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☆ S&P spares France from rating downgrade
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, June 2 (Reuters) - Ratings agency S&P spared France on Friday the embarrassment of downgrading the country's sovereign debt, but remained cautious about the outlook on account of strained public finances. S&P left the country's AA rating untouched after a regular review and said that the outlook remained negative due to "downside risks to our forecast for France's public finances amid its already elevated general government debt". Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told weekend newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche that S&P's decision to keep its AA rating was a "positive signal" and that the government's public finance strategy was credible. S&P said that potential triggers for a downgrade could come in the form of prolonged economic slowdown or failure to rein in the public finances, notably by leaving public spending high. Le Maire said that "several billion euros" in budget savings would be detailed later this month after a spending review for which he has asked each ministry to identify cutbacks worth 5% of their budget.

Persons: Fitch, Bruno Le Maire, Le Maire, Leigh Thomas, Diane Craft, Will Dunham Organizations: AA, Finance, Thomson Locations: France

EURNOK and inflationGoldman Sachs and UBS said that the rising cost of borrowing would likely support the Norwegian crown. But those daily sales are well down from the 4.3 billion crowns per day the central bank sold in October. "Any budget surplus that was generated from the commodity exports was basically being neutralized by the Norges bank," said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex. Much of the crown's fate could also depend on what the U.S. central bank does. If the Fed stops hiking rates, this would likely boost global equities, which have a strong positive correlation to the Norwegian crown.

☆ Saudi money is flowing to US media and entertainment, from Live Nation to LIV Golf, 5 years after Jamal Khashoggi's murder: 'The ice has thawed'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Sovereign funds and other entities in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE are pouring millions into US media and entertainment. Insider identified some key people connecting Middle East investors with American companies. Saudi Arabia is trying to pitch itself to the world as a cultural and economic reformer and spur tourism. Vince McMahon's WWE has a long-term partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with a major live WWE event there slated for May. Vince McMahon's WWE was one of the first US companies to create unique events in Saudi Arabia.

☆ Leonardo DiCaprio testifies in conspiracy and fraud trial of Fugees rapper Pras Michel
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Leonardo DiCaprio testified in a high-profile trial of Fugees member Pras Michel. Low helped finance the 2013 film "The Wolf of Wall Street" that DiCaprio starred in. Federal prosecutors claim Michel funneled money from Malaysian businessman and fugitive Jho Low to illegally contribute to President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection. "Wow, that's a lot of money," DiCaprio recalled telling Low at the time. Michel faces several charges, including conspiring to make and conceal foreign campaign contributions and witness tampering.

☆ S&P changes Turkey's outlook to 'negative'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 31 (Reuters) - S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook for Turkey to "negative" from "stable" on Friday, citing vulnerabilities from the country's low policy rates, directed lending and regulatory control on its foreign currency positions and interest rates. And a devastating earthquake that hit the country earlier in February is expected to keep inflation elevated in the run-up to the presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14. Turkey's central bank, on Feb. 23, cut its main interest rate to 8.5% to cushion the impact of the earthquake on its economy. "Given Turkey's elevated current account deficits, limited usable reserves, high inflation and reliance on occasional capital inflows, the outlook for the exchange rate remains, at best, uncertain," S&P said in a statement. Reporting by Saikeerthi in Bengaluru, Darren Butler in Ankara; Editing by Shilpi MajumdarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fugees rapper Pras Michel was 'willing to break any laws necessary to get paid' in alleged international fraud scheme, prosecutor said
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The conspiracy and fraud trial of American rapper Pras Michel kicked off on Thursday. Prosecutors alleged that Michel was involved in an international scheme to influence the US government. Michel is accused of working with Malaysian businessman and fugitive Jho Low. "Low had money to burn and the defendant was willing to cash in at any turn," Lockhart said. McMaster, casino mogul Steve Wynn, and actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in the 2013 film "The Wolf Of Wall Street" that Low helped fund.

