KENYA: Kenya’s banking sector credit risk is easing but lenders should be careful not to engage in reckless lending, the governor of the central bank said on Tuesday.
Bad debts among Kenyan banks jumped to 12.4 percent of total credits last year, the highest level in more than a decade.
Patrick Njoroge told a news conference that Kenya’s economic growth was likely to rise to 6.3 percent this year from an estimated 6.1 percent in 2018, driven by robust expansion in the agriculture sector.
(Agencies)
RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA) and the United Arab Emirates Central Bank (UAECB) clarified that one of the objectives of launching the common digital currency project “Aber” is for use in financial settlements between Saudi Arabia and UAE through Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers technologies, according to aawsat.com.
In a joint statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency, they explained that this is part of the “Proof-of- concept” framework that can be summed up in closely understanding and studying the dimensions of modern technologies and their feasibility through practical application and the determination of their impact on the improvement and the reduction of remittances costs and the assessment of technical risks and how to deal with them.
This is in addition to the qualification of cadres that will deal with the technologies of the future and understanding the requirements of issuing a digital currency for use by the two countries, the report said.
Furthermore, it will establish an additional means for the central financial transfer systems of the two countries and enable banks to directly deal with each other in conducting financial remittances.
Regarding the joint launching of the project, the statement pointed out that central banks in some countries have already started pilot projects to explore the dimensions of Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers technologies applied in circulation of digital currencies.
SAMA and the Central Bank of UAE share the same desire to launch pilot projects in the use of these technologies to identify them and learn how to benefit from them.
The statement attributed the agreement to launch this project jointly rather than independently in each country to the fact that the two countries have in place central systems for remittances and domestic transactions which have evolved overtime and proved their feasibility.
According to the statement, SAMA and UAECB hope that their pilot projects will benefit everyone locally and internationally. Based on this desire, the two countries do not only aspire to be the forerunners in the application of modern technologies, but also in their adaptation, development and delivery to the world. Hence, the two countries embarked on carrying out the experiment of issuing a common digital currency for use across borders to carry out remittances, it added.
As for the mechanism agreed upon by SAMA and UAECB for the implementation of “Aber” project, the statement emphasized that efforts in the initial stages will focus on technical aspects. The use of the currency will be restricted to a limited number of banks in each state. In case that no technical obstacles are encountered, economic and legal requirements for future uses will be considered.
(Agencies)
SWITZERLAND: Board of Directors of VP Bank Group and CEO Alfred W. Moeckli have decided to not continue their collaboration. Alfred W. Moeckli will relinquish all his functions by 31 January 2019 and leave the bank to devote himself to new assignments. Urs Monstein assumes the position of CEO on an interim basis, according to Investment Europe.
Moeckli has presided over the Group Executive Management of VP Bank Group since 2013 and has developed VP Bank substantially as chief executive officer in the last approximately six years. Especially in the time following the financial crisis, he has made a key contribution to leading the banking institute back onto a growth path, it said.
The dissolution of the employment relationship between VP Bank and W. Moeckli takes place by mutual consent as part of an early age-related succession planning. The Board of Directors thanks Alfred W. Moeckli for his services and his major commitment, according to Investment Europe.
Fredy Vogt, chairman of the Board of Directors of VP Bank Group, takes stock: “W. Moeckli has contributed significantly to a successful positioning of VP Bank in the changed environment of the financial services industry and has increased profitability. Additionally, in his time as CEO, the market capitalisation of our bank has approximately doubled”.
Monstein, who has been chief operating oficer of VP Bank since May 2018, will assume leadership of the Group Executive Management on an interim basis with immediate effect.
The search process for a successor to the departing CEO has already been launched. Both internal and external candidates are being evaluated.
(Agencies)
BEIJING, Jan 29: Beijing reported GDP of over 3 trillion yuan (446.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, authorities said Wednesday.
According to the municipal statistics bureau, Beijing attained GDP of 3.03 trillion yuan last year, up 6.6 percent.
“Beijing spent a lot of efforts on moving the non-capital functions out of the city and attained a stable economic growth with its quality improved last year,” said Pang Jiangqian, deputy director of the bureau.
The city’s new economy grew 9.3 percent to over 1 trillion yuan, accounting for 33.2 percent of the city’s GDP.
The city’s per capita disposable income also rose 9 percent to 62,361 yuan last year.
The city saw a total consumption of 2.54 trillion yuan, up 7.4 percent thanks to the growing income.
Consumption in the service sector reached 1.37 trillion yuan, up 11.8 percent, contributing 82.6 percent to the city’s total consumption growth.
According to the city’s market regulation bureau, the number of enterprises in science and technology, service, culture, sports and entertainment established last year reached 88,716, accounting for nearly 50 percent of new enterprises in Beijing last year.
