DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Saudi is a BRIC in crumbling East-West money wall
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MUMBAI, May 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Middle East money is the answer to plugging the growing financial gaps created in Asia by Western investment restrictions, or at least that’s the very wishful thinking of the regions’ financiers and governments. Even if the NDB might have teamed up with Saudi regardless of sanctions on Russia, any deal will be high on symbolism. It makes sense for petrodollar countries to look East given Asia’s growing oil demand. Bankers also want Middle East companies to come and list in Hong Kong as those from elsewhere stay away and economists believe Middle East funds will step up investments into China as global funds retreat. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Cross-border payroll is complicated — and risky. From tax and labor laws to forex and banking regs, here's what you need to know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Sponsor Post | Created Papaya With Insider Studios | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

The challenges and complexities of cross-border payroll paymentsCross-border payroll payments can present several challenges and complexities for employers. Banking systemsSome countries have a less developed banking system, which can make the process of cross-border payroll payments more complex. Cons:Limited acceptance: In some countries, payroll cards may have limited acceptance, making them less attractive as a cross-border payroll payment method. The role of technology in streamlining the process of cross-border payroll paymentsMost payroll companies outsource the delivery of payroll payments. Manage cross-border payroll payments effectivelyAdopting a dedicated technology for global payroll payments — like Papaya Global — can make the process of paying your global workforce faster, smoother, and more reliable.

Persons: paychecks, Banks Organizations: Mastercard, Employers, Global, McKinsey Global, Insider Studios Locations: Canada, New York, India, United States, Belgium

☆ Argentina raises economic defenses against inflation 'onslaught'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Walter Bianchi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BUENOS AIRES, May 15 (Reuters) - Argentina's government is bolstering its economic defenses as it battles runaway inflation that hit 109% in April, fast draining central bank foreign currency reserves, a weakening peso and simmering market fears of a sharp-shock devaluation. The economy ministry announced a package of measures on Sunday including new interest rate hikes, more central bank intervention in currency markets and fast-tracked deals with creditors after inflation overshot all forecasts last week. Investment bank J.P. Morgan said an "onslaught of inflation" had forced the government to take "emergency measures". That's created a dilemma for the government: how to tame inflation and avoid a crash in the currency, while protecting the scarce foreign currency reserves in the bank. "If the BCRA (central bank) speeds up a devaluation, it will be adding more gasoline to the fire.

Medical debt like this is one kind of unsecured debt, which goes away if it isn't covered by the estate. My mother and I laughed bitterly as we sat together at the dinner table, in horrified awe at the absurdity of our essentially being billed for my father's death. Unsecured debts generally remain the property of the deceasedUnsecured loans include most credit card debt, student loans, personal loans, and medical bills. Handling a loved one's debts in the wake of their passing can feel daunting, and even retraumatizing. I discovered in the wake of my father's death just how bureaucratically difficult it is to make the biological fact of a loved one's death a legal one — especially regarding their debts.

BRASILIA/BUENOS AIRES, May 4 (Reuters) - Argentina is seeking new easing of targets in its $44 billion deal with the International Monetary Fund and faster payouts, and is pushing to get key IMF members the United States and Brazil to support it, government officials said. It has ramped up pressure on Argentina and the IMF to revamp the debt program, the largest extended to any country worldwide. The ministry official said backing from the United States and Brazil was key for the IMF talks, and was "positive" about it given the countries' broader support for Argentina's economy. The U.S. Treasury and White House did not comment on record about potential support for Argentina's talks with the IMF. Argentina would need to reach a technical deal with IMF staff before any agreement went to the board for approval.

NEW YORK/LONDON, May 3(Reuters) - Suriname's government and international bondholders reached a deal to restructure nearly $600 million in debt, three sources with knowledge of the deal said on Wednesday. Suriname has two marketable bonds outstanding totaling just under $600 million . Neither the government nor the creditor committee immediately responded to requests for comment on the deal. Last month, the International Monetary Fund said it was working closely with Suriname authorities to bring their financing program back, while looking for progress in government talks with China, a key creditor. The IMF and Suriname engaged in a financing program for nearly $700 million in late 2021, but it stalled after the first review was approved more than a year ago.

