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  Bloomberg Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Asia’s biggest international carrier, applied to raise $2 billion in debt over the next 12 months. The medium term note program, arranged by HSBC Holdings Plc, is expected to take effect on Wednesday, Cathay Pacific said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late Tuesday. Such debt programs are offered to institutional ...

  Bloomberg Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is reviewing Welspun India Ltd.’s cotton certification records after Target Corp. raised concerns that the supplier is passing off cheaper bed sheets as premium Egyptian cotton. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, plans to hold further discussions with Welspun and “handle it appropriately” if any issues are discovered, according to spokeswoman Marilee McInnis. The chain is ...

  Bloomberg Shoprite Holdings Ltd. would consider expanding outside Africa as the continent’s largest food retailer seeks additional fast-growing markets, Chief Executive Officer Whitey Basson said. “There are countries that have great potential,” Basson said in a phone interview on Tuesday, without giving a timeframe. The company would be wary of overpaying for acquisitions if it decided to use that ...

  Bloomberg Spain’s Nazca Capital is weighing a sale of its private-jet operator Gestair after merging the business with a competitor last year, people familiar with the matter said. Gestair, which manages executive aircraft and runs chartered flights, could attract interest from aviation companies and other buyout firms in a sale, the people said, asking not to be identified because ...

  Bloomberg China’s central bank injected cash into the financial system using 14-day reverse-repurchase agreements for the first time since February amid speculation policy makers are looking to increase the use of more expensive, longer-term funding to cool a bond rally. The People’s Bank of China auctioned 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) of the contracts in open-market operations at 2.4 ...

  Bloomberg Royal Bank of Canada beat analysts’ profit estimates as the City National purchase in the U.S. bolstered wealth management and capital markets earnings surged. Canada’s biggest bank raised its dividend 2.5 percent to 83 cents a share. Profit for the quarter ended July 31 climbed 7.5 percent to $2.06 billion, or C$1.72 a share after excluding gains from ...

  AFP The Central Bank of Iceland on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 5.25 percent, saying inflation remained low despite rising wages and strong growth. “Inflation has remained below target for two-and-a-half years. In July it measured 1.1 percent, the lowest inflation rate since the beginning of 2015,” the bank said. “The krona ...

  AFP The European Central Bank (ECB) may be forced to bolster its monetary stimulus programmes if governments fail to act to boost their economies, board member Benoit Coeure said on Tuesday. “If there is not much taking place on the structural reform front, if there’s not much taking place on the fiscal policy front… then the ECB will do ...

  AFP World Bank chief Jim Yong Kim will seek a second term of office, the global development lender said as it announced the start of a selection process for the presidency. Kim’s bid to remain as president comes in the face a rare public rebuke from the Bank’s rank-and-file, who earlier this month declared that the institution faced a ...

  Essen / DPA When the victors of World War II announced the creation of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NTW) – by merging two former Prussian states – in 1946 in London, most of its inhabitants were going hungry. And as the bitter winter of 1946-47 got underway they began to freeze too. But the state, which ...