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

Bloomberg Singapore is facing a grave economic challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic that may affect the timing of the nation’s election, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. In a meeting with reporters on March 28, Lee said the tide “had not turned” with the outbreak. As more residents come home to Singapore, more virus enters the country, he said. ...

Bloomberg A week-long paid national holiday announced by President Vladimir Putin on March 25 apparently doesn’t mean people should stop working, according to a Kremlin spokesman. “Those who have been working remotely will continue to work next week,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on an unscheduled conference call with reporters. “It’s not days off or holidays in the classical understanding of ...

Bloomberg Gunmen abducted Soumaila Cisse, the leader of Mali’s main opposition party, and members of his campaign team days before parliamentary polls. Cisse and his team were attacked as they campaigned for the vote on Sunday near the candidate’s hometown of Niafunke in the north of the country, his Union for the Republic and Democracy said. A party official on ...

Bloomberg Wistron Corp, one of Apple’s manufacturing partners, said half its capacity could reside outside China within a year. The declaration underscored how the Asian assemblers that keep the world supplied with iPhones and other gadgets are shifting to a higher gear after the coronavirus showed the folly of staking everything on one country. The move in production out of ...

Bloomberg Volkswagen AG’s unprecedented move to halt output on both sides of the Atlantic costs the world’s largest automaker $2.2 billion per week, and CEO Herbert Diess said decisive action is critical to overcome the coronavirus pandemic. Sales outside China have effectively come to a standstill, while demand in the country, VW’s largest single market, has clawed back to about ...

Bloomberg The World Health Organization (WHO) plans to reach at least 50 million people with a WhatsApp information service that delivers information on demand about the coronavirus and is so successful in South Africa it will be used around the world. The free service, the first of its kind launched globally by the WHO, garnered 10 million users within three ...

Bloomberg The European Central Bank (ECB) will scrap limits on bond purchases for its 750 billion-euro ($819 billion) emergency program in a landmark decision that gives it almost unlimited firepower to fight the economic fallout from the coronavirus (Covid-19). Government bonds rallied across the euro area after the ECB released a legal document that said the so-called issue limits, which ...

Bloomberg The UK’s coronavirus lockdown should trigger a recovery in the pound, which has fallen to its most undervalued ever against the dollar, according to Standard Chartered Plc. The government’s aggressive actions should enable a quick restoration of economic activity once the health situation improves, wrote strategists including Geoff Kendrick in a note. At the same time, the potential near-term ...

Bloomberg India’s central bank should directly start monetising the government’s fiscal deficit in efforts to fight one of its worst economic crisis, said Ananth Narayan, former South Asia head of financial markets at Standard Chartered Plc. “In a war, we have to borrow from our future,” said Narayan, now a professor at Mumbai-based SP Jain Institute of Management & Research. ...

Bloomberg Policy makers trying to prevent credit markets from freezing up have a huge challenge on their hands with regional banks. Such firms should be best positioned to keep money flowing to community businesses like restaurants, travel agencies and gyms on the brink of failure because of the coronavirus pandemic. But regional banks themselves are increasingly at risk, riven by ...