The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.

Bloomberg Coronavirus-driven stockpiling by Britons girding for a nationwide lockdown lifted UK grocery sales to a record in March, according to research firm Kantar. Supermarket sales grew by 7.6% in the past 12 weeks, the fastest pace in more than a decade. That rate of increase nearly tripled over the past four weeks, making March the biggest month of grocery …

Bloomberg President Donald Trump said he’s concerned oil prices have fallen too far and called Vladimir Putin on Monday to discuss Russia’s oil-price war with Saudi Arabia. The leaders, who also talked about the spread of the coronavirus, agreed to discussions on oil between energy officials in the two countries, according to the Kremlin. Both leaders “agreed on the importance …

DUBAI / WAM The Board of Directors of UAE Banks Federation (UBF) held its first meeting of the year via videoconferencing to discuss the latest developments in the UAE banking sector as well as progress of key concerns. During the meeting, the Board of Directors discussed UBF’s current priorities, which in light of the worldwide outbreak of Covid-19 include ensuring …

Bloomberg A group of sixteen banks will have to provide $23 billion of loans to T-Mobile US Inc. in order to allow the mobile carrier to close its planned acquisition of Sprint Corp., after the Covid-19 outbreak disrupted plans to sell the debt to third-party investors. The banks were formally notified that they will need to make the funds available …

Bloomberg Pakistan’s central bank is said to have intervened to stop a plunge in the rupee, the worst performer in Asia this week. The South Asian nation’s currency fell to a record low 168 to a dollar in intraday trading as per traders before closing at 165.54, data posted on the website of the State Bank of Pakistan showed. The …

Bloomberg As central banks around the world reignite quantitative easing programs or adopt them for the first time, Japan’s key focus of controlling bond yields rather than a quota of purchases is being explored. When the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) broke the emergency glass on March 19, it set a target for the yield on three-year Australian government bonds …

Bloomberg UniCredit SpA suspended a dividend payment and a share buyback in a setback to Chief Executive Officer Jean Pierre Mustier’s plan to improve shareholder rewards. The decision comes after the European Central Bank recommended that lenders restrict payouts until at least October as the coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on markets. Its previous call for banks to be prudent on …

Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (EBI) delivered an emergency rate cut and pledged $50 billion of liquidity infusion. Now traders want it to join other central banks in unleashing a massive-bond buying program. Deutsche Bank AG and Barclays Plc are among those who see the RBI taking the next step of buying debt from the market, or the government, …

Bloomberg Barclays said it plans to cut its net greenhouse gas emissions to zero over the next 30 years and only provide finance to projects that align with the temperature reduction goals of the Paris climate accord. The London-based bank will put the proposal to go “net zero” by 2050 to shareholders for a vote at its annual general meeting …

Bloomberg Oil majors and traders are scrambling to book supertankers to try and divert a flood of American crude to Asia, betting the region is the best place to store the surplus while the market waits for a rebound. A dozen very large crude carriers are being sought to load from the US Gulf Coast over a 10-day period from …