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Bloomberg Ireland’s economy expanded in 2020 despite the devastation of the pandemic as surging exports countered a slump in domestic demand. The nation’s GDP grows 3.4% in 2020, the central statistics office said, driven largely by the export sector. The domestic economy, however, struggled. “Today’s figures once again point to the dual economic impact of the pandemic, with domestic activities ...

Bloomberg Canada’s trade sector unexpectedly recorded its largest surplus in more than six years on across-the-board increases in exports. The nation ran a surplus of C$1.4 billion ($1.1 billion) in January from a revised deficit of C$1.98 billion in December, Statistics Canada said in Ottawa. Economists were predicting a gap of C$1.4 billion. It marked the first time Canada has ...

Bloomberg Swedish house prices soared to the highest level ever recorded, as a growing number of people make use of unprecedented central bank stimulus to upgrade into bigger homes. “From a credit perspective, one can only conclude that the market has been gripped by hysteria, which is connected to central banks pumping money into the system,” said Carl Johan Lagercrantz, ...

ABU DHABI / WAM The National Central Cooling Company (Tabreed) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, are planning to establish a district energy investment platform in Singapore. The platform will invest in district cooling, trigeneration and cooling as a service offering with primary focus on India followed by other South East Asian countries. ...

Abu Dhabi / WAM Khalifa Al Qubaisi, Deputy Director General of Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, received at the Fund’s headquarters Zhaslan Madiyev, Deputy Chairman of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reform of Kazakhstan. The meeting was attended by Rashed Al Kaabi, Director of Investment Department at ADFD, and senior Kazakh government officials. They explored ways to develop the ...

ABU DHABI / WAM Al Etihad Credit Bureau (AECB’s) Credit Reports and Scores will be used by the two largest telecom operators in the UAE, Emirates Telecommunications Group Company – Etisalat and Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company – du. The operators will put more reliance on AECB’s reports and scores while onboarding postpaid customers and devices’ purchasers in order to assess ...

DUBAI / WAM Expo 2020 Dubai will celebrate World Wildlife Day 2022 to spearhead a series of programmes dedicated to wildlife conservation and biodiversity, in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP). UN World Wildlife Day, celebrated annually on March 3, will be marked during Expo 2020’s Climate and Biodiversity ...

Bloomberg Indonesia is planning an initial public offering that could raise at least $500 million as part of its bid to create the world’s biggest geothermal company, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Southeast Asian nation, which last week announced its plan to combine three separate state-owned geothermal companies, is working with advisers to complete the tie-up ...

Bloomberg As the US looks to build a coalition to further punish Myanmar’s generals, it’s not having much success convincing governments in Asia to follow suit. The standing of army chief Min Aung Hlaing’s regime has slipped even further in the West after his envoy to the United Nations denounced the military takeover and Myanmar authorities killed at least 18 ...

Bloomberg Rishi Sunak will extend furlough payments to UK workers until the end of September, protecting millions of people whose jobs were suspended during the coronavirus pandemic until after restrictions are set to be lifted. With the nation mired in a third lockdown, the government will keep paying 80% of wages for those in the program through the end of ...