August, 2020

• 29 August

  New leader offers hope ‘Burundi’s turmoil is ending’

  

  Bloomberg Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye’s pledge to undertake wholesale reform has raised hopes the East African nation is emerging from the turmoil of his late predecessor’s authoritarian rule. Ndayishimiye has spoken of overhauling the economic and political landscape and opening up the landlocked country that was reduced to an international pariah during Pierre Nkurunziza’s 15-year stranglehold on power. Unlike the ...

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• 29 August

  Ramaphosa considers cabinet changes

  

  Bloomberg South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is considering making changes to his cabinet after he meets the ruling party’s leadership, people familiar with the deliberations said. The meeting could be a showdown between the president and his rivals within the African National Congress (ANC), the people said, asking not to be identified as a public statement hasn’t been made. Ramaphosa ...

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• 29 August

  S Korea picks ex-PM Lee possible Moon successor

  

  Bloomberg South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party picked Lee Nak-yon as its new leader on Saturday, paving the way for a possible bid by the former prime minister in the 2022 presidential election. Lee won 60.8% of the total vote in the online election and was followed by four-term lawmaker Kim Bu-gyeom, with 21.4%. The new party leader said in his ...

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• 29 August

  Argentina vies for holdout-free debt deal as deadline nears

  

  Bloomberg By almost every reckoning, Argentina’s $65 billion debt restructuring will be approved by a wide margin this weekend. But investors are on alert for the small risk that holdouts could make things complicated. While there’s little threat to the broad plan for most creditors to accept new bonds valued at an average of 55 cents on the dollar, some ...

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• 29 August

  Trump announces cut to 2020 quota on steel imports from Brazil

  

  Bloomberg President Donald Trump is cutting the cap on allowable steel shipments from Brazil, citing a slump in the US market. In a proclamation, Trump amended a previous decision under so-called Section 232 national security powers to lower the cap on allowable imports. The limits were set in 2018 as part of a deal between the nations to avoid tariffs ...

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• 29 August

  NYC commercial-property sales fall 54% in H1 2020

  Bloomberg Commercial real estate deals in New York City have taken a major hit as the pandemic continues to roil the local economy. Investment sales totalled $10.5 billion in first half of 2020, down 54% from a year earlier and a record low since the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) began reporting the data in 2015. “We continue to ...

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• 29 August

  Justin Trudeau’s deficit balloons as income support smashes records

  

  Bloomberg Canada’s budget deficit hit C$120.4 billion ($92 billion) in the three months through June, already more than double the largest yearly shortfall the country has ever run. Program expenses surged to C$167.9 billion, up 117% over the same time last year, as the government rolled out massive support for individuals and companies to mitigate the economic damage of the ...

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• 29 August

  Uber gets boost in bid to keep London license

  Bloomberg Regulators signalled they would take a neutral stance on a new London license for Uber Technologies, offering a route for the ride hailing firm to continue to operate in its biggest European market. The London transport authority plans to leave final decision to a judge, an attorney for Uber said. The decision essentially mirrors the process through which Uber ...

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• 29 August

  IMF’s $6.5bn allows Ecuador to restructure bonds

  

  Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund agreed to lend Ecuador $6.5 billion which will allow the nation to complete a bond restructuring plan and fund its 2020 budget. The deal will enable the exchange of $17.4 billion of debt to go ahead before the September 1 deadline. The country had agreed with bondholders that it would seek a new IMF deal, ...

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• 29 August

  Centricus, Triller seek to buy TikTok assets for $20 billion

  

  Bloomberg Centricus Asset Management Ltd. and Triller Inc. are seeking to buy TikTok’s operations in the US and several other countries from ByteDance Ltd. for $20 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. Investors led by London-based Centricus will partner with US-based Triller, another video and music-based social networking app, which would have a minority stake in a ...

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