☆ IMF says yet to agree date with Egypt for programme review
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Disbursements under the 46-month programme are subject to eight reviews, the first of which was dated March 15, 2023, in an IMF staff report published in December. "Egypt really needs to show some meaningful measures to rebuild confidence and show that the process has started," said Monica Malik of ADCB. "It's better to start the review once there is tangible signs of process with reforms, including on a flexible currency." In its December accord with the IMF, Egypt also promised to sell state assets worth billions of dollars over the next four years. "Egypt has done important reforms over the last few years, and the fund has been very supportive..," Azouri said.

REUTERS/Elizabeth FrantzApril 13 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund is working closely with Suriname authorities to bring their financing program back, while looking for progress in government talks with China, a key creditor, an IMF official said on Thursday. The IMF and Suriname engaged in a financing program for nearly $700 million in late 2021, but it stalled after the first review was approved more than a year ago. "The authorities are here right now, we're having discussions with them," Chalk said, adding that he looks forward for a mission visit soon to "deepen those discussions." "Having some more progress on the debt restructuring talks with China would really help us with the program, and help the country," he said. Reporting by Rodrigo Campos and Jorgelina do Rosario; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Kenya, along with other African frontier market nations, has been frozen out of international capital markets since early last year. However, it expects $250 million from syndicated loans this month and a $1 billion budgetary support loan from the World Bank in May, Njoroge said. "This compensates for the $1.2 billion we couldn't get from the market last year." Njoroge said Kenya is also seeking a new loan under the Fund's Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) to help countries ensure sustainable growth. Stubbornly high inflation that provoked a larger than expected rate hike last month was largely due to high food prices.

Argentina - a serial defaulter which has long battled high inflation, currency weakness and indebtedness - struck a $57 billion deal with the IMF in 2018 to try and fix its economic woes. Those reviews of how Argentina is doing against its economic targets are linked to scheduled disbursements of funds. Failure to meet the targets could stall the program or force the IMF to adjust the targets further. The IMF net reserve targets are the amount Argentina needs to accumulate over time above a baseline of $2.277 billion at the end of 2021. "That will make it hard to meet the IMF's (downwardly revised) FX reserve target and increases the risk of a disorderly devaluation."

[1/5] A general view of a main market is seen, after The International Monetary Fund's executive board approved a $3 billion, in Colombo, Sri Lanka March 21, 2023. REUTERS/Dinuka LiyanawatteCOLOMBO, March 21 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka will receive the first tranche of about $330 million from the International Monetary Fund in the next two days, and, going forward, disbursements would be tied to reviews that take place every six months, an IMF official said on Tuesday. Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka, Asia and Pacific Department at IMF, said debt sustainability was one of the key criteria for the IMF to approve a bailout for any economy. International dollar bonds issued by the country soared following the IMF package approval. The biggest bilateral creditors, including China, India and Japan, have guaranteed support to Sri Lanka in its efforts to put the economy back on track.

☆ Here’s how payment players have fared post-SVB
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Affirm said SVB was neither a funding partner nor an originating bank partner, and that large banks held the majority of its operating accounts. While it initially paused disbursements to merchants that had SVB accounts, it later resumed those transactions. While it initially paused disbursements to merchants that had SVB accounts, it later resumed those transactions. Issues with payment processing , accessing capital, and cryptocurrency implications emerged in the wake of SVB’s collapse. However, many are still getting the cold shoulder from those large banks, and their account opening times can be longer than startup-focused lenders.

