Bloomberg Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., the South African power utility battling to maintain liquidity, said there will be a “major impact†from the regulator’s decision last month to grant only a quarter of its requested tariff increase. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa gave the cash-strapped utility permission to raise prices by 5.2 percent from April 1, far short …
Read More »Japan’s renewable energy goals lag world: Minister
Bloomberg Japan’s plans to develop its renewable energy industry are lagging much of the world, as the nation has “prioritised keeping the status quo for fear of change,†Foreign Minister Taro Kono said. Japan wants renewable energy to account for 22 percent to 24 percent of its overall energy mix by 2030, while the global average today is already 24 …
Read More »Singapore marine fuel sales reach all-time high
SINGAPORE / Reuters Singapore posted record sales volumes of marine fuels for the third straight year in 2017, even as the city state reva-mped the market last year leading to stiff competition and margin erosion. Singapore last year sold an all-time high 50.6 million tonnes of marine fuels, a 4.2 percent increase over the 48.6 million tonnes sold in 2016, …
Read More »Morocco will ‘soon’ tender for $4.6 billion gas project
Bloomberg Morocco, which depends on imports for almost all of its energy needs, will soon tender for companies to build a $4.6 billion natural gas project, Energy Minister Aziz Rabbah said. The project will process gas for power and provide gas to industry, Rabbah said on Sunday in an interview in Abu Dhabi. With the financial and technical consultants chosen, …
Read More »Wells Fargo determined to keep mortgage crown
Bloomberg Wells Fargo & Co. isn’t giving up its mortgage-lending crown without a fight. The bank wants to hold on to its top spot as the whale of the $1.7 billion industry in the US, even as it predicts profit margins on making home loans will shrink this year and it faces pressure from rival Quicken Loans Inc. “We want …
Read More »Canada’s bank regulator pushes for faster adoption of Basel III rules
Bloomberg Canada’s financial watchdog plans to revise capital requirements for the nation’s banks, drafting more risk-sensitive interim rules while moving faster towards adopting new criteria set by global regulators. The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions’ Carolyn Rogers announced the changes during a speech at a conference hosted by RBC Capital Markets in Toronto. She said Canadian banks would …
Read More »BOJ tightening to begin by mid-2018
Bloomberg Japan’s economy will exceed growth forecasts this year, prompting the central bank to tighten monetary policy by mid-year, said Allen Sinai, president of Decision Economics Inc. Sinai said he expects Japan’s economy to grow 2 percent in 2018, and even faster in 2019, perhaps as much as 2.5 percent. “What has snuck up on everybody is the world business …
Read More »Morocco adopts more flexible exchange rate to boost standing
Bloomberg Morocco will adopt a more flexible exchange rate from Monday as part of a long-awaited plan aimed at boosting the competitiveness of the North African nation’s economy. Bank Al-Maghrib, Morocco’s central bank, said in a statement it would widen the official band within which the dirham fluctuates to 5 percent, with a maximum daily moves of 2.5 percent above …
Read More »Philippines plays catch-up as more banks tap big data
Bloomberg The Philippine central bank is beefing up its data tools to get a better handle on a fast-growing economy, which is starting to flash warning signs because of a rapid buildup of debt. Like central banks across Southeast Asia, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is pushing to capture information from “big data,†drawn from sources such as online search engines, …
Read More »Stranded Sukhoi jets haunt troubled airline
Bloomberg In cavernous jet hangars in and around Mexico City, Interjet has a secret. Four of the Mexican airline’s Sukhoi Superjet 100s—out of a fleet of 22—have been grounded for at least five months because of engine maintenance delays. The Russian-made aircraft, which average just four years old, are now being cannibalised, an industry term for when a plane is …
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