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☆ EU's lending arm to explore climate emergency repayment pause clauses
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"The EIB is exploring ways to scale up climate finance," it said in a statement on Friday at an international summit being held in Paris. EIB Global, the arm of the bank that lends outside the EU, invests around 10 billion euros ($10.87 billion) a year. It is estimated that roughly half of that money goes to countries that could be eligble for the new clauses. "We know that more climate disasters are coming," Maria Shaw-Barragan, a Director of Lending the bank told Reuters. "So it makes sense for the MDBs, and bilateral lenders, to include these clauses in order to give countries some breathing space."

Persons: Maria Shaw, Barragan, Marc Jones, Mark Heinrich, Louise Heavens Organizations: European Investment, LONDON, European Investment Bank, World Bank, EIB, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Paris

☆ Smaller-than-expected Turkey rate hike hits lira, bonds
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 22 (Reuters) - Turkey's new central bank governor Hafize Gaye Erkan delivered a smaller-than-expected interest rate hike at her first rate meeting on Thursday, sending the lira and the country's dollar-denominated sovereign bonds sharply lower. The bank lifted its key rate 650 basis points to 15% compared to the median of 21% expected in a Reuters poll. "On the other hand they are promising more tightening ahead... so you have to give them the benefit of the doubt." "I am more worried about the medium-term outlook which is likely to see further lira depreciation. TIM ASH, EM SENIOR SOVEREIGN STRATEGIST, BLUEBAY ASSET MANAGEMENT"Ouch - disappointing.

Persons: Hafize Gaye Erkan, PIOTR MATYS, Erkan, Erdogan, PETER KISLER, JON HARRISON, Amruta Khandekar, Ali Kucukgocmen, Marc Jones, Libby George, Karin Strohecker, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Thomson

☆ Telecoms firm Veon to invest $600 mln in mobile unit Kyivstar
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) - Telecoms company Veon (VON.AS) said on Wednesday it would invest $600 million in the infrastructure of its Ukrainian subsidiary Kyivstar, the war-ravaged country's largest mobile network. The Amsterdam-listed company said the funds would help upgrade the mobile operator's infrastructure, including improving connectivity and 4G services throughout Ukraine. The country has seen much of its mobile infrastructure hit by Russian rocket attacks. Kyivstar's technical teams have performed nearly 150,000 repairs since Russia invaded last year, Veon said, adding it ensured that 93% of the network is operational. Kyivstar has lost around 7% of its active customer base - or roughly 1.7 million subscribers - since the war started last February.

Persons: Veon, Oleksandr Komarov, Kyivstar, Komarov, Aleksander Torbakhov, Olivier Sorgho, Clarence Fernandez, Sherry Jacob, Phillips, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Amsterdam, Ukraine, Russian, Russia, London

☆ Turkish central bank to hike rates sharply in post-election pivot
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Ali Kucukgocmen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

But the level remains uncertain as the central bank has not given any signals as to its next steps, including the size or pace of potential hikes. Some economists have expressed doubt about Erdogan's commitment to abandoning his unorthodox policy of low rates, which led the central bank to slash its policy rate from 19% in 2021 to 8.5% currently. The median estimate for the policy rate at end-2023 was 30%, with forecasts ranging from 18% to 35%. He named Naci Agbal as central bank governor in Nov. 2020 but, after some sharp rate hikes, replaced him less than five months later. The central bank is scheduled to announce its rate decision at 1100 GMT on Thursday.

Persons: Murad Sezer, Tayyip Erdogan, Hafize Gaye Erkan, Malek Drimal, Erdogan, Mehmet Simsek, Moody's, Naci, Simsek, Ali Kucukgocmen, Marc Jones, Jonathan Spicer, Daren Butler, Christina Fincher Organizations: REUTERS, Societe Generale, stoke, Thomson Locations: Istanbul, Turkey, ISTANBUL

☆ Pharrell Williams stages Louis Vuitton debut on Pont Neuf
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Designer Pharrell Williams appears at the end of his Menswear ready-to-wear Spring/Summer 2024 collection show for fashion house Louis Vuitton, on the Pont Neuf bridge, during Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, June 20, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesPARIS, June 20 (Reuters) - For his debut collection at Louis Vuitton, Pharrell Williams drew his global audience to the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris, kicking off his tenure as creative director of menswear with a celebrity-packed outdoor show that further anchored the LVMH-owned (LVMH.PA) label in popular culture. Abloh had been the industry's highest profile Black designer, credited with forging a place for street style and loose skateboard looks in high-end fashion. Williams was first introduced to the Arnault clan in a collaboration to design sunglasses with Louis Vuitton designer Marc Jacobs in 2004. Williams' appointment raised eyebrows despite his extensive fashion experience, including founding streetwear brands with Japanese designer Nigo and designing capsule collections at Chanel.