☆ What credit ratings have to do with the fallout at Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic — and why they matter so much to banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

As panic shoots across the banking sector, US banks' credit ratings have come under the spotlight, and investors are zooming in on how these institutions are graded. Moody's, S&P Global, and Fitch are three big credit ratings agencies that control about 95% of the credit ratings in the financial markets. In fact, during the global financial crisis, credit ratings agencies had been blasted for giving better ratings to risky mortgage-backed securities and collateralized loans. Fears of the crisis spreading have also hit the credit ratings of First Republic Bank. First Republic Bank is now considering various options —including a sale – Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

☆ Boeing sells 78 Dreamliner planes to Saudi airlines
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Leslie Josephs | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Boeing said Tuesday that it has reached a deal to sell 78 of its 787 Dreamliner planes to two Saudi Arabian airlines, the latest large order for the wide-body jets in the past few months. The jetliners will go to Saudi Arabian Airlines, or Saudia, and a new airline, called Riyadh Air, which Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman announced over the weekend. "This will support the country's goal of serving 330 million passengers and attracting 100 million visits by 2030," Riyadh Air said in a news release. In December, United Airlines agreed to buy at least 100 Dreamliners from Boeing and last month, Air India placed an order for 460 Boeing and Airbus planes. Boeing is set to resume deliveries of the Dreamliner planes this week after a weekslong pause resulting from a data analysis issue it disclosed last month.

☆ S&P warns of possible economic blow, hit to Japan Inc from BOJ rate hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Leika Kihara | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - A future Bank of Japan (BOJ) interest rate hike could affect the country's sovereign debt rating if firms struggle to absorb rising funding costs, an official at S&P Global Ratings said on Thursday. Japanese bond yields have crept up on market expectations the BOJ will phase out its yield control policy and start raising interest rates under a new governor who succeeds incumbent Haruhiko Kuroda in April. S&P expects the BOJ to tighten policy only gradually with the near-term impact on the economy likely limited, Tan added. S&P currently assigns an "A+" long-term and "A-1" short-term sovereign debt ratings on Japan. The outlook on the long-term rating is stable.

New Delhi, Jan 27 (Reuters) - India's federal government is likely to keep its gross market borrowing below 16 trillion rupees ($196 billion) for 2023/24 as it does not want to destabilise the bond market with any negative surprises, two sources close to the deliberations said. "Feedback from the market participants is that a borrowing of 15.5-16 trillion rupees can be absorbed well in the next financial year," one of the officials told Reuters. The government has so far raised 12.93 trln rupees up to Jan. 27, which is 91% of the overall gross borrowing target of 14.21 trillion rupees in the 2022/23 fiscal year which ends on March 31. Traders are waiting for the Union budget on Feb. 1, with the government's fiscal consolidation path and its borrowing calendar for fiscal year 2024 set to be the next market-moving trigger. In a Reuters poll, economists forecast the government will borrow a record 16 trillion Indian rupees in the fiscal year to March 2024 on higher infrastructure spending.

☆ Start-up and VC fund to move funds out of Israel over judicial plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Steven Scheer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Jan 26 (Reuters) - An Israeli venture capital fund and a local startup are moving their bank accounts out of Israel, they said on Thursday, as opposition mounts against government plans to overhaul the country's judicial system. This is a painful but necessary business step," said Guez, a vocal critic of the government's judicial plans. Barnoach told the Calcalist financial daily that the reforms are like a "legal coup" that could lead to economic instability. He said his foreign investors are worried and they may not continue to invest in Israel if the reforms pass. An S&P Global Ratings analyst this month told Reuters that Israel's judicial reforms plan could pressure the country's sovereign credit rating.

☆ Indian govt to borrow a record 16 trillion rupees in fiscal 2023/24 - Reuters poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Vivek Mishra | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Gross borrowing next fiscal year is expected to hit 16.0 trillion rupees, up from an estimated 14.2 trillion rupees in 2022/23, according to the median forecast of 43 economists. Predictions were in a narrow range of 14.8 trillion to 17.2 trillion rupees. Even if it is at the lower end of the range, 2023/2024 gross borrowing would easily be the highest on record. Nim estimated repayments for 2023/24 at about 4.4 trillion rupees. India's government will cut food and fertiliser subsidies to 3.7 trillion rupees, more than 25% below the level of around 5 trillion rupees budgeted for 2022/23, the poll found.

