Bloomberg Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha will face a no-confidence vote in parliament as the opposition parties and pro-democracy groups ratchet up pressure on his government as it struggles to contain one of the worst Covid-19 outbreaks in the region. The opposition parties submitted a motion for censure debates and no-confidence votes on Monday against Prayuth and five other ministers, ...
Read More »Merkel’s bloc declines for 2nd straight week in polls
Bloomberg Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party bloc declined for a second consecutive week in a poll that suggests the Social Democrats are gaining ground ahead of Germany’s election in six weeks’ time. The Social Democratic Party, (SDP) which hasn’t held the chancellor’s office since 2005, pulled ahead of the Greens for the first time in a year in the weekly Insa poll, ...
Read More »Bank of Thailand head says virus fight may need $30bn
Bloomberg Thailand’s central bank governor called for an additional 1 trillion baht ($30 billion) in government spending to counter coronavirus, saying the blow to the economy from the pandemic is greater than from the Asian financial crisis in 1997. The government can fund additional spending by borrowing more, Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput said on Monday at a briefing ...
Read More »China’s central bank rolls over more policy loans to boost growth
Bloomberg China’s central bank rolled over most of its medium-term policy loans coming due, a move to support economic growth amid a resurgence of Covid cases. Government bonds reversed earlier losses. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) injected 600 billion yuan ($92.6 billion) into the financial system through its medium-term lending facility, close to the 700 billion yuan maturing Tuesday. ...
Read More »New Zealand to hike rates to cool overheating economy
Bloomberg New Zealand is set to raise interest rates this week, the first advanced economy in the Asia-Pacific to begin normalizing policy, as a powerful recovery unhindered by delta outbreaks shows signs of overheating. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) will lift the official cash rate by a quarter percentage point to 0.5% at its review Wednesday in Wellington, ...
Read More »Bank of America, Perella lift junior-banker salaries
Bloomberg Bank of America Corp (BofA) is boosting base salaries for junior bankers, joining firms including Perella Weinberg Partners and Evercore Inc in lifting pay to lure young talent on Wall Street. At Bank of America, first-year analysts across the global corporate and investment banking, markets, and research divisions will receive $100,000, up from $95,000, according to a person with ...
Read More »BOE’s inflation alarm deemed overly-cautious by economists
Bloomberg Bank of England (BOE) policy makers are being overly-alarmist on their outlook for inflation, economists’ forecasts suggest, casting doubt on the need for a significant tightening in policy in the years ahead. While the central bank expects inflation to hit 4% this year and slightly exceed that level in early 2022, economists surveyed by Bloomberg only see it rising ...
Read More »HSBC buys AXA Singapore for $575mn to grow Asia wealth
Bloomberg HSBC Holdings Plc agreed to buy AXA Singapore for $575 million in a push to build a global wealth hub in Singapore and fuel its expansion across Southeast Asia amid rising tension in China. The acquisition will give HSBC the eighth largest life insurer in Singapore, as well as a leading group health insurance firm, with assets of $474 ...
Read More »US yields set to tighten grip on emerging-market currencies
Bloomberg Slowing economic recovery amid a resurgent pandemic is leaving emerging-market currencies vulnerable to a selloff if Treasury yields rise again. While the influence of US borrowing costs on developing-nation currencies has waned in recent months, it may return to prominence for riskier assets as the cushioning effects from China’s growth rebound and low inflation weaken, according to money managers ...
Read More »Expiring lockups will put $6 billion of Hong Kong shares at risk
Bloomberg The recent slump in video streaming giant Kuaishou Technology’s shares has awoken investors to the risk of expiring lockups for Hong Kong’s newly-listed stocks. More than $6 billion worth of cornerstone investment lockups are due to expire within the next five months for this year’s IPOs, according to Bloomberg calculation based on stock exchange filings. The companies that face ...
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