Bloomberg Indonesia has pledged to boost stimulus efforts aimed at countering the coronavirus crisis by as much $1.8 billion, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawti said, as the outlook for Southeast Asia’s biggest economy continues to deteriorate. The government is preparing a raft of new measures to support the economy, Indrawti said on Wednesday, including re-allocating as much as 10 trillion ...
Read More »How China bent over backward to help Tesla when the virus hit
Bloomberg After the coronavirus outbreak caused a nationwide shortage of face masks in January, Chinese officials were quick to ensure that Tesla Inc wouldn’t be left without. China’s government helped the California-based carmaker secure the sought-after supplies that allowed it to reopen at a time when many of its competitors were still shut down. Tesla received 10,000 masks, cases of ...
Read More »Techint unit found payments of ‘concern’ in Eskom contract
Bloomberg Tenova SpA, a unit of the Italian billionaire Paolo Rocca’s Techint Group, has appointed legal and forensic-accountancy firms to assess its dealings with South Africa’s Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd after identifying payments that caused the company “concern.†A contract between the mining and manufacturing-services provider and state-owned Eskom is one of a number of agreements, including ones frm Alstom ...
Read More »EU’s door to joint debt cracks opening as Germany softens
Bloomberg Angela Merkel signalled she may be open to joint European Union (EU) debt issuance to help offset the impact of the coronavirus, an apparent softening of entrenched German opposition that could transform the finances of the 27-nation bloc. The unexpected opening from the leader of Europe’s dominant economy came after the chancellor and her EU counterparts agreed by video ...
Read More »UK releases ‘wartime’ funding to save economy from virus
Bloomberg Boris Johnson’s government announced a massive rescue package of loans and grants for businesses in a desperate attempt to stop the coronavirus pandemic wrecking the UK economy. Ministers promised help with mortgage payments, and support for airlines, shops and the hospitality industry, with 350 billion pounds ($424 billion) worth of government-backed loans, grants and tax cuts for struggling companies. ...
Read More »European car sales suffer worst start to year since 2013
Bloomberg Car sales in Europe are off to their worst start to a year since 2013 and are poised to deteriorate further after automakers across the region shuttered plants to counter the coronavirus pandemic. Passenger registrations declined 7.2% in February after a similar drop in January, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Even those figures may be the best ...
Read More »BMW’s hopes for growth crushed by coronavirus
Bloomberg BMW AG abandoned hopes for another record year in sales due to the coronavirus outbreak, predicting deliveries in 2020 will be “significantly below†last year’s levels and profitability at its weakest for years. The maker of the 7 Series luxury sedan announced shorter shifts and flexible working for employees. It didn’t provide details on any plant closures that have ...
Read More »Hospital workers in US make masks from office supplies
Bloomberg Hospital workers in Washington state have been making protective medical gear out of office supplies and other run-of-the-mill materials as they deal with a severe shortage of equipment needed to care for patients who may have Covid-19. Among the supplies coming in handy: clear vinyl sheets. “We are very close to being out of face shields,†said Becca Bartles, ...
Read More »Facebook to pay workers $1,000 bonus
Bloomberg Facebook Inc. is paying all of its 45,000 employees an extra $1,000 to help manage expenses during the Covid-19 outbreak. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg announced the decision in a memo to workers, earlier reported by The Information. The bonus applies to the social network’s full-time employees, who as of now can’t come into the office for health and ...
Read More »China guts US press corps in Beijing with mass expulsions
Bloomberg China took the unprecedented step of expelling more than a dozen US journalists from three American newspapers, escalating a wider battle with the Trump administration as the coronavirus pandemic threatens to drag the global economy into a recession. China’s foreign ministry said US reporters at the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post must hand in their ...
Read More »