Rybnikov, the main credit analyst for Israel, said risks to the country's ratings are currently balanced but that could change. The past year has seen some of the worst violence in the West Bank in years. On Thursday, the pro-settlements Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich met with defence officials to begin transferring some West Bank administration powers over to him, according to a Finance Ministry statement. "Hardline rhetoric that undermines the fragile situation in the West Bank could generate risks as well," Rybnikov said. Rybnikov projects Israel's budget deficit at 2% of gross domestic product this year after a 0.6% surplus in 2022.

☆ Russia pledges to develop more nukes, submarines, and bombers, calling them its main guarantee of sovereignty
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Joshua Zitser | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Russia will continue to develop its nuclear triad, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday. The triad consists of ICBMs, nuclear submarines, and strategic bombers. Shoigu said that Russia will push ahead with the development and maintenance of ballistic missiles, submarines, and strategic bombers, a combination known as a nuclear triad, Reuters reported. Russia's nuclear triad delivery systems are currently in the process of modernization, the non-partisan think tank said. Those modernization efforts include the construction of Borei-class nuclear submarines, the development of a new ICBM, and equipping its air fleet with nuclear cruise missiles.

☆ Australia imposes sanctions on Iran, Russia over human rights violations
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/File PhotoSYDNEY, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Australia's foreign minister on Saturday said the government would place targeted sanctions on Russia and Iran in response to what it said were "egregious" human rights violations. Seven Russians involved in what the foreign minister said was the attempted assassination of former opposition leader Alexei Navalny would also have human rights sanctions imposed on them, she said. In addition to human rights sanctions, Wong said Australia was placing further targeted financial sanctions on three Iranians and one Iranian business for supplying drones to Russia for use against Ukraine. "The supply of drones to Russia is evidence of the role Iran plays in destabilising global security. Australia's previous Liberal-National coalition government first imposed Magnitsky-style sanctions - measures that impose financial penalties and travel bans against individuals - in March against 14 Russian individuals.

RIYADH, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia expects to post a second consecutive budget surplus in 2023, though down 84% from this year as an uncertain global economic outlook and lower crude prices look set to weigh on the top oil exporter's revenues. Spending is slightly lower than 1.132 trillion riyals this year. Revenues are expected at 1.13 trillion riyals, down from 1.234 trillion riyals in 2022 as oil prices are seen falling from this year's high levels. Public debt is seen falling 3.5% to 951 billion riyals next year, or 24.6% of GDP. Government reserves at the Saudi Central Bank are estimated to reach 399 billion riyals at the end of next year, the finance ministry said.

☆ Energy crisis highlights need to broaden renewables' supply chain
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Laila Kearney | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Enel CEO Francesco Starace speaks during the Reuters NEXT Newsmaker event in New York City, New York, U.S., December 1, 2022. REUTERS/Brendan McDermidNEW YORK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The global energy crisis sparked by war in Ukraine has underscored how parts of the renewables supply chain might face similar struggles if not quickly diversified, energy executives told the Reuters NEXT conference this week. "Out of this crisis, you learn that there are many other things that might follow this same pattern," said Francesco Starace, CEO of Italy's Enel (ENEI.MI), speaking at the conference on Thursday in New York. Starace noted how solar panels are produced overwhelmingly in China, saying that, and the manufacture of other energy components critical to transitioning from fossil fuels, are potential problem areas. South Africa, the most industrialized country in Africa, will need to add more than 50,000 megawatts (MW) of new power generation capacity to help meet demand and stabilize its grid, Brian Dames, chief executive officer of African Rainbow Energy & Power, said at a Reuters NEXT panel on Wednesday.

☆ Egypt to build 21 desalination plants in phase 1 of scheme - sovereign fund
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

CAIRO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The first phase of Egypt's plan to develop large-scale water desalination will cover 21 plants with a capacity of 3.3 million cubic metres daily at a cost of $3 billion, the CEO of the country's sovereign fund said on Thursday. Egypt, which recently hosted the COP 27 U.N. climate talks and is trying to boost investment in renewables, aims to start production on its green hydrogen projects in 2025-2026, Soliman told the Reuters NEXT conference. Reporting by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Jan HarveyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Indonesia to set up $2 bln EV fund with China's CATL, CMB International
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JAKARTA, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The Indonesia Investment Authority, the country's sovereign wealth fund, is to set up a green electric vehicle (EV) fund of at least $2 billion with China's battery maker CATL and CMB International, the fund's CEO said on Monday. INA CEO Ridha Wirakusumah then signed an agreement for the partnership with company executives from CATL and CMB International. "With CATL and CMB International as the main partners, we are looking for limited partners to invest in the green EV fund, to seize this EV value chain opportunity primarily in Indonesia," Ridha said. Indonesia is keen to develop its own EV and battery industries at home, after banning exports of nickel ore to ensure supply for investors since 2020. Earlier this year, CATL announced a $6 billion power battery project in Indonesia, in partnership with Indonesian companies.