Persons: Pharrell Williams, Louis Vuitton, Gonzalo Fuentes PARIS, strode, Williams, Virgil Abloh, Abloh, Virgil, Bernard Arnault, Arnault, Marc Jacobs, Nigo, Erwan Rambourg, Robert Schramm, Fuchs, Janus Henderson, Schramm, Mimosa Spencer, Helen Reid, Vanessa O'Connell, Richard Chang Organizations: REUTERS, Louis, LVMH, Chanel, Juilliard, HSBC, Thomson Locations: Pont, Paris, France, American, LVMH

Equities trading was choppy on Wednesday after the Fed signaled it could follow its June pause with two more rate increases this year. But by Thursday afternoon the S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq had rallied to 14-month highs on upbeat economic data. Higher jobless claims helped fuel bets that the Fed would not follow through with more rate hikes. "It's almost like a sweet spot," Tunkel said, also pointing to Chinese data boosting energy stocks and oil prices. Gold prices rose from a three-month low as the dollar and bond yields fell after U.S. economic data, although worries over more Fed rate hikes capped gains.

Persons: Irene Tunkel, Tunkel, Brendan McDermid, Sterling, Brent, Sinéad Carew, Marc Jones, Tom Westbrook, Mark Potter, Alexander Smith, Richard Chang Organizations: LONDON, European Central Bank, Federal Reserve, Nasdaq, BCA Research, Dow Jones, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Treasury, Reuters, Thomson Locations: U.S, New York City, China, New York, London, Singapore

☆ Hundreds of Protestants attended a sermon in Nuremberg given by ChatGPT, which told them not to fear death
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hundreds of protestants gathered in Nuremberg, Germany to hear a sermon written by ChatGPT. Multiple avatars controlled by ChatGPT delivered the sermon on a huge screen above the altar. During the sermon, ChatGPT told the congregation not to fear death. The 40-minute service — including the sermon, prayers and music — was created by ChatGPT] and Jonas Simmerlein, a theologian and philosopher from the University of Vienna. The entire service was "led" by four different avatars on the screen, two young women, and two young men.

Persons: ChatGPT, chatbot, —, Jonas Simmerlein, Heiderose Schmidt, Schmidt, Marc Jansen, Paul, Jansen Organizations: University of Vienna, Associated Press Locations: Nuremberg, Germany, Paul's, Bavarian, Fuerth, Troisdorf, German, Cologne

☆ Natural evolution: Record Galapagos deal sparks clamour for eco-friendly debt swaps
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The growing appetite comes as record numbers of developing world governments face debt pressures due to higher global interest rates. There have been around 140 over the past 35 years, but even including last month's super-sized Galapagos deal they have only involved around $5 billion of debt altogether. The top-level attendees will be urged to do more, not only debt swaps, but also by providing foreign exchange guarantees and automatic debt-payment breaks for countries hit by climate-related disasters. "Seeing something that has a group of countries involved would be amazing," Issa said. Ecuador says it is eyeing another transaction to capitalise on the halo effect from the Galapagos deal.

