DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

While paying bonuses at bailed-out energy groups raises questions around the use of taxpayers' money, it also highlights the need for the companies to remain competitive. One of the sources said 200 of Sefe's traders in London had received hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses, adding mid-level traders had received $5 million-$7 million each. Two of the other people said that generous subsidies had been paid at both Sefe and Uniper. Uniper confirmed that bonuses were paid to trading staff for 2022 but below the level of the previous year. The Finance Ministry, which is responsible for the government's ownership of Uniper, also referred questions on operating issues including staff remuneration to the company.

☆ Argentina's ruling Peronist party wins provincial elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 14 - Argentina's ruling Peronist party posted strong wins in elections Sunday, appearing to hold control over three provinces just months ahead of presidential elections in which support for the party is flagging. The results come as a relief to President Alberto Fernandez's ranks as economic unrest has shaken the party's hold over the country. Fernandez has said he is not seeking re-election, however a Peronist coalition is still aiming to hold onto power. Although the outcome is good news for the party, its fate in the presidential elections will likely be decided in more populous provinces, such as Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Santa Fe and Mendoza. Reporting by Maximilian Heath; Writing by Kylie Madry; Editing by Sonali PaulOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 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.

☆ Mexico asks Texas to halt costly cargo inspections; will file USMCA complaint
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MEXICO CITY, May 15 (Reuters) - Mexico's economy ministry is urging the U.S. state of Texas to remove inspections of cargo crossing the border, which it said in a statement on Monday is causing millions of dollars in losses for U.S. and Mexican firms. The Mexican government will file a complaint with the trade facilitation committee under the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) free trade agreement, which came into effect in 2020. Earlier this month, Texas started inspecting commercial vehicles crossing into the state from Mexico at a bridge connecting the Texas city of Brownsville with the Mexican city of Matamoros. Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered similar inspections before. In April 2022, cargo inspections prompted significant supply chain disruptions until Abbott reached a deal with the governors of four neighboring Mexican states to increase security efforts.

The measures include an interest rate hike by the central bank, the economy ministry said in a statement. The ministry did not elaborate, but an official source told Reuters the hike would be 600 basis points, bringing the rate up to 97%. The rate hike will take effect Monday, the source added. The South American nation is battling to bring down inflation that hit 109% on an annual basis in April. The central bank will also increase its intervention in the foreign-exchange market and double down on its currency devaluation plan, the ministry said.

BRUSSELS, May 10 (Reuters) - Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) suffered a setback on Wednesday after Europe's second-highest court sided with Ryanair (RYA.I) and annulled a European Union competition regulator's decision clearing its state bailout. The court also ruled in Ryanair's favour on Wednesday against pandemic state aid measures for SAS (SAS.ST), saying recapitalisation measures did not include sufficient measures to incentivise the Swedish and Danish governments to exit quickly. "We have seen the ruling by the General Court in the EU and will now review the content of the ruling as well as possible ways to proceed. Lufthansa and several other European airlines received state aid following a protracted travel slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which were approved by the EU executive subject to conditions. The Commission can appeal to the Court of the Justice of the European Union, Europe's highest, on points of law.

MEXICO CITY, May 8 (Reuters) - The Mexican government on Monday set out fresh details of a plan to attract businesses to a corridor straddling a narrow isthmus of southern Mexico, part of a larger push to pump investment into the relatively poor region. The plan, called the Inter-Oceanic Corridor, will include 10 new industrial parks along the stretch connecting the Pacific port of Salina Cruz in Oaxaca state with the Gulf coast hub of Coatzacoalcos in Veracruz state, officials said. Officials also hinted at plans to construct four wind plants across the area, home to major installations of state-run oil company Pemex. Another reason to push manufacturing to the south is that the north - which benefits from its proximity with the United States - is facing a drought, officials say. Reporting by Kylie Madry; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by David Alire GarciaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Germany's Scholz says more renewables key to lower industry costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 6 (Reuters) - Ramping up renewable power production rather than subsidies is the key to lower electricity prices for Germany's energy-hungry industry, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday, in an apparent dig at proposals by his government's economy minister. To extend this for the whole of Germany, Scholz said everything within his powers needed to be done to boost power transmission networks and renewable power production. Scholz was speaking to journalists at a geothermal power plant in Kenya during a trip to Africa. "We know today already that we will have lower power prices than today, once we reached our goal that renewable energies dominate electricity production in Germany," he added. Scholz previously voiced scepticism about the initiative, saying long-term subsidies were not beneficial for the economy.

☆ Adviser to Italy's Treasury tables proposal for windfall tax on banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

European lenders have consistently beaten expectations in recent quarters as higher rates set by the European Central Bank (ECB) to curb inflation have driven profits higher, while leaving savers disgruntled. Government sources said last week that Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti was working on a windfall tax on banks to fund relief measures for families hit by inflation, which is running above the euro zone average. Giorgetti told parliament that the government "cannot and will not" ignore the fact that banks have seen revenues increase due to higher interest rates, but have not adjusted rates on deposits accordingly. UniCredit (CRDI.MI) CEO Andrea Orcel confirmed on Wednesday that there were discussions ongoing in Italy about a new tax on banks' profits, but there was no certainty it would be introduced. Madrid is planning to raise around 6 billion euros ($6.63 billion) from a windfall tax on energy companies and banks.

