Bloomberg Egypt tourism receipts almost tripled and worker remittances rose in the last three months of its fiscal year, marking another step in the country’s economic recovery from a crippling dollar shortage. Tourism revenue rose to $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter that ended June 30, from $510 million in the same period a year ago, according to initial central ...
Read More »US sanctions on Venezuela could be a boon to Asia
SINGAPORE / Reuters Asia would be the biggest beneficiary of any potential sanctions by the United States on Venezuela’s oil sector, said traders and analysts, as exports from the South American OPEC member could be redirected to the region, filling a vacuum left by producer supply cuts. Washington is considering sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry in response to the ruling ...
Read More »Kuwait to issue tender for $1.2bn solar project
Bloomberg Kuwait will issue a tender to build the estimated $1.2 billion Dibdibah solar-power plant in the first quarter of 2018 as part of the country’s plans to produce 15 percent of power from renewable energy by 2030. OPEC’s fifth-biggest oil producer set a Sept. 7 deadline for companies to express interest in the 1 gigawatt project, Shukri AbdulAziz Al-Mahrous, ...
Read More »Big oil follows Silicon Valley into backing green energy firms
Bloomberg Major oil companies are joining Silicon Valley in backing energy-technology start-ups, a signal that those with the deepest pockets in the industry are casting around for a new strategy. From Royal Dutch Shell Plc to Total SA and Exxon Mobil Corp., the biggest investor-owned oil companies are dribbling money into ventures probing the edge of energy technologies. The investments ...
Read More »Philippines weighs China energy deal in disputed South China Sea
Bloomberg The Philippines is considering potential ways to jointly develop oil and gas resources with China in a disputed part of the South China Sea, according to Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano. Any joint ventures would conform to Philippine law and wouldn’t lead to the loss of Philippine territory, Cayetano told a House of Representatives hearing on Tuesday in ...
Read More »More Indians pay tax after cash ban, GST regime: Modi
Bloomberg The number of new taxpayers in India more than doubled in the past five months and about $47 billion came back to the banks after the government’s cash ban brought more people into the fold of the formal economy, PM Narendra Modi said. “Black money which was hidden was forced to come to the mainstream,†Modi said in his ...
Read More »China’s sluggish growth may reignite bond default wave
Bloomberg China had unexpected buoyancy in its economy to thank for an easing off in corporate defaults in the first half. But as growth shows signs of pulling back, the question is: will it last? Despite alarm over the risks posed by China’s daunting debt pile ticking up in the first six months, the country actually saw a drop in ...
Read More »Airbnb to quadruple China tech team
Bloomberg Airbnb Inc. is ramping up its investment in China, quadrupling its engineering team over the next 12 months to focus on affluent millennials who’re increasingly exploring the world’s second largest economy. Airbnb will grow its technical cohort to more than 100 in Beijing—the only office outside the US where the home-sharing giant employs an engineering division, according to co-founder ...
Read More »Singapore home sales rise 35% with new projects
Bloomberg Singapore home sales rose 35 percent in July as new projects were launched. Developers sold 1,108 units last month, compared with 820 in June, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority data. A total of 692 new units were offered, up from 159 in June, the data showed. Singapore’s leaders, determined to keep a lid on home prices in the city-state, ...
Read More »Moon vents Korea frustration by asserting right to veto US war
Bloomberg South Korean President Moon Jae-in has signaled his country will no longer stay quiet as tensions escalate between the US and North Korea. In a forceful speech on Tuesday, Moon asserted the right to veto any military action against Kim Jong Un’s regime, saying that decision should be made by “ourselves and not by anyone else.†He vowed to ...
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