April, 2021

• 1 April

  Can the world survive without dollar diplomacy?

  

  The Federal Reserve’s rescue of the global financial system one year ago prevented a public health crisis from degenerating into market chaos. When histories of the Covid-19 pandemic are written, it would be shortsighted to ignore this exercise in financial diplomacy that cemented the dollar’s role as a pillar of the world economy. This flexing of monetary muscle raises big ...

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• 1 April

  Who’s got airlines’ crown jewels?

  

  When the coronavirus pandemic brought travel to a standstill, airlines turned to every financing source they could find — even their previously untouched frequent-flier programs. Whether this is a positive development for the industry depends on who you ask. United Airlines, Delta Air and American Airlines Group have raised more than $25 billion through debt deals backed by their traveller ...

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• 1 April

  Vaccines will end the Covid-19 pandemic!

  Following pandemic news too closely can be an emotional roller coaster, with dire public health warnings immediately followed by hopeful new studies. The latest soaring discovery: a new CDC study showing vaccines sharply cut all Covid-19 infections — not just symptoms. That news puts to rest one worst-case-scenario: that vaccines might protect the vaccinated against hospitalisation, but allow millions of ...

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• 1 April

  ECB’s unity claims are woefully misleading

  Earlier in March, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced that it would buy more bonds to stop borrowing costs rising. It was worried that the euro zone economy was in such poor shape that it couldn’t afford to have European bond yields dragged higher by their US cousins. On March 22, to mark the one-year anniversary of its Pandemic Emergency ...

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• 1 April

  Airbus touts sustainable fuel jet plan

  

  Bloomberg Airbus SE will buttress its moonshot plan to build a hydrogen aircraft by the middle of the next decade with an effort to power conventional jets with sustainable fuels. CEO Guillaume Faury said that he’s confident the European planemaker can bring a hydrogen plane into service by 2035. In the meantime, Airbus will work to increase the amount of ...

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• 1 April

  Vietnam authority seeks to resume international flights

  Bloomberg Vietnam’s aviation authority proposed a gradual resumption in international passenger flight arrivals starting in July, the agency said in a post on its website. The agency suggests allowing limited weekly flights between Vietnam and Japan, South Korea and Taiwan with passengers subject to virus tests and 15-day quarantines, according to the website, which cited the agency’s proposal to the ...

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• 1 April

  Bolsonaro fires 3 military chiefs after dismissing defense head

  

  Bloomberg Commanders of Brazil’s army, navy and air force were fired after President Jair Bolsonaro dismissed his defense chief as part of a broader cabinet restructuring. The shake-up, precipitated by congressional allies who have been unhappy with the president’s pandemic response, displeased the heads of the military who received no advance warning about the replacement of Defense Minister Fernando Azevedo ...

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• 1 April

  Biden to let Trump’s H1-B visa ban expire in win for tech firms

  

  Bloomberg President Joe Biden plans to allow a pandemic-related ban on visas for certain temporary workers, enacted by former President Donald Trump, to expire Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter. The moratorium, which affected H-1B visas used by technology companies to hire foreign coders and engineers, was imposed last June. Biden is opting not to renew it, said ...

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• 1 April

  Pakistan to resume trade with India after 19-month hiatus

  

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s government will resume trade with India, in the latest sign that tensions are easing between the two nations. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s economic coordination committee approved importing cotton yarn until June, Finance Minister Muhammad Hammad Azhar said at a briefing in Islamabad on Wednesday. It will also purchase 500,000 tons of sugar to help stabilise prices since the ...

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• 1 April

  StanChart to formalise hybrid working model for its UK staff

  

  Bloomberg Standard Chartered Plc will formalise a hybrid working model for most of its UK staff as it moves forward with a sweeping overhaul of its working practices in the wake of the pandemic. The lender is rolling out the program to its 85,000 staff globally after 84% of the first wave of workers asked to keep the flexible arrangements ...

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