January, 2017

• 10 January

  Turkish lira weakens amidst constitutional debate

  

    ISTANBUL / AP Turkey’s currency has weakened to an all-time low against the dollar as parliament debates constitutional amendments that would hand the president sweeping executive powers and, critics say, limit checks and balances. The value of the Turkish lira has dropped nearly seven percent against the dollar since the start of the year. On Tuesday, it was trading …

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• 10 January

  HSBC to advise Saudi on ‘privatisation’ of school buildings

  

    RIYADH / Reuters Saudi Arabia has hired HSBC as financial advisor for its plans to privatise construction and management of school buildings, as it seeks to cut state spending in an era of low oil prices, a Saudi executive said on Tuesday. Tatweer Buildings Co, a state-owned firm affiliated with the Ministry of Education, aims to begin offering public-private …

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• 10 January

  Hunger for Aussie bank bonds shows few signs of slowing

  

    Bloomberg The appetite for Australian banks to fund in the local bond market shows little sign of abating, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia selling A$2.65 billion ($1.95 billion) of notes less than two weeks into the new year. The deal is the earliest benchmark-sized local transaction from one of the country’s four largest banks since 2009 and follows a …

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• 10 January

  Recovering their lost pride

  

    Singen / DPA Visit Alexander Fluegler at his house in Germany and you can’t help noticing one thing straight away — family and his Yenish ethnicity are vital to him. The walls of his home office are covered in photographs; Fluegler with his wife, Fluegler with his children, Fluegler with relatives, friends, elderly people, and young people. All beam …

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• 10 January

  Losing is main goal in this football slimming scheme

  

    DPA Coach Christa Osman wraps a tape measure around the player’s considerable girth and pronounces: “Dave Jones, waist size 14 centimetres less than three months ago.” It’s part of the pre-match ritual in the English town of Colchester, about a two-hour drive north-east of London. Ten shorts-and-jersey-clad men, ranging in build from very stocky to heavily overweight, have gathered …

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• 10 January

  Egypt urban inflation rises fastest in six years

  

    Bloomberg Egypt’s urban consumer prices rose the fastest in at least six years in December, fueled in part by a 28.3 percent increase in food costs following the central bank’s decision to abandon currency controls two months ago. Annual urban inflation accelerated to 23.3 percent in December, while the monthly rate quickened to 3.1 percent, according to the state-run …

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• 10 January

  Total pays $900 million to buy stake in Ugandan oil project

  

    Bloomberg Total SA agreed to buy a stake in a project in Uganda from Tullow Oil Plc for $900 million as a recovery in crude prices accelerates the pace of deals in the energy industry. French oil major Total will acquire a controlling stake in the Lake Albert development, the companies said on Monday in separate statements. Total will …

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• 10 January

  Oil tumbles most in five weeks amid Iraqi compliance concerns

  

    Bloomberg Oil dropped the most in more than five weeks in New York amid concern about Iraqi compliance with OPEC production cuts. West Texas Intermediate futures fell 3.8 percent. Iraq’s oil exports from its southern ports in the Gulf reached a record high in December, Oil Minister Jabbar Al-Luaibi said in an e-mailed statement. Gulf oil producers Saudi Arabia, …

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• 10 January

  Iraq plans record oil exports from Basra in Feb

  

    Bloomberg Iraq plans to raise crude exports from its southern port of Basra to an all-time high in February, keeping exports high even as OPEC production cuts take effect this month. The country’s State Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) plans to export 3.641 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in February, according to trade sources and preliminary loading schedules …

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• 10 January

  Blackstone deal for stake in asset owned by Energy Transfer collapses

    Bloomberg Blackstone Group LP is no longer in talks to buy a $5 billion stake in assets owned by Energy Transfer Partners LP, people with knowledge of the matter said. The discussions fell through after the Wall Street Journal reported them last month, said one of the people, who asked not to identified because the information is private. The …

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