Dutch government sources estimate the deal at 20 billion euros ($22 billion) or more, but German industry sources say it may be less. TenneT had a book value of 7.3 billion euros at the end of 2022, on a balance sheet of 38.5 billion euros. TenneT's German grid alone has liabilities of 21.6 billion euros, nearly three times that of the Dutch network. TenneT's 19 billion euros of outstanding bonds, issued when interest rates were lower, are another issue, the people said. Dutch pension fund PGGM, one of TenneT's bondholders, expects such an outcome in the event of a sale.

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.

☆ Russian economy shrank estimated 2.2% year over year in first quarter, economy ministry says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 3 (Reuters) - Russia's economy contracted by 2.2% in the first quarter of 2023 in annual terms, the economy ministry estimated on Wednesday, down from growth of 3% in the same period last year. The ministry estimated that gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.1% year-on-year in March, an improvement on a revised 2.9% drop in February. Russia's GDP is expected to rebound marginally this year from a 2.1% annual decline in 2022, the result of Western sanctions against Moscow after it despatched troops to Ukraine in February 2022. Blunting the impact of sanctions are rising military production and huge state spending, allowing Moscow to plough on with what it calls its "special military operation" in Ukraine. Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya and Jake Cordell; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Kevin LiffeyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Argentina secures initial irrigation funding after withering drought
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The approved loan is part of irrigation development plan that aims to ultimately invest some $2.07 billion in public spending and nearly double the amount of farmland with irrigation systems in place. The government's irrigation plan "will allow the development of the country's productive potential" by adding 1.9 million hectares (4.7 million acres) to its total irrigated areas, said Jorge Neme, the country's development planning secretary. Argentina currently boasts around 2.1 million hectares of irrigated farmland, said Neme in the economy ministry statement. Over 30 irrigation projects are already underway in the country's trio of top agricultural provinces Buenos Aires, Santa Fe and Cordoba, which have seen the worst drought impacts. The irrigation projects will be financed by local funds, as well as multilateral organizations including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America, according to the statement.

☆ Bolivia takes control of Banco Fassil, executives arrested
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LA PAZ, April 26 (Reuters) - Bolivia's government took control of one of the country's largest banks, Banco Fassil, a senior government financial official said on Wednesday, and police arrested several executives for alleged mismanagement. "Mismanagement, unhealthy practices have caused a crisis," the executive director of Bolivia's Financial System Supervision Authority (ASFI), Reynaldo Yujra, told reporters in the city of Santa Cruz. Dozens of police were stationed at Banco Fassil's 185 branches across Bolivia on Wednesday, authorities said. Banco Fassil President Ricardo Mertens, General Manager Jorge Arturo Chávez and another executive, Hernan Suarez, were arrested late Tuesday, while a fourth, Hermes Saucedo, turned himself in early Wednesday morning, according to the Santa Cruz attorney general's office. "The financial system in general is in good health.

SQM's lithium contract in Chile is set to expire in 2030 and Albemarle's in 2043, giving it more insulation from the potential move. Mexico nationalized its lithium deposits last year, and Indonesia banned exports of nickel ore, a key battery material, in 2020. SQM has a larger footprint in Chile, with 81,000 hectares (about 200,000 acres) for lithium extraction compared with Albemarle's 16,000 hectares. Argentine state energy firm YPF last year began exploring lithium, while Bolivia has long maintained strict control over its huge though largely untapped resources. Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and Bolivia's Luis Arce have touted the idea of a regional lithium "OPEC" to coordinate on lithium policy and benefit local economies.

☆ Exclusive: German govt to slightly raise 2023 GDP forecast - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Holger Hansen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - The German government is set to slightly raise its economic growth forecast for this year to 0.4% from its previously predicted 0.2%, two sources told Reuters on Thursday. For 2024, the government will slightly lower its prediction, to 1.6% from the 1.8% foreseen in January, the sources said. An Economy Ministry spokesperson did not comment and said Economy Minister Robert Habeck would present the spring economic projections next Wednesday. With the new projections, the government is slightly more optimistic than the five economic institutes that prepare the Joint Economic Forecasts, which foresee 2023 economic growth of 0.3%. In the Joint Economic Forecasts, which are incorporated into the ministry's forecasts, the institutes predict inflation of 6.0% in 2023, before slowing to 2.4% in 2024.

They are among the discordant calls made by Spanish and EU bureaucrats as Spain's drive to hand out 77 billion euros ($84 billion) in grants from EU pandemic recovery funds becomes mired in complexity, according to interviews with business associations, government officials, companies and consultants. Spain is the EU pilot project for disbursing grants from the largest stimulus package in the bloc's history, an overall pot of 724 billion euros, including loans. A year into the disbursement process, about 23.5 billion euros had been awarded as of December last year, according to the latest figures published by the government last month. That's a sluggish pace, given the EU and Spain have set a deadline of the end of this year to award all 77 billion euros. Meanwhile, only about 9 billion euros have actually reached the businesses awarded funds, according to calculations by the Esade Centre for Economic Policy, a Madrid-based think-tank that tracks the pandemic recovery cash.