The company will be a preferred long-term partner for Credit Suisse, the bank has said. Credit Suisse declined to comment beyond Lehmann's remarks Oct. 27 when the bank unveiled the restructuring. The investment bank spin-off and the sale of the securitized products unit to Apollo are key planks of the reorganization. Klein, a 59-year-old former Citigroup rainmaker who runs advisory boutique M. Klein & Co, has been a Credit Suisse board member since 2018. Klein and Credit Suisse also have discussed combining M. Klein & Co into CS First Boston, according to one source familiar with the discussions.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 20 (Reuters) - The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog, starts a two-day meeting in Paris on Thursday and is expected to take up removal of Pakistan from a list of countries under "increased monitoring". In a meeting in June, the FATF said it was keeping Pakistan on the list - also known as the "grey list" - but said it might be removed after an on-site visit to verify progress. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterHere are some key points:WHAT WOULD IT MEAN FOR PAKISTAN? If removed from the list, Pakistan would essentially receive a reputational boost and get a clean bill of health from the international community on terrorist financing. Removal from the FATF list would provide Pakistan a boost after the country's sovereign credit rating was downgraded by Moody's.

☆ India's external buffers sufficient to cushion risks - Fitch Ratings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"India's external buffers appear sufficient to cushion risks associated with rapid monetary policy tightening in the U.S. and high global commodity prices," Fitch said in a release. The ratings agency added that India's public finances remain the key driver of the country's sovereign rating and its limited reliance on external financing helps. The strong cover gives authorities the scope to utilise reserves to smooth over periods of external stress, the rating agency added. Fitch sees India's current account deficit at 3.4% of GDP in the current financial year. "We expect India's current account deficit will be wider in the next few years, than it was in the period prior to the pandemic."

☆ Mali threatens to defend against French sovereignty violations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Its relations with Mali have soured since an August 2020 coup and it is withdrawing troops sent in 2013 to help fight the insurgency. France's representative denied the "defamatory" accusations, defended its intervention in Mali as fully transparent and said the country had never violated any airspace. Other European countries have ended their military involvement in Mali this year, often citing the junta's collaboration with Russian fighters. Islamist militants have since advanced further into eastern Mali, seizing territory and killing hundreds of civilians as thousands more fled. Mali has faced instability since 2012, when Islamist militants hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in the north.

China co-chairs a committee of official bilateral creditors with France as part of a debt restructuring that Zambia is seeking under the Group of 20's Common Framework, a platform for highly indebted countries to rework their debt with bilateral creditors. At the end of 2021, China held about a third of Zambia's $17.27 billion international debt, according to Zambian government data. Musokotwane said negotiating with bilateral creditors including China before private creditors had "worked fairly well", but acknowledged there had been complaints from international investors who hold the country's sovereign bonds. It is now seeking a present value $6.3 billion debt reduction, or 49% of the external debt being restructured. "There is no point of pretending that there is something that is better, when doing so means that you leave Zambia still with an unsustainable debt situation," Musokotwane said.

☆ New Pakistan finance minister vows to tame inflation and cut interest rates
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Pakistan's likely new Finance Minister Ishaq Dar walks upon his arrival at the Nur Khan military airbase in Chaklala, Rawalpindi, Pakistan September 26, 2022. "We will control inflation," Dar told reporters in televised comments after he was sworn in. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"We will bring interest rates down," he said. WRECKED ECONOMYDar, a senior politician in the ruling party of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, flew to Islamabad on Monday night after ending five years in self-exile in London. "I wasn't able to travel for the last four years," he added, describing the legal action against him as political victimisation by the previous government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

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