February, 2021

• 16 February

  Bangladesh eyes investment gain as Japanese firms exit China

  

  Bloomberg Japan incentivising its companies to shift manufacturing facilities out of China and adding Bangladesh to a list of preferred destinations for relocating the factories may give the South Asian nation’s economy a boost. “As the pandemic started in China, Japanese companies needed to diversify” their supply chains further, Naoki Ito, the Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh, said in an interview. ...

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• 16 February

  Myanmar generals defend coup, dismiss impact of US sanctions

  

  Bloomberg Myanmar’s junta again defended its move to oust civilian government in the face of nationwide protests, dismissing the impact of US sanctions while showing no signs of a compromise with demonstrators. Brigadier-General Zaw Min Tun, the lead spokesman for the State Administration Council, said on Tuesday the military’s actions were in line with the 2008 constitution and “not a ...

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• 16 February

  Pelosi calls for probe of riot as partisan bitterness simmers

  

  Bloomberg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s call for an independent commission to investigate last month’s Capitol insurrection has some bipartisan support, yet the effort risks getting tangled in the bitter aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment over the deadly assault. Pelosi said the commission would be modelled on the widely praised panel that probed the origins of the September 11, ...

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• 16 February

  Japan protests over China ships off disputed islands

  Bloomberg Japan’s top government spokesman said it was “unacceptable” that Chinese coastguard vessels had approached Japanese trawlers near disputed islands for two straight days this week, in a sign of rising tension between the neighbours. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference that Japan had protested incidents that took place in what the country sees as its territorial ...

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• 16 February

  Thai PM faces no-confidence vote as protests loom

  

  Bloomberg Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha is set to face a no-confidence vote this week as opposition lawmakers target his government for its alleged mismanagement of the Covid-19 outbreak amid a renewed push by pro-democracy activists for the premier’s ouster and monarchy reforms. The opposition began grilling Prayuth and nine of his cabinet members as a four-day debate got underway ...

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• 16 February

  China criticises Canada megaphone diplomacy

  Bloomberg Beijing expressed “strong dissatisfaction” after 58 governments signed a declaration against detaining each-others’ citizens for geopolitical leverage, a move seen as targeting countries like Iran and China. “The Canadian side’s attempt to pressure China by using ‘Megaphone Diplomacy’ or ganging up is totally futile and will only head towards a dead end,” a spokesperson at the Chinese embassy in ...

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• 16 February

  UK may need $84 billion of tax increases to balance the books

  

  Bloomberg The UK could need tax increases of about 60 billion pounds ($84 billion) if Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak wants to balance the books, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The warning sets the tone for the Treasury’s budget on March 3, when Sunak is due to outline how he intends to address the ruinous legacy ...

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• 16 February

  Colombia recovers faster-than-expected from worst-ever slump

  

  Bloomberg Colombia’s economy grew faster than expected at the end of 2020 as a rebound in consumer spending led the recovery from the worst slump in the nation’s history. The economy expanded 6% in last three months of the year compared to the previous quarter, beating the median forecast of 5.7% growth from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The recovery was ...

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• 16 February

  France expects EU backing for corporate recovery plan

  

  Bloomberg France is optimistic that the European Commission will sign off within days on an innovative plan for helping companies through the post-pandemic recovery, according to a finance ministry official, who asked not to be identified. The French government has proposed a program to partially guarantee billions of euros of so-called participatory loans to improve corporate balance sheets and encourage ...

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• 16 February

  Europe auto sales resume steep decline

  Bloomberg Passenger-car sales in Europe’s five biggest markets tumbled by more than a quarter last month after lockdowns to combat the pandemic shuttered dealerships and consumers shied away from large purchases. Registrations fall 28% across Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain in January from the year-earlier period, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Michael Dean. With lockdowns still in effect ...

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