Banking and Finance George Soros hands over rein of $25bn empire to son Billionaire financier George Soros is handing control of his massive empire to his son Alexander, a Soros spokesperson said. The spokesperson confirmed the details from an interview with Soros published in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday. A hedge fund manager turned philanthropist and major backer of liberal causes, Soros, 92, said he previously didn’t want his […] June 12, 2023
Oil & Gas Saudi says Opec+ working against market ‘uncertainties’ Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said that the latest Opec+ agreement involved comprehensive reform while the alliance was working against “uncertainties and sentiment” in the market. “That is why we had this agreement,” he said at the Arab-China business conference in Riyadh, when asked what was necessary to achieve market stability. He […] June 12, 2023
Economy Iraq approves $153bn budget amid rising public wage bill Iraq’s parliament on Monday approved a 2023 budget of 198.9 trillion dinars ($153 billion) that sets out record spending on a growing public wage bill and development projects to improve services and rebuild infrastructure ruined by neglect and war. The budget deficit is estimated at a record 64.36 trillion Iraq dinars, more than double the […] June 12, 2023
Banking and Finance Iraq to pay $2.76bn in gas and electricity debt to Iran Iraq has agreed to pay about $2.76 billion in gas and electricity debt to Iran after receiving a sanctions waiver from the United States, a senior Iraqi foreign ministry official said. Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein was given the clearance during a meeting with US secretary of state Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the […] June 11, 2023
Banking and Finance Goldman Sachs expects Turkey rates to hit 40% Goldman Sachs said on Friday the appointments of Mehmet Simsek as Turkish finance minister and Hafize Gaye Erkan as central bank governor suggested a widespread understanding in the new administration that monetary and fiscal adjustments were needed. The Wall Street bank, in an overhaul to a number of its forecasts for Turkey, said stabilising the […] June 11, 2023
Banking and Finance Pakistan seeks to restructure debt with bilateral lenders Pakistan is working on the possibility of restructuring its bilateral debt regardless of whether it successfully completes its International Monetary Fund (IMF) review, the country’s finance minister said on Saturday, but reiterated it would not approach Paris club nation creditors or seek haircuts. “We’ll see how things go,” Ishaq Dar told reporters, a day after […] June 11, 2023
Economy Egypt’s inflation rate accelerates to 32.7% in May Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation rate in May accelerated to 32.7 percent from 30.6 percent in April, data from the country’s statistics agency Capmas showed on Saturday, approaching an all-time record and higher than analysts had expected. Month-on-month, urban inflation increased to 2.7 percent from 1.7 percent in April. Inflation has risen sharply over the […] June 11, 2023
Manufacturing UK private equity firm to sell stake in Dubai shisha company Kingsway Capital is in talks with tobacco firms as it tries to sell its stake in Dubai’s Advanced Inhalation Rituals (Air). The British private equity company, the majority owner of Air, has met with potential investors including British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco, two sources told Reuters. The talks are part of a dual-track process, where a seller pursues a sale and an […] June 9, 2023
Tech UK’s self-driving car startups face uphill journey on reforms Britain could lose out on investments in autonomous vehicles (AVs) and see startups shift testing elsewhere if promised laws to regulate the technology are not passed before the next general election, startups and insurance companies said. Despite the government’s vision to be a world leader in AV technology, truly driverless cars are not currently permitted […] June 9, 2023
Economy IMF seeks urgent reforms to avert crisis in Lebanon Lebanon must take urgent action on comprehensive economic reforms to avoid “irreversible consequences” for its economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said. IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack told reporters that IMF staff concluded an Article 4 consultation with Lebanese authorities on June 1 and concluded that reforms were urgently needed to arrest the “severe and deepening […] June 9, 2023
Banking and Finance Erdogan names ex-Goldman Sachs MD to head central bank President Tayyip Erdogan has appointed Hafize Gaye Erkan, a finance executive in the United States, to head Turkey’s central bank as it prepares to reverse course and tighten policy after years of rate cuts and a simmering cost-of-living crisis. Erkan, former co-CEO at First Republic Bank and managing director at Goldman Sachs, takes the reins […] June 9, 2023