“Our company invested in a number of science and technology companies in areas such as artificial intelligence,” said Wu Haiyan with China Growth Capital, a venture capital firm.
The technical income of science and technology companies above a designated scale in Zhongguan science park accounted for 17.2 percent of the companies’ total income in the first 11 months of 2018, up 2.2 percent year on year.
The culture industry in Beijing also developed fast, with companies above a designated scale and public institutions in the industry reporting revenues of 925 billion yuan last year.
A UK foreign office minister has suggested that the Bank of England grant access to £1.2bn in Venezuelan gold reserves to the self-proclaimed interim leader Juan Guaido rather than Nicolás Maduro.
In a statement to British MPs, Sir Alan Duncan said the decision was a matter for the Bank and its governor, Mark Carney, and not the government. But he added: “It is they who have to make a decision on this, but no doubt when they do so they will take into account there are now a large number of countries across the world questioning the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduroand recognizing that of Juan Guaidó.”
Guaidó has already written to Theresa May asking for the funds to be sent to him.
KATHMANDU: The Greenlife Hydropower Limited (GRHPL) is issuing initial public offerings (IPOs) of worth Rs. 180 million next week.
According to the company, 1.8 million units of ordinary shares will be issued for public from February 5 to 19. The deadline will be extended to till March 19 if the issued number of shares goes unsold in this period, the company said.
The project is based in Dolakha and 20 units are fixed as a minimum quantity for apply while the maximum quantity is 9,000 units.
The company is the developing the 40-megawatt Khanikhola Hydropower Project. The project is expected to start the power generation in two months.
WASHINGTON, Jan 29: The Trump administration on Monday sanctioned Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, ratcheting up pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro to cede power to the U.S.-backed opposition in the oil-rich nation in South America.
The action means Maduro’s embattled government would lose access to one of its most important sources of income and foreign currency along with around $7 billion in assets of the state-owned company, Petroleos De Venezuela S.A.
Hours after the White House announced the sanctions, Maduro went on state TV and called the U.S. action “immoral, criminal.” In words directed at President Donald Trump, he said, “Hands off Venezuela!”
The sanctions follow the unusual decision by more than 20 countries, including the U.S., to recognize the opposition leader of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, as the interim president of Venezuela. Maduro was re-elected last year in an election widely seen as fraudulent. The once prosperous nation has been in an economic collapse, with several million citizens fleeing to neighboring countries.
“We have continued to expose the corruption of Maduro and his cronies, and today’s action ensures they can no longer loot the assets of the Venezuelan people,” national security adviser John Bolton said at a White House news conference to announce the sanctions with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
Bolton said he expects Monday’s actions against PDVSA — the acronym for the state-owned oil company — will result in more than $11 billion in lost export proceeds during the next year.
Oil production — the lifeblood of Venezuela’s economy — has been collapsing for years. Despite sitting atop the world’s largest reserves, Venezuela currently pumps just a third of the 3.5 million barrels a day it did when the late Hugo Chavez took power in 1999.
The nation’s refining capacity has also declined because of poor maintenance and lack of skilled personnel. That has left it reliant on Citgo, the Houston-based refining arm of PDVSA, to refine the oil and send gasoline back to Venezuela to meet domestic needs.
“They have just lost that source,” said Russ Dallen, managing partner of Caracas Capital, a brokerage company.
Venezuela is very reliant on the U.S. for its oil revenue, sending 41 percent of its oil exports to the U.S. Maduro can divert the roughly 500,000 barrels per day of oil currently being sold to Gulf Coast refineries to markets in Russia, China, India, Malaysia and Thailand.
But processing international financial transactions is hard without going through the U.S. or European banks. Transport costs would also jump because Venezuela’s ports aren’t well-equipped to load supertankers for transporting oil to distant markets.
That means the country, which depends almost entirely on oil exports for hard currency, will be able to purchase even less food and other imports, potentially worsening shortages and deepening its economic collapse.
Outside the PDVSA headquarters in Caracas, office workers lining up to board red company buses were seeking information about the immediate impact of the U.S. sanctions. As he hurried home with his two children, one employee told The Associated Press that the sanctions signaled tough times ahead.
“Things are going to get difficult,” said the man, who refused to identify himself by name because he feared reprisals from the company. “The United States is one of the few buyers who pays for the oil up front, and it’s probably where most of our income comes from.”
Mnuchin said any money that U.S. entities use to buy Venezuelan oil will go into a blocked account in the United States, not the Maduro government.
He said if PDVSA wants to see the sanctions lifted, there would have to be a speedy transfer of control to the interim, U.S.-backed president and a democratically elected government that is “committed to taking concrete and meaningful actions to combat corruption.”
He said the Treasury Department has taken steps to allow refineries to continue importing oil from Venezuela temporarily. Also, he said Citgo will be able to continue importing oil as long as the revenue is sent to the blocked account in the United States.
