May, 2016

• 10 May

  Japan plans $7.2bn extra budget for quake relief

  

    Tokyo / Bloomberg Japan will compile a 778 billion yen ($7.2 billion) extra budget to aid the recovery from a series of huge quakes in southern Japan last month, according to ruling party officials with direct knowledge of the spending plan. The government can cover the cost of the supplementary budget because interest payments on Japanese government bonds have ...

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• 10 May

  India faces stark digital divide, says WB

    New Delhi / AFP India is a global IT powerhouse but a huge majority of the population remains locked out of the benefits brought by the digital economy, the World Bank said on Tuesday. India’s vibrant business process outsourcing sector, centred in the southern hubs of Bangalore and Hyderabad, has made it the leading exporter of IT services and ...

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• 10 May

  Mitsubishi’s fuel fraud may cost its shareholder $3bn

  

    Tokyo / Bloomberg Mitsubishi Motors Corp.’s fraudulent fuel-economy testing and the subsequent plunge in its stock price and sales could cost its second-largest shareholder about 335 billion yen ($3 billion), as the Japanese carmaker’s disclosure reverberates through its business group. Mitsubishi Corp., which owns 10 percent of Mitsubishi Motors, is the first of the automaker’s major shareholders to measure ...

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• 10 May

  UK trade drags on growth as gap widens to most in eight years

  

    Bloomberg The U.K. economy received no help from its international trade performance in the first quarter, official figures published on Tuesday suggest. The deficit widened to 13.3 billion pounds ($19 billion), the most since the start of 2008, from 12.2 billion pounds in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Office for National Statistics said. The shortfall in goods alone ...

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• 10 May

  German, French & Italian industrial production disappoints in March

  

  Bloomberg Industrial production in the euro area’s three biggest economies disappointed in March, possibly signaling slackening demand in Europe. German production, adjusted for seasonal swings, fell 1.3 percent, its second consecutive decline and exceeding a 0.2 percent drop predicted by economist in a Bloomberg survey. In France, output unexpectedly fell 0.3 percent, and Italy saw production stagnate in March after ...

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• 10 May

  IMF team arrives in Ukraine to check on new government

    AFP An International Monetary Fund team arrived in Kiev on Tuesday after the formation of a new Ukrainian government resolved a prolonged political crisis that had stalled the release of vital aid. The mission’s visit was long awaited in the cash-strapped former Soviet country as it grapples with the costs of a two-year conflict in the pro-Russian separatist east ...

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• 10 May

  Abertis to buy Italian highways for $677 million in growth drive

  

    Bloomberg AbertisInfraestructuras SA agreed to pay €594 million ($677 million) to buy control of two Italian highways as the Spanish toll-road operator presses ahead with its international expansion plan. Abertis reached an accord with IntesaSanpaoloSpA, AstaldiSpA and the Tabacchi family to buy the two companies that control 51 percent of A4 Holding, which owns the A4 Brescia-Padova and A31 ...

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• 10 May

  Banks see softer side of Brussels as EU readies rule revamp

  

    Bloomberg After years of aggressive regulation reining them in, Europe’s banks are starting to get some slack from the policy makers in Brussels. The European Union has opened up the entire financial rule book for review, including contentious issues such as the cap on bankers’ bonuses. Faced with weak banks and an anemic economy, regulators have made clear that ...

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• 10 May

  Global populism wave hits Philippines as Duterte elected

  

    Davao / AFP The election of Rodrigo Duterte as Philippine president marks the latest victory for populist politics, as voters around the world reward candidates offering simple solutions to complex problems. In a country beset by crime, poverty and corruption, Duterte promised voters a raft of quick fixes that many analysts believe will remain empty promises. One of his ...

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• 10 May

  5th of world’s plants under threat, warns Kew Gardens

    London / AFP A fifth of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction, British researchers warned on Tuesday in an unprecedented global census of the plant kingdom. The survey by Britain’s Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London, said 21 percent of species are under threat. The report, the first of its kind, is intended to become a ...

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