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Oceania

Chevron's Wheatstone LNG terminal in Western Australia. Workers have walked off the job in a dispute over pay and other issues

LNG exporters to benefit from Australian strike

Strike action by Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) workers will offer rival producers in the Gulf the opportunity to gain long-term market share, especially in Asia and Europe, as pressure is put on already tight global supplies. Hundreds of workers at Chevron’s Wheatstone and Gorgon LNG facilities in western Australia downed tools on Friday after […]

Australia exports economy

Exports support Australian economy to beat estimates

Australia’s economy expanded by more than expected in the second quarter, driven by exports and public investment, while household consumption remained weak as decade-high interest rates worked to cool demand. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed real gross domestic product (GDP) rose 0.4 percent in the second quarter, slightly beating forecasts […]

Damien O’Connor, New Zealand’s minister of trade and export growth and Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign trade

UAE and New Zealand plan Cepa to build non-oil trade

When Auckland-based startup Exsurgo joined the Hub71 technology park in Abu Dhabi it was a potential sign of things to come in the UAE-New Zealand trade relationship. Exsurgo has raised $10.5 million and aims to provide non-pharmaceutical treatments for neurological conditions through the use of neuroscience and data analytics. Last week, two months after Exsurgo’s […]

Australia to invest $164m in critical minerals sector

Australia’s resource-rich state of Queensland on Tuesday said it would spend A$245 million ($164 million) to help expand its critical minerals sector, and take steps to lure investments and cut rents on mining exploration leases. Australia has ramped up funding for critical minerals projects, which are essential to smart technology and clean energy. But the […]

Crowd, Person, Adult

Century-old Qantas picks its first female CEO

Australia’s flagship carrier, Qantas Airways Ltd, has named finance chief Vanessa Hudson as its next chief executive officer, making her the first woman to lead the century-old airline. In November, Hudson will take over from Alan Joyce, whose 15 years in the job has made him the longest-serving current CEO of a major Australian company, […]

Australia’s budget set to help offset high living costs

Australia’s Labor government is set to reveal a vast improvement in the budget bottom line next week as its coffers bulge with tax windfalls, yet the outlook will be a sober one as fiscal challenges loom large. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has spent weeks using “restraint” and “responsible” to describe his second budget since coming to […]

Crowd, Person, Adult

New Zealand says it is committed to reducing spending

The New Zealand government is committed to reducing spending even though severe weather events earlier this year caused asset damage of roughly NZ$9 billion ($5.51 billion) to NZ$14.5 billion, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said. New Zealand was hit by flash floods in the country’s largest city of Auckland in January followed by Cyclone Gabrielle, which […]

Australia raises rates to highest in more than a decade

Australia’s central bank raised its cash rate 25 basis points to the highest in more than a decade at 3.60 percent on Tuesday and said it expects further tightening will be needed to curb inflation. Wrapping up its March policy meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) said wages growth was still consistent with the […]

GQG founder to meet Australian investors after Adani investment

GQG Partners Inc founder Rajiv Jain will meet clients and investors in Australia this week, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, and will explain its investment into embattled Indian Adani group. GQG Partners bought shares worth $1.87 billion in four Adani group companies, marking the first major investment in the Indian conglomerate since […]

City, Urban, Cityscape

Sydney house prices edge up for second week after long decline

Housing prices in Sydney nudged higher for a second straight week, industry data showed on Monday, a possible sign that the market could be bottoming out after an almost year-long downturn. Prices in Australia’s most populous city rose 0.1 percent last week from the previous week, when values also climbed 0.1 percent, figures from property […]

Jacinda Ardern to step down as New Zealand leader

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday made a shock announcement she had “no more in the tank” to continue leading the country and would step down no later than early February and not seek re-election. Ardern, holding back tears, said that it had been a tough five and a half years as prime minister and […]

Global oil demand to reach record high this year, IEA says

Global oil demand is forecast to hit an all-time high in 2023 as China relaxes its Covid restrictions, potentially pushing up prices in the second half of this year, according to the latest report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).  The IEA said global oil demand is set to rise by 1.9 million barrels per […]

Plenary have opened their second office in the UAE

Australian titan grows public-private partnerships in Gulf

Plenary Group, the Australia-based investor, developer and manager of public infrastructure with assets under management worth more than $45 billion, is expanding its Middle East operations and has projects in the UAE and Bahrain in its sights. The company has opened its second office in the UAE, in Dubai, just months after launching in Abu […]

Finger, Person, Hand

Australia central bank raises rates to 10-year high

Australia’s central bank on Tuesday raised interest rates to a 10-year high and stuck with its projection that more hikes are needed, a stance taken as slightly hawkish by markets that were looking for signs of a pause in the near term. Wrapping up its last policy meeting this year, the Reserve Bank of Australia […]

New Zealand faces ‘shallow’ recession as rates need to rise

New Zealand is likely facing a “shallow” recession as interest rates need to rise further to tame inflation, a top central banker said on Monday, suggesting that a pause in the policy tightening streak was still a distant prospect. In an interview, Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) assistant governor Karen Silk said the central […]

Saudi Arabia plans to award over dozen mining exploration licences

Saudi Arabia plans to award over a dozen mining exploration licences to international investors as it looks to enter the mining sector in a big way to diversify away from hydrocarbons, mining minister Bandar Al-Khorayef said on Wednesday. Five new exploration sites are up for licensing and the kingdom will release details of an additional […]

Australia’s central bank says hikes could slow at some point

Australia’s central bank is set on raising interest rates again as it battles to contain red-hot inflation, but sees a case for slowing the pace of hikes as policy settings approached more normal levels. Minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) September Board meeting out on Tuesday reiterated that policy was not on a […]

Tie, Accessories, Accessory

New Zealand wants rates above ‘neutral’ to tame inflation

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Deputy Governor Christian Hawkesby said on Monday that policymakers want rates to be “comfortably above neutral” to help lower core inflation. Hawkesby told Reuters in a phone interview the RBNZ had “certainly considered 25 or 75” basis point increases last week before ultimately deciding to raise the cash rate by […]

New Zealand aims to attract 12,000 overseas workers

New Zealand will make temporary changes to immigration rules, a minister said on Sunday, aiming to lure 12,000 workers over the next year with a working holiday scheme designed to fill labour gaps as businesses scramble to find staff. The jostling for workers is part of a global trend that has helped push up wages […]

City, Town, Urban

New Zealand central bank does not expect recession

Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Adrian Orr said on Wednesday that while growth would slow he did not expect a recession, adding that the central bank believed it was on top of inflation, which has hit three-decade highs. “Through our projection period ahead, while we do not forecast a recession … we do forecast […]