Persons: Ramzi Issa, Charles Darwin's, Issa, Ilan Goldfajn, Scott Nathan, Nathan, Emmanuel Macron, Mia Mottley, Suisse's Issa, Simon Jessop, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Ecuador, Credit Suisse, Inter, American Development Bank, U.S . International Development Finance Corporation, Reuters Graphics, Thomson Locations: Ecuador, Belize, Barbados, Gabon, Paris, Sri Lanka, Indian, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania, Seychelles

☆ Mysterious Covid-19 lineages in US sewers could offer clues to chronic infections
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( Deidre Mcphillips | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

One possible explanation for these “cryptic lineages” is that they can be traced back to people who have been living with a chronic – and serious – Covid-19 infection for years. In a recent preprint study, about two dozen researchers set out to understand the origin of these cryptic lineages by closely examining the evolution of one from Wisconsin. Right now, the cryptic lineages do not pose a public health threat, she said. Wastewater surveillance is inherently messy, and lots of factors can interfere with interpretation of the data, she said. Johnson says that people with chronic infections that could be behind these cryptic lineages might have unexplained symptoms.

Persons: Marc Johnson, Johnson, it’s, ”, Amy Kirby, ” Kirby, ” Johnson, We’ve, IE2GB6CwPO — Marc Johnson, “ Don’t, “ I’m Organizations: CNN, University of Missouri, US Centers for Disease Control, Surveillance, Kirby, Washington Court House Locations: United States, Wisconsin, Ohio, Columbus, Washington

☆ TRYing times: The slide and fall of the Turkish lira
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The central bank is however widely expected to get a new head in the coming days. Turkey's economy is no stranger to boom-and-bust cycles, oscillating between double-digit growth and contraction rates in recent years. 3/INFLATION PALPITATIONSA tumbling lira will fan fears over a fresh spike in inflation in the country which only last year saw it top 80%. "It's just so inevitable," Abrdn's head of local currency emerging market debt, Kieren Curtis, said referring to the lira's slump this week. He did add however that the compensation would be paid to depositors in lira rather than dollars or euros and that bill would be split between the Treasury and Central Bank.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Ulrich Leuchtmann, Hasnain Malik, Erdogan, Tellimer's Malik, Kieren Curtis, Frank Gill, Tayyip Erdogan's, Karin Strohecker, David Evans Organizations: Wall, JPMorgan, FX, Reuters Graphics Reuters, International Monetary Fund, P Global, Treasury, Central Bank, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Ankara, Turkey, Commerzbank, Frankfurt, Tellimer

The S&P 500 index (.SPX) rose 0.2%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) added 0.12%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) climbed 0.28%. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) rose 0.37%, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was little changed. With major share markets all in the black, investors might think that stocks are set to rise further. Government bond yields - a proxy for borrowing rates - eased earlier after a European Central Bank (ECB) survey showed euro zone consumers had lowered their inflation expectations. Australia's central bank hiked rates by a quarter-point to 4.1% - an 11-year high - and warned that further increases might be required to ensure inflation is brought back under control.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, James Rossiter, Bitcoin, Nansen, Brent, Nell Mackenzie, Marc Jones, Dhara Ranasinghe, Mark Potter Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Fed, ECB, SEC, Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Bank of America Securities, Treasury, European Central Bank, Canada, Securities Senior Global, U.S . Federal Reserve, Bank of, Aussie, Reserve Bank of, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, U.S, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Asia, Pacific, Japan, Government, Australia's, Bank of Japan, Reserve Bank of Australia, Binance, Saudi Arabia

Tens of billions of dollars of FX and gold reserves have been used up - another sign of systematic micro-management. Depositors have put some $33 billion into depreciation-protected bank accounts in the last two months, bringing the total to $121 billion - almost a quarter of all Turkish deposits. Benchmark international market bonds have fallen back 10%-15% and key FX market volatility gauges that look a year or more ahead have hit record highs. Eyes are now on the FX reserves and the lira as it surpasses 20 to the dollar, the latest major milestone in its long descent. "These weren't seen as cheap assets, they were seen as jewels," MIT's Acemoglu said of the M&A banking boom heyday.

It would see the IMF and other MDBs "cut the excessive macro-risk premia on developing countries with $100 billion per year of foreign exchange guarantees", for financing in more volatile domestic currencies rather than the dollar or euro. A report by the World Bank and other big multilateral lenders said they gave $51 billion in 2021 alongside $13 billion from private finance. Outlines of the proposals have been sent to the key groups preparing the discussions over the last couple of weeks. "This is a call to arms" the source said, referring to the document and its intention to galvanise more concrete action from the IMF and multilateral lenders. The proposals put forward in the April document, which also include redistributing other IMF money, are likely to form a key part of the negotiating position of developing countries at the next round of annual climate talks in Dubai later this year.

