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

Hong Kong’s home prices have proved resilient to months of protests and now the coronavirus epidemic, a one-two punch that the city’s finance chief likened over the weekend to “tsunami-like” shocks. While a hit is probably coming, the world’s least affordable housing market still looks a better place to be than in Hong Kong office or retail property. Home prices ...

Consumer debt is rising in the US, and the reaction to this news has been both heated and predictable: “Americans in record debt: It’s our own fault,” read one headline in a conservative publication last week. A business website went with something more colourful: “The State of the American Debt Slaves, Q4 2019.” And presidential candidates have chimed in to ...

Bloomberg US equity futures rose on Tuesday while European shares fluctuated as the selloff that wiped out this year’s gains in global stocks showed signs of easing. Treasuries were steady and the dollar slipped. Contracts on all three major US indexes rose, though they pared early gains that suggested American markets are poised to claw back just a fraction of ...

Bloomberg Hong Kong stock investors are the worst off in 16 years relative to the rest of the world as concerns mount over the impact of the coronavirus on an economy already reeling from last year’s protests. The Hang Seng Index is near its lowest level relative to the MSCI All Country World Index since 2004, even after Monday’s brutal ...

Bloomberg Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said the worsening coronavirus outbreak represents a threat to the US economy, but not one that yet justifies any change in monetary policy. “At this point, it is difficult to assess the magnitude of the economic effects,” Mester said in the text of remarks she was scheduled to deliver in Washington. ...

Bloomberg European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde kicked off a public consultation on her strategy review with the first direct video address by the institution’s chief to euro-area citizens. Adopting a communication technique untested by her predecessors, the Frenchwoman spoke to camera to invite views on monetary policy in a broadcast on Twitter released in tandem with a press ...

Bloomberg Most of the Brexit uncertainty that has been overshadowing the UK economy has lifted, although it’s too early to say business investment is fully returning, according to Bank of England (BOE) Chief Economist Andy Haldane. A “big chunk, if not all” of the uncertainty has dissipated, Haldane said in answer to questions following a speech at Bloomberg’s European headquarters ...

Bloomberg State Bank of Vietnam orders commercial lenders to exempt, reduce or delay interest payments due January 23 to March 31 on loans to businesses facing losses from the novel coronavirus epidemic, according to a statement. The move comes as the nation’s fast-growing economy is at risk of slowing to below 6% for the first time in six years as ...

Bloomberg Mastercard Inc lowered its three-week-old forecast for quarterly revenue growth as the spreading coronavirus curbs international travel and even takes a bite out of e-commerce, a business executives had hoped would be immune. The credit-card network said it’s knocking 2 to 3 percentage points off the prediction it made on an earnings conference on call on January 29. That ...

Bloomberg Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the monetary policy authority will be “well-prepared” to act when needed to address the impact of the coronovirus on the economy. “We will monitor the impact of the coronavirus on the economy, inflation and financial markets with maximum attention,” Kuroda told reporters in Riyadh, where he was attending a Group of ...