’s decline — its worst since October ...

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• 9 August

  Money fleeing China stocks may overlook India: UBS

  

  Bloomberg Investors pulling out of China due to the recent regulatory crackdown may overlook India, where stocks are looking pricey after their climb to successive records, according to UBS Group AG. “The perception of risks in China has gone up and may lead investors to take out money and deploy it into other emerging markets,” Sunil Tirumalai, head of India ...

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• 9 August

  Bitcoin, Ether hit highest since mid-May over sentiment

  Bloomberg Bitcoin and Ether reached their highest levels in more than two months after a major Ethereum upgrade and even in the face of uncertainty over crypto rules in the US infrastructure plan. Bitcoin gained as much as 3.1% to $45,328 on August 8, its highest level since May 18. Ether increased as much as 3.5% to $3,191, gaining for ...

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• 9 August

  Sheikh Khalifa affirms support, solidarity with Tunisian president

  

  TUNIS / WAM President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a letter to President Kais Saied of Tunisia, addressing bilateral relations and ways to enhance them, as well as issues of mutual interest. The letter was delivered by Dr Anwar bin Mohammed Gargash, the Diplomatic Advisor to President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa, during his meeting with ...

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• 9 August

  Saudi Aramco Q2 profit soars to 300% on demand recovery

  

  DHAHRAN / WAM The Saudi Arabian Oil Company Aramco announced on Sunday its second quarter 2021 financial results, reporting a 288 percent increase in net income from the same quarter of last year to $25.5 billion and declaring a dividend of $18.8 billion. The Company’s net income for the first half of the year was $47.2 billion, representing a 103 ...

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