☆ Inflation fight risks central banks' credibility and autonomy, BIS warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - The credibility and independence of central banks around the world is at risk if stubbornly-high global inflation rates are not bought under control, the head of the Bank for International Settlements has warned. Speaking in Brazil, Agustín Carstens, the bank's general manager, said a tough response to inflation was fundamental for maintaining trust in central banks' ability to keep economies on an even keel. "Otherwise, the credibility of monetary policy, and the autonomous central banks responsible for implementing it, will be called into question." Turning back to the inflation battle, he said the process could run into obstacles, particularly as policymakers try to get it back to their preferred sweet spot, which is around 2% for the Fed and other major central banks. "Over the coming years, monetary policy should focus squarely on bringing inflation back to levels consistent with central bank objectives".

☆ ECB must continue inflation fight 'with determination', Schnabel says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank must continue its fight to tame inflation "with determination" because wages are rising, fiscal policy is too generous and inflation expectations remain too high, ECB board member Isabel Schnabel said on Friday. Their comments came against a backdrop of concerns about fallout on the financial system from an abrupt series of ECB rate hikes and speculation about a pause in tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve. "This is why it's so important that we show strong determination to bring inflation back to 2%," she told an event in London. But Schnabel said the ECB should go on "raising rates to a sufficiently restrictive level and keeping them at that level for as long as necessary". At the same time it had "the tools to provide liquidity to the euro area financial system, if needed to preserve financial stability", she added.

☆ Turkey's market rout deepens after Erdogan's strong election showing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Libgeorge Canan Sevgili | Canan Sevgili | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Ahead of the elections, opinion polls had showed Kilicdaroglu in the lead, and investors expected him to scrap some of Erdogan's economic policies, including costly efforts to prop up the lira currency. Longer-dated, dollar-denominated government bonds saw the biggest falls in fixed income markets, although key corporate and banking sector bonds also edged lower. Credit ratings agency Fitch said the political and economic uncertainty would continue at least until after the runoff. Banking stocks, which had surged in the week ahead of the election on hopes of a policy change, tumbled another 8% (.XBANK) to take their losses since the election to nearly 20%. The overall Istanbul bourse index (.XU100), which had notched a 6.1% fall on Monday, its largest daily percentage drop since early February, was mostly flat.

☆ Analysis: Erdogan election showing cools Turkish turnaround hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Hopes among investors of a surge in Turkish markets evaporated on Monday after long-standing President Tayyip Erdogan took a commanding position in Turkey's elections. "Hope is dead," Abrdn's head of emerging market local currency debt Kieran Curtis said of the prospects for Erdogan's main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu and meaningful policy change. Monday's initial market reaction had seen the Turkish lira dip to 2-month low alongside more pronounced drops in banking shares and hard currency government bonds. "A continuity of policies would argue for low FX volatility," JPMorgan added, as Erdogan's economic team would look to limit the changes and FX volatility. Reuters GraphicsAdditional reporting by Libby George and Karin Strohecker; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: North Africa backslides toward swirling debt troubles
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Making debt payments could become almost impossible. EGYPTEgypt's finances also look stretched despite it securing a $3 billion IMF rescue plan in December. The rating agency, which downgraded Egypt's credit rating again on Friday, highlights that only default-stricken Sri Lanka would need to pay more. "It would not be immaterial if it were to default" Ross said about the impact on global money managers. "These very wealthy Gulf countries have generally enhanced financial stability in the region," via their support he added.

LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Ecuador sealed the world's largest "debt-for-nature" swap on record on Tuesday, selling a new "blue bond" that will funnel at least $12 million a year into conservation of the Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most precious ecosystems. Tuesday's $656 million "Galapagos Bond," as it has been dubbed, will run until 2041 and gave investors that bought it a 5.645% "coupon" or interest rate, its bankers said. Ecuador sovereign bonds currently yield from 17% to 26%, but the new bond has an $85 million 'credit guarantee' from the Inter-American Development Bank and $656 million of political risk insurance from the U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC), effectively making it less risky. The driver has been the remote Galapagos Islands, some 600 miles (970 km) off Ecuador's mainland coast, that inspired Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Scott Nathan, the chief executive of DFC, said people needed to "stay tuned" for similar deals in other countries and the Galapagos deal had been a long time coming.

