Saudi favours local sales as it plans to deepen debt markets

Bloomberg Saudi authorities plan to keep selling local bonds every month as they seek to finance the bud- get deficit and deepen a nascent debt market, according to the official overseeing the kingdom’s borrowing strategy. Fahad Al-Saif, head of the debt management office at the Ministry of Finance, said local issuance makes up about 65 percent of the kingdom’s sales ...

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Ghana extends energy bond sale as demand falls short

Bloomberg Ghana is extending the issuance of non-sovereign bonds that the country needs for settling the legacy debts of state-owned energy utilities after demand for the securities fell short of the 6 billion cedi ($1.4 billion) target. While the West African nation allocated 2.4 billion cedis in seven-year bonds at 19 percent after receiving 2.5 billion cedis in bids, it ...

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Call for consolidation in Saudi petchems

RIYADH / Reuters Saudi petrochemicals firms should merge to boost their competitiveness and look to expand abroad, the head of major industry player SABIC told Reuters on Monday. The firms have enjoyed decades of cheap feedstock prices. But Saudi authorities began slashing subsidies in 2016, as a collapse in oil prices cut into state finances, prompting a search for efficiencies ...

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Puerto Rico utility poised to cancel grid-restoring contract

Bloomberg Puerto Rico plans to cancel a $300 million contract to rebuild the hurricane-ravaged electrical grid that went to a tiny company based in Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Montana hometown, the head of the island’s power utility said. Ricardo Ramos, executive director of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, or Prepa, said he will request permission from the utility’s board ...

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Toyota explores airless tires to build lighter electric vehicles

Bloomberg Toyota Motor Corp. is eyeing airless tires to help reduce the weight of battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles and boost performance, even though the technology is years away from being ready for commercial use. The automaker is using airless tires—featuring individual motors in each wheel—on a vehicle for the first time with its hydrogen-powered concept car, Fine-Comfort Ride, unveiled at ...

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Didi in talks with Daiichi Koutsu for Japan rollout

Bloomberg China’s Didi Chuxing is in talks with Japanese taxi operator Daiichi Koutsu Sangyo Co. to provide ride-hailing services for Chinese tourists visiting Japan, according to a person familiar with the matter. The service is expected to launch this spring and will allow visitors from the mainland to use Didi’s app to summon and pay for Daiichi Koutsu’s taxis operating ...

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PUBG video game could be banned in China

Bloomberg The world’s hottest video game is set to be locked out of the biggest market. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds—where competitors fight to be the last one alive—is too violent, according to an announcement posted by the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association. The gladiator-like mentality of the computer game deviates from the values of socialism and is deemed harmful to young ...

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US mall owners to reclaim retail wasteland with public money

Bloomberg At the Brookfield Square mall in Wisconsin, the landlord, CBL & Associates Properties Inc., needed a new occupant for a fading Sears. CBL had been tinkering with the mix for the past few years. Earlier, in 2008, it completed a 20,000-square-foot expansion, adding grocery stores and restaurants and renovating the interior. In the end, it found its tenant: the ...

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New rail link corridor for Asia, Europe opens

Bloomberg Azerbaijan is opening a long-delayed railway intended to cut transport times for goods between Asia and Europe. President Ilham Aliyev is due to host Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Georgian leader Giorgi Margvelashvili at a ceremony on Monday for the departure of the first train from the Caspian Sea port of Alat, south of the Azeri capital, Baku. ...

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Suppliers rally on strong iPhone X demand

Bloomberg Apple Inc.’s biggest suppliers from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. climbed on Monday after delivery times for the iPhone X stretched to as much as six weeks in the US, underscoring demand for the marquee smartphone. Shares in Hon Hai, the main assembler of Apple devices, climbed as much as 3.6 percent in Taipei. ...

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