☆ Long-awaited Fed digital payment system to launch in July
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Federal Reserve's digital payments system, which it promises will help speed up the way money moves around the world, will debut in July. FedNow, as it will be known, will create "a leading-edge payments system that is resilient, adaptive, and accessible," said Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin, who is the program's executive sponsor. Participants will complete a training and certification process in early April, according to a Fed announcement. Institutions that participate in the program will have seven-day, 24-hour access, as opposed to a system currently in place that closes on weekends. Some Fed officials say the program even could supplant the need for a central bank digital currency.

☆ Tiny homes, big problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Alex Nicoll | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Beyond their star appeal, low-cost tiny homes like Casitas have real-world utility. The homes have been seized upon as a solution for cities like Los Angeles to house the homeless. They showed off their homes' transportability by hitching several of them to a Tesla and filming drag races between Teslas and trucks that were hooked to trailers carrying the homes. So far, though, after a little more than a year of building, the company has fabricated only about 400 homes. Even if it were churning out thousands of units, Boxabl hasn't yet received the certifications required to sell them in most states across the country.

The bank raised its standing deposit facility rate and standing lending facility rate by 100 basis points each to 15.50% and 16.50%, respectively, it said in a statement. The country is awaiting approval of a $2.9 billion IMF bailout package as it endures its worst financial crisis since independence from Britain in 1948. The central bank raised rates by a record 950 basis points last year to tame inflation and then kept them steady until Friday's 100 basis point increase. "There have been some differences between the CBSL and IMF staff on the inflation outlook," the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said in its statement. But depends on whether the market reads this as positive for getting IMF (bailout) in March."

☆ Analysis: Cash-strapped countries face IMF bailout delays as debt talks drag on
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

IMF funding is often the sole financial lifeline available to countries in a debt crunch, and key to unlocking other financing sources, with delays putting pressure on government finances, companies and populations. Though staff agreements can be reached without financing assurances, the IMF board needs them to approve the programme. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday the country is willing to "constructively" participate in solving debt problems of relevant countries under a multilateral framework. But Beijing has always emphasised all creditors should follow the principle of "joint action, fair burden" in debt settlements. Adding another layer of complexity to these debt talks, the Common Framework doesn't lay out precise rules on how a debt restructuring with bilateral creditors should work.

☆ Swiss-based trust holds second meeting to discuss plans for Afghan funds -trustee
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Charlotte Greenfield | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The frozen central bank reserves were transferred from Washington into the "Fund for the Afghan People" last year where U.S. officials say it will be shielded from the Taliban. Trustee Shah Mehrabi, a U.S. academic who also remains on the Afghan central bank's Supreme Council, said a meeting of the four trustees was held virtually on Feb. 16. "The issue of disbursements of funds and the options for that was discussed," Mehrabi told Reuters. "The idea clearly here is the necessary steps to disburse funds and potential options for achieving monetary stability." Mehrabi said he believed the funds should only be used for achieving monetary stability and reducing volatility in Afghanistan's exchange rate.

☆ Beijing plans to hand out $6 a month to low-income families to help offset the cost of food. The amount will just about buy 2 Big Macs.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Beijing is planning to give nearly $6 a month in subsidies to the city's low-income residents. The $6 a month subsidy triggered many Chinese social media users who say it's too little. But it's facing online backlash that the amount — which just about buys two Big Macs in China — is too low. Several users said the subsidy should be 40 yuan a day instead of a month, which would translate to roughly 1,200 yuan — or about $175 — a month. Despite general skepticism over how far 40 yuan can go in the Chinese capital, at least one user said it's a good start that should be emulated by other local governments.

☆ FEC tells George Santos to name campaign treasurer or face ban on fundraising and spending
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

It added that campaigns are required to appoint a new treasurer within 10 days of the previous treasurer's resignation. That same day, the campaign filed an amended form listing Thomas Datwyler as its new treasurer. In a year-end report filed Jan. 31, the Santos campaign listed as its treasurer a person named Andrew Olson. Currently, the FEC lists Santos as his campaign's own treasurer. The FEC's latest notice adds to the pile of questions surrounding Santos' campaign conduct — including whether he plans to seek reelection.