☆ Argentina seeks to issue up to $1.2 bln in bonds, ministry source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The World Bank and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America could not be immediately reached for comment. The operation, which would take place in the coming weeks, would guarantee 60% of the issuance, and the notes would have a maximum maturity of five years, said the ministry source, who asked not to be identified. The intention is to issue two separate bonds, each with its own backing, for up to $600 million each, the source said. "What (the guarantee) allows is for the interest rate to be set on the qualification of the banks" and not Argentina's, said the source. The South American economy is also seeking $500 million of fresh financing from the World Bank, the source added, additional to the $2.5 billion the multilateral lender already has already committed for 2023.

☆ Argentina looking to issue up to $1.2 bln in bonds backed by World Bank, CAF -ministry source
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, April 14 (Reuters) - The Argentine government is in talks to issue two dollar-bonds for up to $600 million each with separate guarantees from the World Bank and the CAF as collateral, a source from Argentina's Economy Ministry said on Friday. The World Bank and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America could not be immediately reached for comment. The operation, which would take place in the coming weeks, would guarantee 60% of the issuance, and the notes would have a maximum maturity of five years, said the ministry source, who asked not to be identified. The push is to issue two separate bonds, each with a separate backing, for up to $600 million each, the source said. "What (the guarantee) allows is for the interest rate to be set on the qualification of the banks" and not Argentina's, said the source.

The economy ministry forecast GDP growth of 2% in 2024, down from 2.6% when it last provided macroeconomic forecasts in the autumn. SHRINKING SURPLUSRussia's current account surplus is shrinking sharply, down around 73% in the first quarter of 2023. Economists from the Institute of International Finance said Russia had a large "excess" current account surplus in 2022, with a surplus above and beyond the normal seasonal path in 2021 and 2022. "This windfall has ended in 2023, with Russia's current account surplus below 'normal', likely one reason why the rouble has weakened year-to-date," it added. The economy ministry lowered its rouble rate forecast to 76.5 to the dollar in 2023, from 68.3 in the previous forecast, and to 76.8 from 70.9 in 2024.

☆ German economy expected to skirt recession - economy ministry report
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BERLIN, April 14 (Reuters) - Germany is expected to narrowly escape recession and post modest growth in the first quarter of the year, according to an economy ministry report published on Friday. "A technical recession of two negative quarters in a row appears to have been averted," the ministry said. "Consumer sentiment is expected to continue its recovery in the coming months, although inflation-related losses in purchasing power continue to weigh on the economy," the report said. Inflation rates are expected to continue to ease in the coming months, although remaining at a high level. The economy ministry sees risks to its economic outlook, such as weak private consumption, a deterioration of conditions in construction, recent problems in financial institutions and geopolitical uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine.

[1/5] A general view shows the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant, as Germany shuts down its last nuclear power plants in Neckarwestheim, Germany, April 14, 2023. Following years of prevaricating, Germany pledged to quit nuclear power definitively after Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster sent radiation spewing into the air and terrifying the world. Germany's commercial nuclear sector began with the commissioning of the Kahl reactor in 1961: eagerly promoted by politicians but met with scepticism by companies. With the end of the atomic power era, Germany has to find a permanent repository for around 1,900 highly radioactive casks of nuclear waste by 2031. The government also acknowledges that safety issues remain given that neighbours France and Switzerland still depend heavily on nuclear power.

☆ Argentina seeks to issue up to $1.2 billion in bonds, ministry source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Ukraine's GDP fell 29.1% in 2022 during Russia's invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

REUTERS/Gleb GaranichKYIV, April 13 (Reuters) - Ukraine's gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 29.1% in 2022 as Russia's full-scale invasion battered the economy, the state statistics service said late on Wednesday. The final 2022 GDP figure was slightly better than the 30% drop previously forecast by the government. The government says GDP may grow 1% in 2023 due to an improving situation in the transport, retail and construction sectors. Ukraine's grain crop fell to 53 million tonnes in 2022 from a record 86 million tonnes in 2021 due to the invasion. Another key part of economy, the metals sector, reduced steel production by almost 71% after several leading plants were destroyed or occupied.

☆ Exclusive: EDF warns of 1 billion euro loss due to French strikes, reviews hiring - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Benjamin Mallet | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, April 13 (Reuters) - French utility EDF (EDF.PA) has warned drawn-out strikes at its nuclear reactors and hydro-electricity plants have cost it 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion) in lost output and that it is reviewing hiring plans for the year, three sources said. An EDF spokesperson told Reuters that a moratorium had been imposed on hirings. It comes as EDF's new chief executive draws up a plan to ramp up nuclear production and lighten the group's heavy debt load. The group had originally planned to hire between 3,000 and 3,500 people in 2023, mostly in nuclear production and sales, one of the sources said. The group's net debt rose to 64.5 billion euros in 2022, up from 43 billion a year earlier.

Search resuls for: "Economy Ministry"

25 mentions found