August, 2016

• 29 August

  Afghanistan launches polio drive in former IS areas

    Kabul / AFP Afghanistan launched a polio vaccination campaign on Monday aimed at reaching children in areas previously controlled by IS group militants, officials said. Afghanistan and Pakistan are the only two countries in the world where polio remains endemic—a fact blamed on opposition to immunisation by extremist groups, who claim the vaccines are a conspiracy to sterilise Muslims ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Suicide attack kills 18 in Iraq oasis town

    Karbala /AFP Attackers armed with suicide vests, rifles and grenades killed 18 people in the Iraqi oasis town of Ain Al Tamer, many of them guests at a wedding party, local officials said on Monday. “They were carrying Kalashnikovs, hand grenades. One of them blew himself up and the others were killed by the security forces,” said the head ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Norway’s US$890bn fund warns outflows are affecting risk strategy

  

    Bloomberg Norway’s $890 billion sovereign wealth fund is acknowledging that rising withdrawals by the government could hamper its quest to manage more risk and generate greater returns as it takes on more and more negative yielding securities. The net outflows are “relevant for how we think about the risk-bearing capacity of the fund,” Egil Matsen, the deputy governor at ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  GIC to pay less than US$400 million for Vietcombank

  

    Bloomberg GIC Pte reached a preliminary agreement to pay less than $400 million for a 7.7 percent stake in Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam JSC, the nation’s second-biggest listed company, people with knowledge of the matter said. The Singapore sovereign fund will buy Vietcombank stock at a discount to the current market price, the people said, asking not ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Startup bank Mondo changes its name by one letter to Monzo

    Bloomberg Mondo, a financial startup vying to crack the dominance of Britain’s biggest lenders, said it changed its name by one letter to Monzo after a legal dispute. The smartphone-based lender started by former GoCardless Ltd. founder Tom Blomfield picked the name after considering 12,560 suggestions from customers over six months, the London-based firm said in a statement. The ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Maj targets Andes nations with US$100mn micro finance fund

    Bloomberg Maj Invest, a Danish asset manager with $8 billion in assets, is looking to boost acquisitions in the micro finance industry in the Andean region. The Copenhagen-based asset manager is in the process of raising capital to grow the size of its Maj Invest Financial Inclusion Fund II to $100 million by June from $75 million now, according ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Pimco at odds with Goldman on Yellen as September rate bets rise

  

    Bloomberg Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech on Friday was hawkish enough for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to boost the odds of a September interest-rate increase, while Pacific Investment Management Co. said there was nothing of note in her remarks. Bond traders agree with Goldman Sachs, with the market-implied probability of action next month rising after Yellen said in ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  China’s big three airlines face $1.3bn losses

  

    Bloomberg China’s three biggest airlines are poised to report losses totaling 8.5 billion yuan ($1.3 billion) from currency swings this year as a weaker yuan proves a drag amid rising traffic and cheaper fuel. The silver lining: The losses are narrowing. Flagship carrier Air China Ltd. may face 3 billion yuan in foreign-exchange losses, while China Southern Airlines Co., ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  Doha airport brings in passenger tax

  

    AFP Qatar’s international airport said on Monday it is to charge passengers an exit tax as the energy-reliant emirate adjusts to falling oil prices. The 35-riyal ($10) levy is to be introduced this week, Hamad International Airport (HIA) said in a statement. The fee, to be added to airline ticket prices, will apply to tickets issued on or after ...

  Read More »
• 29 August

  S African Airways seeks US$1.1bn funding

  

    Bloomberg South African Airways (SAA) is seeking 16 billion rand ($1.1 billion) in long-term funding that the unprofitable government-owned carrier said will be used for working and capital expenditure and to help manage outstanding debt. The airline will need to access the funding two weeks after the signing of loan documentation, SAA said in a request for proposals from ...

  Read More »