☆ Ghana bilateral lenders in talks to form official creditor committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Ghana's bilateral lenders are discussing the formation of an official creditor committee, a first step needed to engage in debt relief talks for the crisis-hit country, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The Paris Club of creditor nations has contacted other bilateral creditors, such as China, to engage on forming the committee and deciding who would chair it, one of the sources said. China is Ghana's single biggest bilateral creditor with $1.7 billion of debt, while Ghana owes $1.9 billion to Paris Club members, according to data from the International Institute of Finance. COMMON FRAMEWORK TALKSAn official creditor committee is a key step for Ghana to formally seek financing assurances from bilateral creditors stating they are willing to enter a debt rework process. Ghana has said it hopes for a rapid debt overhaul, though other countries undergoing common framework treatment have faced slow progress.

☆ Paris Club creditors give assurances to back IMF bailout for Sri Lanka
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A woman buys vegetables from a vendor at a market in the rampant food inflation, amid Sri Lanka's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 30 , 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonFeb 7 (Reuters) - The Paris Club of creditors has given financing assurances to support the International Monetary Fund's approval of an extended fund facility for Sri Lanka, the Sri Lankan president's office said on Tuesday. The financing assurances from the Paris Club, which includes Japan - Sri Lanka's second biggest bilateral lender - was previously reported by Reuters. "Members further expressed appreciation for the specific and credible financing assurances issued by India on Jan. 16, 2023 and its coordination with the Paris Club," the group's statement added. Sri Lanka has to restructure debt payments of about $13 billion on 11 international bonds.

"I can't imagine Pakistan not going on a back-to-back IMF programme." Pakistan's debt problemsPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s main election challenger is former cricket star Imran Khan, who was removed from the job last April but retains popularity. "There is just a long-term indebtedness problem," said Jeff Grills, the head of emerging markets debt at Aegon Asset Management, who held Pakistan bonds until the floods hit. Most of Pakistan's bonds are still trading at less than half their face value. Reuters GraphicsDIFFICULT TIMESSuch a restructuring of Pakistan's bonds would represent its first international default since 1999, according to the Bank of Canada-Bank of England Sovereign Default Database.

☆ Kanye West paid white nationalist Nick Fuentes nearly $15,000 out of his 2020 campaign funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kanye West paid nearly $15,000 to white nationalist Nick Fuentes, per campaign finance records. Fuentes traveled with West to meet with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. A new filing from the occasional rapper's presidential campaign shows those relationships have not come cheap. West's campaign also made payments to another far-right provocateur, Milo Yiannopoulous. According to campaign records, Yiannopoulous pocketed nearly $50,000 from the West campaign: $9,955 for a "Domain Transfer," dated the same day as the meeting with Trump, and $40,000 in mid-December for "Campaign Wrap Up Services."

☆ Sri Lanka economy could shrink by -3.5% to -4%, president says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

COLOMBO, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's economy could contract by -3.5 or -4.0% in 2023 after shrinking -11% last year, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Saturday. "From 2024, we will take this economy to positive growth. Speaking at a religious event, he said: "The growth rate of the economy in 2022 was -11% and could be -3.5 or -4.0% this year." "No one can prevent the country from falling into crisis again similar to May and June last year," Wickremesinghe said. Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe; writing by Rupam Jain; editing by Jason Neely and Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The currency's official value closed at 255.4 rupees against the dollar versus 230.9 on Wednesday, the central bank said. Facing an increasingly acute balance of payments crisis, Pakistan is desperate to secure external financing, with less than three weeks worth of import cover in its foreign exchange reserves. Aside from wanting the government to reduce its budget deficit, the IMF is pushing for it to move to a market-determined exchange rate regime. The foreign exchange companies said on Wednesday that they had removed the cap for the sake of the country, because it was causing "artificial" distortions for the economy. Aside from moving towards a market-determined exchange rate, Islamabad has also announced it will take fiscal measures recommended by the IMF.

Search resuls for: "disbursements"

25 mentions found