August, 2019

• 17 August

  Private funding needed for Asia infra: Singapore

  Bloomberg Governments in Asia are seeking to tap private investment for the region’s substantial infrastructure needs as the current rate of public financing is “insufficient and unsustainable,” said Indranee Rajah, Singapore’s second minister for finance and education. Globally, government financing accounts for 40% of infrastructure expenditure, and 70% in emerging markets, while in Asia, this stands at 90%. “This rate ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Alibaba’s Tsai buys Brooklyn Nets, Barclays arena for $3.5b

  

  Bloomberg There’s a new owner of the Brooklyn Nets. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Executive Vice Chairman Joe Tsai exercised his option to buy the rest of the team that he didn’t already control — along with the Barclays Center arena — ending Mikhail Prokhorov’s ownership tenure and bringing another deep-pocketed international presence to the National Basketball Association. Financial terms weren’t ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Power Cement shuts a third of capacity on Pakistan downturn

  

  Bloomberg Pakistan’s Power Cement Ltd. has suspended almost a third of its output as demand and prices fall amid an economic downturn and higher costs bite. The second largest producer in the country’s south has shut about 3,150 tons per day of old, high-cost production capacity after market conditions rendered them unviable. Newer lines accounting for 7,700 tons remain operational. ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Hiring in Australia soars as new jobs defy forecast

  

  Bloomberg Australia’s labour market surged in July, adding almost three times the forecast number of jobs, while unemployment remained stuck at 5.2% as the workforce swelled to a fresh record. The economy added 41,100 roles from the previous month, with more than three-quarters of them full-time, the statistics bureau said in Sydney. Economists had forecast a gain of just 14,000. ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  China’s biggest energy firm shuns Venezuela oil

  

  Bloomberg China’s biggest energy company is backing away from direct purchases of Venezuelan crude as the Trump administration tightens sanctions against the South American nation. China National Petroleum Corp. has canceled plans to load about 5 million barrels worth of Venezuelan oil onto ships this month in the aftermath of the latest executive order by President Donald Trump, according to ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  ‘Anadarko’s Mozambique LNG Project a perfect fit’

  Bloomberg Total SA is committed to developing the Mozambique natural gas project that it will take over from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. as part of its expansion in Africa, the company said. The project, to cost as much as $23 billion to develop, will be Africa’s biggest single investment, and Mozambique is counting on it to transform the economy. The southeastern ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Fear factor for US consumer is rising, fuelling recession risk

  

  Bloomberg If self-reinforcing recession fears are the greatest risk to the record-long US expansion, as posited by Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan, the latest consumer sentiment report hinted that those concerns may be starting to emerge. “We have nothing to fear about a recession right now except for the fear of recession,” Moynihan said in a ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Germany ready to raise debt if recession hits, reports Spiegel

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s government is ready to run a budget deficit if Europe’s largest economy collapses, magazine Der Spiegel reported. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz would be willing to increase debt in order to offset a tax revenue shortfall due to an economic slump, the magazine said, citing sources in the chancellery and the finance ministry that it ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  US weighs selling 50, 100-year bonds

  Bloomberg With interest rates on 30-year US debt hitting all-time lows this week, the government is once again considering whether to start borrowing for even longer. The US Treasury Department said that it wants to know what investors think about the government potentially issuing 50-year or 100-year bonds, going way beyond the current three-decade maximum. The government stressed that no ...

  Read More »
• 17 August

  Pound might offer some relief to Brits

  

  Bloomberg For Brits looking to escape the UK in an increasingly wet August, the pound might offer some relief with a recovery against the euro. Sterling ended a record run of losses against the common currency this week and analysts are cautiously optimistic on its near-term prospects. Growing resistance among opposition lawmakers to a no-deal Brexit has led traders to ...

  Read More »