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Philippines trims 2023 GDP growth target due to global risks

The Philippines on Monday lowered its economic growth target for 2023, taking into account an anticipated weakening in global activity, but retained its expansion goals for the succeeding five years. The Southeast Asian nation’s economy is now expected to grow 6-7 percent next year, a lower and narrower range compared with the previous official goal […]

China's biggest commercial banks have also lined up at least $162 billion in fresh credit to property developers

China’s property woes fuel risks to financial system, says Moody’s

Risks to the stability of China’s financial system are rising on continued sluggishness in its property sector and an economic slowdown, making smaller banks more vulnerable, rating agency Moody’s said on Friday. China’s property sector has slowed sharply this year after Beijing’s efforts reined in excessive borrowing by developers. The clampdown has triggered falls in […]

Talent-starved technology firms woo ex-Twitter staff

Put off by Elon Musk’s muscular management style? Move to us! That’s the pitch being used by talent-starved technology firms trying to lure thousands of former Twitter Inc employees laid off by the social media company under its new owner. Twitter has fired top executives and enforced steep job cuts with little warning following Musk’s […]

Turkey to clamp down harder on shops charging excessive prices

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he will hold discussions at the next cabinet meeting on adopting heavier measures for supermarkets and stores that charge excessive prices for goods, broadcaster Haberturk reported on Monday. Annual inflation in Turkey is more than 85 percent. Speaking to reporters on his flight back from Qatar, Erdogan said previous fines […]

Ministers deliver statements during the closing plenary at Cop27

Cop27 deal delivers landmark on ‘loss and damage’, but little else

Countries adopted a hard-fought final agreement at the Cop27 climate summit early on Sunday that sets up a fund to help poor countries being battered by climate disasters – but does not boost efforts to tackle the emissions causing them. After tense negotiations that ran through the night, the Egyptian Cop27 presidency released the final […]

A beer bar at the Fifa fan festival in Doha

No alcohol sales at World Cup stadiums after Fifa u-turn

Alcohol will not be sold at Qatar’s World Cup stadiums, Fifa has announced, in a reversal of its previous policy. The statement comes two days before the tournament begins on Sunday. It is the first to be held in a conservative Muslim country with strict controls on alcohol, the consumption of which is banned in […]

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who won Brazil's presidential election in October, is meeting climate envoys and leaders in Egypt

Lula arrives at Cop27 to deliver message that ‘Brazil is back’

Bringing the message that “Brazil is back” in the fight against global warming, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrived at Cop27 in Egypt on Tuesday – his first foreign trip since his presidential election victory. Brazil’s president-elect planned to hold meetings with envoys from Washington and Beijing on Tuesday, an aide said, as he seeks […]

Cop27 sign in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Sticking points slow crunch talks to agree final deal at Cop27

Government ministers and negotiators from nearly 200 countries began working towards a Cop27 final deal on Tuesday, with the summit host Egypt issuing assurances that the slow-moving talks remain on track. On the conference floor in Sharm El Sheikh, however, some delegates have begun to speculate that the UN talks could run over time into […]

People, Person, Press Conference

Biden: US-Asean pact to address ‘biggest issues of our time’

Southeast Asian heads of government held talks on Saturday with visiting global leaders including US president Joe Biden, who hailed the launch of a new US-Asean pact as a critical step towards tackling “the biggest issues of our time”. In his first visit to Southeast Asia as president, Biden said the region was at the […]

There are many ways the financial world can help slow climate change

Decoding Cop27: the many shades of green bonds

Banks, governments and businesses say financial markets can play a crucial role in driving the shift to a lower-carbon world. At the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt, companies and country delegates are discussing ways of enhancing the market for green bonds, or bonds that are linked to projects deemed environmentally beneficial. Green bonds have their […]

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addresses the forest and climate leaders event

Countries band together to keep forest promise

More than 25 countries at the Cop27 climate talks on Monday launched a group they said would ensure they hold each other accountable for a pledge to end deforestation by 2030 and announced billions of dollars to finance their efforts. The first meeting of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, chaired by Ghana and the […]

Leaders pose at the second edition of the summit of the Green Middle East Initiative, held on the sidelines of the Cop27 climate conference, at Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt

What to watch on Tuesday at Cop27

World leaders will take the stage again on Tuesday as the Cop27 climate summit enters its second full day. Among the expected speakers are outspoken advocates for measures to compensate poor, climate-vulnerable countries for damage already being wrought by global warming. They include Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, which was recently hit by devastating […]

Person, Human, Market

Turkey’s inflation hits 24-year high of 85.5% after rate cuts

Turkish annual inflation climbed to a new 24-year high of 85.51 percent in October, official data showed on Thursday, slightly below forecast, after the central bank cut its policy rate despite surging prices. Inflation has surged since last year, when the lira slumped after the central bank began cutting its policy rate in an easing […]

The Aramco IPO raised $30 billion and industry observers believe now is the right time for a second listing that could raise a further $10 billion

Public Investment Fund reports 13% profit hike to $22.8bn

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) reported profit of SAR 85.7 billion ($22.81 billion) in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 13 percent, according to the Saudi Gazette newspaper. The PIF’s revenue rose 27 percent year-on-year to SAR 228.2 billion and profit from associate companies hit SAR 8.6 billion, a 75 percent increase. Its other operating incomes […]

Global bankers fear of stalling economy if rates climb too fast

The world’s top central bankers are beginning to fear that an already weak global economy will stall if they keep pressing on the brakes, unnerved by plunging commodity prices, turmoil in emerging markets and potential flashpoints at home. Central bankers in the euro zone, United States, Canada and Australia have all been hinting that the […]

Musk’s Twitter ownership starts with firing of top executives

Elon Musk became Twitter Inc’s owner on Thursday, firing top executives and providing little clarity over how he will achieve the lofty ambitions he has outlined for the influential social media platform. “The bird is freed,” he tweeted, referencing Twitter’s bird logo in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company have fewer […]

Credit Suisse seeks billions from investors in make-or-break deal

Credit Suisse plans to raise 4 billion Swiss francs ($4 billion) from investors, cut thousands of jobs and shift its focus from investment banking towards rich clients as the bank attempts to put years of scandals behind it, sending its shares sliding. Chairman Axel Lehmann dubbed the plan a “blueprint for success”, but it fell […]

Lebanon banking crisis

IMF confirms $3bn loan for Egypt, as currency hits record low

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday it had agreed a $3 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) over 46 months with Egypt, welcoming a move to “durable exchange rate flexibility” regime and commitments to boosting social protections. Egypt’s currency fell by about 13.5 percent to a record low against the dollar on Thursday, Refinitiv […]

Egypt has been suffering a severe shortage of foreign currency despite a 14.5 percent devaluation on October 27

Egyptian banks follow currency devaluation with high-yield CDs

Egypt’s three biggest state banks on Thursday offered three-year certificates of deposit with a 17.25 percent annual yield, a move designed to absorb liquidity and contain inflation after a devaluation of the currency. The move by National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr (BM) and Banque du Caire followed a 200 basis points rate hike […]