March, 2018

• 4 March

  ‘Climate change fallout no quick threat to oil’

  

  Bloomberg Climate change is critical to future energy markets but its effect on Chevron Corp.’s oil and gas business will be minimal for decades to come, according to a company report. With the prospect of tighter emission controls, carbon pricing and growth in renewable energy, some investors and activists are pushing companies to reveal the potential impact on their businesses. …

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• 4 March

  Libya oil output, exports hit multiyear highs

  

  Bloomberg Libyan oil is gushing again with production and exports surging to the highest in years. Despite unresolved domestic conflicts that first erupted after the ouster of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, Libya has somehow found a way to get its crude flowing. Already this year, it’s secured commitments from some of the world’s biggest energy companies, including at least three new …

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• 4 March

  BOE’s Carney calls for rules to end cryptocurrency anarchy

  

  Bloomberg Mark Carney is calling for greater regulation to bring the era of cryptocurrency “anarchy” to an end. “The time has come to hold the crypto-asset ecosystem to the same standards as the rest of the financial system,” the Bank of England governor said in a speech at Bloomberg’s European headquarters in London. Carney, who is also head of the …

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• 4 March

  Saudi’s $16bn syndicated loan cuts funding costs

  

  DUBAI / Reuters Saudi Arabia’s planned $16 billion syndicated loan, one of the largest ever in emerging markets, will cut the kingdom’s cost of funding by paying banks much less than on previous borrowings. The ministry of finance said on Twitter that it would offer banks a margin of 75 basis points over the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) for …

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• 4 March

  Fed hikes won’t hit emerging-market rally

  

  Bloomberg Who’s afraid of Jerome Powell? Not emerging markets. Stocks, bonds and currencies in developing nations did tumble with global markets after the US Federal Reserve chairman’s comments this week spurred bets for four interest-rate increases in 2018. Conventional wisdom holds that the quick increase in borrowing costs will diminish risk appetite and end a two-year rally in emerging-market assets. …

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• 4 March

  Europe banks falling out of favour with equity strategists

  

  Bloomberg If you ask stock strategists, European banks are no longer a unanimous buy. Deutsche Bank AG lowered its recommendation on lenders to underweight, citing weaker economic momentum and falling German bond yields. The downgrade comes two weeks after a strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc said the bank has been cutting its position on European financials, predicting US 10-year Treasury …

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• 4 March

  Bank of Baroda holds ‘proceeds of crime’, says South Africa

  

  Bloomberg The Bank of Baroda’s South African unit has been in possession of the “proceeds of crime” linked to a dairy farm project that involved the politically connected Gupta family, said Thato Ntimutse, a lawyer for the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit. While India’s Bank of Baroda has tried to stop the state from freezing 30 million rand ($2.5 …

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• 4 March

  Now, fly the best first-class seats cheaper than economy

  

  Bloomberg Airline industry experts have been proclaiming the death of first class for years. While some airlines have done away with it altogether, others are doubling down with palatial suite-style seats, lavish amenities, and services that pamper, both on the ground and in the air. What’s ensued is a golden age of flying … for those who can afford it. …

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• 3 March

  UAE voices concerns on Syria violence

  

  GENEVA / WAM The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has joined a chorus of international actors in calling for respecting a truce in Syria’s eastern Ghouta and affirmed that the Syrian people had experienced brutal confrontations and systematic targeting and could not tolerate another bloody chapter. Obaid Salem Al Zaabi, Permanent Representative of the UAE to United Nations and other International …

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• 3 March

  Iraq parliament OKs $88bn 2018 budget

  

  BAGHDAD / Reuters Iraq’s parliament approved on Saturday a long-delayed 104 trillion Iraqi dinar ($88 billion) 2018 state budget, two lawmakers told Reuters, though lawmakers from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region boycotted the session. The budget of 104 trillion Iraqi dinars ($88 billion) is based on projected oil exports of 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd) at a price of $46, …

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