April, 2018

• 18 April

  As military tightens grip, Sharif heads to London

  

  Bloomberg Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan’s former prime minister, left for London ahead of a looming verdict on corruption charges he and his daughter Maryam face amid mounting signs of a military-led clamp down on the media. Maryam said they will visit her mother who is undergoing cancer treatment in the UK capital, posting pictures on Twitter of her father sitting in ...

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• 18 April

  Al-Qaeda Somalia raids scuttle Africa’s plan to withdraw

  

  Bloomberg African troops battling an al-Qaeda affiliate in Somalia for the past decade stand little chance of withdrawing by their deadline in two years as the government remains fragile and a spike in militant violence has drawn in US forces. The longest-running African Union peacekeeping mission, known as Amisom, operates in a shattered country whose lawlessness has bred regional violence ...

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• 18 April

  Barbara Bush, matriarch of US political clan, dies at 92

  

  Bloomberg Barbara Bush, the wife of one US president and mother of another who embodied the old-fashioned sensibility that family comes before careers or politics, has died. She was 92. She died on April 17, according to a statement from family spokesman Jim McGrath. No cause was given. Bush, who was in “failing health,” decided to no longer seek medical ...

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• 18 April

  Cash crunch pushes India to defend its scam-hit banks

  

  Bloomberg India’s cash machines are running dry, leaving policy makers and bankers scrambling to assuage the public and prevent perception about the nation’s fraud-hit financial system from worsening. As the banknote shortage spread across several states, the government finally addressed the issue in a statement, where it cited an “unusual spurt in demand” for cash. The Finance Ministry rolled out ...

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• 18 April

  Germany’s wage deal brings more positive inflation news for ECB

  

  Bloomberg Germany’s public-sector workers and employers have agreed on a three-step series of wage hikes, providing the European Central Bank with fresh evidence of inflation-boosting pay deals and averting the threat of more disruptive strikes. Wages for 2.3 million workers in federal and local governments will rise by an annual 3.19 percent on average retroactive to March, by another 3.09 ...

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• 18 April

  Investors cut bets on BOE rate hike as inflation slows

  Bloomberg Investors are losing faith in the Bank of England delivering two interest-rate increases this year as UK economic data does little to suggest a full-blown tightening cycle is needed. While a hike in May is still almost fully priced in by markets, the chances of a second in 2018 fell further on Wednesday after inflation slowed to the weakest ...

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• 18 April

  Chinese banks to gain from reserve ratio cut

  

  Bloomberg China’s banks stand to make higher profits from the government’s move to fine-tune monetary policy by slashing their reserve requirements. Banking shares jumped. The resulting drop in funding costs will boost the net interest margin of listed Chinese banks by 0.9 basis point and lift their profits by 0.6 percent, according to analysts at China International Capital Corp. Industrial ...

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• 18 April

  SNB poised for first rate hike in decade next year

  

  Bloomberg The franc may be close to the Swiss National Bank’s previous currency ceiling, but that doesn’t mean investors should expect an interest rate hike too soon. A monthly survey of economists shows they anticipate the Swiss central bank will keep its deposit rate at minus 0.75 percent the first nine months of 2019, before raising it by 25 basis ...

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• 18 April

  Inflation gains footing in Japan as BOJ ponders future exit

  

  Bloomberg Inflation is showing signs of taking root in Japan. With price gains halfway to the Bank of Japan’s 2 percent target, domestic demand is picking up after years in which external factors such as energy prices did most of the work. As the economy continues to grow, this could open the door for the central bank to start adjusting ...

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• 18 April

  Infosys CEO says now is time to sacrifice margins for growth

  

  Bloomberg Salil Parekh didn’t get much time to settle in after taking over the helm of Infosys Ltd. Since becoming chief executive officer in January, the 53-year-old has crisscrossed three continents to meet with customers and employees to get his hands around the challenges facing India’s iconic tech-services giant. He talked with 48 clients in his first three months — ...

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