☆ This is what you need to know about ultra-cheap Chinese shopping app Temu, which sells a huge variety of weird things — and has some wondering if it's for real
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Grace Dean | Mary Hanbury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

It's listed as the top free app in both the Google Play store and the Apple App Store, ahead of TikTok, Amazon, and Instagram. These cost savings can then be passed on to the consumer, a spokesperson for Temu told Insider. But for the average North American shopper, such low prices can actually be disconcerting, especially when they don't know much about Temu. A spokesperson for Temu told Insider that it uses its parent company's supply chain and logistics network to ship these items. Read more: I ordered my first 4 items off Chinese e-commerce app Temu and came away annoyed with the dozens of marketing emails sent after making a single purchase

☆ Kim Kardashian wears lustrous Lagerfeld tribute to Met Gala
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —As a nod to late designer Karl Lagerfeld’s penchant for pearls, Kim Kardashian’s Met Gala look was drenched in them. So we wanted to just be dripping in pearls,” Kardashian said of her custom Schiaparelli ensemble on Vogue’s livestream from the red carpet in New York Monday night. Her 2021 Met Gala look wasn’t any less provocative; she wore a “faceless” Balenciaga gown that completely covered her in black from head to toe. Kylie wore a bright red custom Jean Paul Gaultier gown under an oversized red and baby blue coat, both pieces from designer Haider Ackermann. From left: Kendall Jenner, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner attend the Met Gala in New York City on May 1.

☆ The Met Gala Was Just the Start. Welcome to the After-Parties.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Jacob Bernstein | Sadiba Hasan | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Florence Pugh, her head newly shaved, stood at the bar in the front room. Ms. Lipa was at the front of a narrow, packed dance floor, dancing in an outfit adorned with pearls. The singer Juan Luis Londoño Arias, who performs as Maluma, was on the balcony, flashing peace signs to the crowd below. Paris Hilton swayed from side to side, eyes hidden behind white sunglasses, with Marc Jacobs at her side. Mary J. Blige stood next to Mr. Combs as he played emcee.

☆ Ecuador launches debt buyback plan aimed at Galapagos protection
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] A pelican is seen on Santa Cruz Island, part of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. REUTERS/Santiago ArcosLONDON, April 26 (Reuters) - Ecuador has launched a long-awaited debt buyback plan that will free up money to protect its Galapagos Islands, one of the world's most precious ecosystems and the inspiration for Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. "The Offeror is making the Offer... as part of a broader refinancing operation to channel savings and promote certain conservation and sustainability efforts," the buyback plan said. The operation is private, the country's finance ministry said in a message to journalists, and cannot be discussed. Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Sandra MalerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies European Central Bank FollowLONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - France's central bank governor François Villeroy de Galhau has pushed back against criticism of central banks' increasing involvement in the fight against climate change, calling the issue a "must have" focus. "Central banks' core mandate worldwide is price stability, and climate change already affects the level of prices and activity," Villeroy stressed. The debate about how much influence central banks can have in tackling climate issues has become increasingly divisive this year. Villeroy, however, who has long been a firm advocate of doing more, urged central banks and others to come up with better models of how climate change is likely to alter economies. It is also aiming to release short-term climate change scenarios by the end of 2024, which should show more adverse developments, incorporate tougher "shocks" and directly explore the potential impacts of climate change on inflation.

LONDON, April 21 (Reuters) - Zambia will send its first fully-formed debt restructuring plan to China and other government creditors "very soon" the government's legal advisors said, as it looks to capitalise on fresh momentum seen in high-level talks in recent days. "We are hoping to provide a restructuring proposal to the official creditors (committee) very soon," Melissa Butler at White & Case, the law firm advising Lusaka on the restructuring, told Reuters, adding that meant the "coming weeks". "We want to start talking about concrete proposals about what debt relief would look like." Zambia is hoping for more than $8 billion of debt relief and Hichilema recently warned that if the restructuring was not able to be concluded soon, it would "tarnish" the tough fiscal reform measures the government has been undertaking. Zambia's restructuring has a wider importance too.

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