Renewable Energy Denmark’s Orsted to invest $68bn in renewables by 2030 Renewable energy group Orsted will invest 475 billion Danish crowns ($68.3 billion) by 2030 to achieve its goal of 50 gigawatts (GW) of installed power capacity at the end of the decade. The Danish company said the plans were fully self-funded and that it expected to outperform goals set in 2021 for earnings before interest, […] June 8, 2023
Economy Musk and foreign CEOs keep silent during China visits A veritable parade of overseas CEOs including Tesla’s Elon Musk and Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon have made their way to a reopened China in the last few months. One notable common strand: they’ve not talked much in public about their trips which have mostly consisted of meetings with government officials, local staff and business partners. Media events […] June 8, 2023
Banking and Finance Vodafone and Hutchison to announce UK merger soon Vodafone and CK Hutchison are in the final stage of agreeing to merge their British operations, with an announcement expected as soon as Friday or early next week, three sources have told Reuters. Vodafone will own 51 percent and Hutchison 49 percent of the combined group, which could be worth around £15 billion ($18.6 billion) including debt, […] June 8, 2023
Sustainability Fifa blamed for false claims on ‘green’ Qatar World Cup Soccer’s world governing body Fifa made false and misleading statements about the reduced environmental impact of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a Swiss regulator said on Wednesday. The Swiss Fairness Commission, the self-regulatory body of the advertising and communications industry, made its determination after investigating five claims that Zurich-based Fifa marketed the tournament as […] June 8, 2023
Banking and Finance Lira plunges 7% as Turkey edges towards free market Turkey’s lira plunged 7.6 percent to a record low on Wednesday in its biggest selloff since the historic 2021 crash, and traders called it a “strong signal” that Ankara is moving away from state controls toward a freely traded currency. The lira has come under increasing pressure since President Tayyip Erdoğan was re-elected on May […] June 8, 2023
Economy Egypt inflation to climb in May on rising fuel prices Egypt’s urban consumer price inflation rate is likely to climb back towards record highs in May, as higher fuel prices and an increase in ration card and food prices take their toll, a Reuters poll suggested on Tuesday The median forecast of 13 analysts polled showed annual urban consumer inflation climbing to 31.4 percent in […] June 7, 2023
Banking and Finance Egypt finds it tough to raise capital after borrowing spree Egypt faces an increasingly tough task raising cash for foreign debt repayments after external borrowing quadrupled over the past eight years to help fund a new capital, build infrastructure, buy weapons and support an overvalued currency. Few of its grand projects are generating additional hard currency inflows, while foreign investors have added to its woes […] June 7, 2023
Banking and Finance Binance offshore trading firms at heart of US lawsuit Binance said it would “vigorously defend” itself against the SEC charges and that all user assets were “safe and secure.” Two offshore trading firms controlled by Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao lie at the centre of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit launched against the world’s largest crypto exchange, which highlights concerns over […] June 7, 2023
Aviation Airlines seek cooperation to meet ‘tough’ net-zero targets Global airlines called on Tuesday for broad co-operation to reach “very tough” emission targets and pledged to release interim climate targets next year as the industry aims for a goal of net-zero by 2050. Aviation, which produces around two percent of the world’s emissions, is considered one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise and the […] June 7, 2023
Aviation Iata’s Willie Walsh hits out at the EU as ‘anti-aviation’ Airlines took aim at Europe over green fuel mandates and its failures to stem France’s air traffic control strikes as they weigh on carrier capacities at a global airlines meeting in Istanbul on Monday. European regulators have introduced a new mandate demanding airlines use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), an alternative to jet fuel that produces […] June 6, 2023
Banking and Finance Smaller UK firms attractive targets for PE buyouts Even as higher costs of borrowing continue to choke dealmaking, fund managers and bankers believe smaller UK-listed firms remain attractive to private equity players flush with unspent funds of nearly a trillion dollars. Central banks have been battling high prices by hiking borrowing costs for more than a year now and market participants expect the […] June 6, 2023
