February, 2019

• 2 February

  Now, India shadow banks face Essel risk

  Bloomberg India’s shadow lenders are facing a fresh threat, just as they were starting to recover from the fallout of landmark defaults last year by one of their own. The lenders could come up against a new cash shortage, if concerns about debt at conglomerate Essel Group ricochet through India’s money markets, according to Citibank and Credit Suisse. There’s reason ...

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• 2 February

  Modi woos voters with $13bn largesse before India election

  

  Bloomberg Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a populist push in his final budget before elections, cutting taxes for middle-class voters and giving cash handouts to farmers. The government will allocate 750 billion-rupee ($10.6 billion) a year for the cash plan for about 120 million farmers and give taxpayers 185 billion rupees of relief in the year to March 2020, ...

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• 2 February

  China buys 2 million tons of US soybeans

  

  Bloomberg China has snapped up more US soybeans following two days of trade talks in Washington. State-run buyers Cofco Corp. and Sinograin purchased more than one million tons of American soybeans each, the companies said in separate statements on Saturday. The purchases are “to implement the consensus that the leaders of both China and the US have come to,” according ...

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• 2 February

  Malaysia still in talks with China over $20 billion rail

  

  Bloomberg Talks for a $20 billion Malaysian rail project are still ongoing, with the Southeast Asian nation expecting to make a decision “as soon as possible,” the Star newspaper reported, citing Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir said the status of the East Coast Railway Link is being negotiated with China, and that he couldn’t disclose further information until the outcome ...

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• 2 February

  HNA selling last Kai Tak airport plot in Hong Kong to Wheelock

  

  Bloomberg HNA Group Co., the debt-laden Chinese conglomerate on a selling spree, agreed to dispose of its last plot of land near Hong Kong’s former Kai Tak airport, ending ambitions for a massive residential project in the world’s most expensive property market. A unit of Wheelock & Co. agreed to buy the land from HNA’s Hong Kong International Construction Investment ...

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• 2 February

  Indonesia postpones MRT project

  Bloomberg Indonesia postponed construction of second phase of Jakarta’s Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project because of a land-use issue, the Jakarta Post reported. The company delayed the ground breaking of the project, that was originally scheduled in January, because the State Secretariat has yet to issue a land-use permit for Medan Merdeka, the area near the Presidential Palace, Sabandar said. The ...

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• 2 February

  Hong Kong eyes sea, golf courses to solve housing crisis

  

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s limited supply of land has forced it to look at unusual and costly options to address a chronic homes shortage in the world’s least affordable housing market. One of the ideas the government is considering is to build four artificial islands in its central waters. This would cost HK$500 billion ($63.7 billion), the South China Morning Post ...

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• 2 February

  UK auto investment down 50% as Brexit hits spending

  

  Bloomberg The British automotive industry saw investment plunge last year as carmakers delayed decisions on upgrading machinery and factories amid mounting concern about the impact of a hard Brexit. Spending plunged 46 percent to 589 million pounds ($769 million), the lowest since the global financial crisis, the Society of Motor Manufacturers said in a statement. Concern about the impact of ...

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• 2 February

  Spain remains an economic bright spot in euro-area

  

  Bloomberg Spain remained an economic bright spot in the euro zone in late 2018 even though the country, like the rest of the region, faces a weaker outlook this year. Growth unexpectedly accelerated to 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter, contrasting with figures reported by Germany, France and Italy, where trade tensions, violent pro-tests and budget struggles hobbled growth. Spanish ...

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• 2 February

  Italy caps turbulent year with first recession since 2013

  

  Bloomberg Italy fell into recession at the end of 2018, capping a year of political turmoil, higher borrowing costs and fiscal tensions that took their toll on the economy. Output shrank 0.2 percent in the three months through December, following a 0.1 percent decline in the previous quarter, statistics agency Istat said in a preliminary report. The year-end shrinkage was ...

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