April, 2020

• 20 April

  India bans airlifting patients amid virus lockdown curbs

  

  Bloomberg India has banned use of air ambulances and other medical evacuations unless the treatment required is not available locally, as a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus is extended, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Planes carrying patients will only be allowed to fly if local authorities determine treatment isn’t available at the point ...

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• 20 April

  Indonesia orders widespread virus testing as cases increase

  

  Bloomberg Indonesian President Joko Widodo called for an urgent expansion of testing and aggressive containment measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus that’s killed almost 600 people in the world’s fourth-most populous nation. Large scale testing nationwide should be followed by aggressively tracking and isolating those exposed to the deadly disease, Jokowi, as the president is known, told a cabinet ...

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• 20 April

  China urges India to revise ‘investment rules’

  Bloomberg China urged India to revise new investment rules that seek to block companies from neighboring nations taking over local businesses, saying they’re in violation of principles laid down by the World Trade Organization. The curbs seeking to cut the risk of opportunistic takeovers as the coronavirus outbreak drives down valuations of Indian companies “go against the general trend of ...

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• 20 April

  India IT analyst says forecasting has never been hard like it’s now

  

  Bloomberg While Indian technology outsourcing companies have largely held up better in the coronavirus pandemic than other industries in the nation, predicting how they are likely to perform in the future has never been so hard. The uncertainty stemming from the virus and countries’ efforts to contain it have made it harder to estimate short-term earnings than at any other ...

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• 20 April

  How Shell can become first net-zero oil major by 2050

  

  Bloomberg In the middle of a viral pandemic, a crash in the price of oil and an economic slump not seen in 100 years, Royal Dutch Shell has unveiled what is likely the most ambitious climate plan of any major oil company in the world. In doing so Shell seems to have one-upped BP, which released its blueprint in February. ...

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• 20 April

  Wild oil market set for extra volatility over contract expiry

  

  Bloomberg Oil in New York has slumped to its weakest structure on record as the current contract nears expiration, adding extra volatility to a market that’s grappling with a glut and evaporating demand. West Texas Intermediate crude futures on Monday fell to the biggest-ever discount to those for the following month, a structure known as contango that indicates near-term oversupply. ...

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• 20 April

  Philippines’ Ayala seeks to fully divest from coal by 2030

  

  Bloomberg Ayala Corp, the Philippines’ oldest conglomerate, aims to fully divest from coal by 2030, a rare rebuke of the fuel in a region where its use is expected to grow. Ayala’s power-generation unit, AC Energy Philippines Inc, will also boost investments in renewable generation as it transitions to a low-carbon portfolio, President Eric Francia said in a live-streamed annual ...

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• 20 April

  Russia’s oil producers told to cut output by fifth

  

  Bloomberg Russia’s oil producers have been told by the Energy Ministry to cut their production by about a fifth to comply with the new Opec+ deal starting May 1, said two people with knowledge of the matter. After days of consultations on how to divide the supply curbs, companies were instructed to split Russia’s 2.5 million barrel-a-day cut proportionally, the ...

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• 20 April

  Argentina’s economy minister backs wealth tax, rejects austerity

  

  Bloomberg Argentine Economy Minister Martin Guzman has backed the idea of a wealth tax on the country’s rich as the nation to fend off creditors and find money to help cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. The tax would affect 11,000 people with fortunes of at least $2 million, Guzman said, without specifying where that cut-off point might come. He spoke ...

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• 20 April

  US lets firms defer some tariff payments on imported goods

  

  Bloomberg The US will allow companies to defer paying tariffs on many imported goods for 90 days, a move aimed at freeing up cash for pandemic-hit employers while leaving punitive measures against China and other nations intact. “This will protect American jobs and help these businesses get through this time,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement. The deferral ...

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