“This is a country that is very rich in oil resources,” Mnuchin said. “There is no reason why these resources shouldn’t be used for the economic benefit of the people there.”
Mnuchin said he did not expect the sanctions would cause U.S. consumers to see higher prices at gas pumps.
The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents 95 percent of the refining sector, has lobbied hard during the past two years against any sanctions that would disrupt imports of Venezuelan oil. The association issued a statement saying it supported the Trump administration’s goal to bring change to Venezuela.
“To that end, we will work with the administration to minimize any unnecessary disruptions or negative impacts to the market and American consumers,” the association said.
Mnuchin insisted the sanctions would have only a “modest” impact on U.S. refineries because Venezuelan oil exports to the U.S. have declined steadily over the years, falling particularly sharply over the past decade as its production plummeted amid its long economic and political crisis.
The U.S. imported less than 500,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan crude and petroleum products in 2017, down from more than 1.2 million barrels a day in 2008, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Still, Venezuela has consistently been the third- or fourth-largest supplier of crude oil to the United States, and any disruption of imports could be costly for refiners. In 2017, the most recent year that data were available, Venezuela accounted for about 6 percent of U.S. crude imports. Valero and Citgo are among the largest importers of Venezuelan crude. (AP)
SINGAPORE: Asian markets were lower on Tuesday after the U.S. Justice Department unsealed criminal charges against China’s Huawei, its subsidiaries and a top executive ahead of trade talks.
KEEPING SCORE: Japan’s Nikkei 225 index tumbled 1 percent to 20,448.47 and the Kospi in South Korea shed 0.4 percent to 2,169.42. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was 0.8 percent lower at 27,370.58. The Shanghai Composite index fell 1 percent to 2,572.39. Australia’s S&P ASX 200, reopening after a holiday, eased 0.6 percent to 5,870.80. Stocks fell in Taiwan and Singapore but rose in Indonesia.
WALL STREET: U.S. stocks fell Monday on signs that slowing Chinese growth was affecting corporate America. Caterpillar, considered an economic bellwether, reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter of 2018. The company said it expects the growth of construction equipment sales in China to be flat this year. Chipmaker Nvidia slashed its fourth-quarter revenue estimate, citing slowing demand in China among other reasons. The S&P 500 index lost 0.8 percent to 2,643.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.8 percent at 24,528.22 and the Nasdaq composite gave up 1.1 percent to 7,085.68. The Russell 2000 index of smaller company stocks lost 0.6 percent to 1,473.54.
HUAWEI CHARGES: The U.S. criminal charges against Chinese tech giant Huawei allege that it violated U.S. sanctions by using a Hong Kong shell company to sell equipment in Iran. The company is also accused of stealing trade secrets, including technology behind a robotic device that T-Mobile used to test smartphones. Several of Huawei’s subsidiaries and its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou were to also face criminal charges. Meng was arrested while changing flights in Canada last month. China has demanded her release and warned of retaliation against American and Canadian executives.
US-CHINA TALKS: According to Bloomberg, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said at a briefing Monday that President Donald Trump is set to meet Chinese Vice Premier Liu He in Washington. Negotiators from both countries are expected to sit down for two days of trade talks starting Wednesday. While a meeting with Trump may show that the U.S. is serious about striking a deal, charges against Huawei could cast a cloud over negotiations going forward.
ANALYST’S TAKE: Charges against Huawei “illustrate the risks attached to the U.S.-China relationship,” DBS Group Research strategists Philip Wee and Eugene Leow said in a commentary. “The actions by the DOJ show that it would not be enough for China to buy more U.S. goods. America wants China to make structural reforms especially on its intellectual property practices,” they added.
ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude added 20 cents to $52.19 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It dropped $1.70 to settle at $51.99 per barrel on Monday. Brent crude, used to price international oils, rose 15 cents to $59.96 per barrel. It lost $1.78 to $59.81 per barrel in London.
CURRENCIES: The dollar was trading at 109.12 yen down from 109.35 yen late Monday. The euro strengthened to $1.1430 from $1.1428.
(AP)
LONDON: Omega Diagnostics Group (LON:ODX)‘s stock had its “corporate” rating reiterated by stock analysts at FinnCap in a report issued on Tuesday.
ODX stock opened at GBX 13.25 ($0.17) on Tuesday. Omega Diagnostics Group has a 12 month low of GBX 15 ($0.20) and a 12 month high of GBX 28.01 ($0.37).
Omega Diagnostics Group PLC, through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures, and distributes medical diagnostics products. The company operates in three segments: Allergy and Autoimmune, Food Intolerance, and Infectious Diseases and Other.
The Allergy and Autoimmune segment engages in the research, development, production, and marketing of in-vitro allergy and autoimmune tests used by doctors to diagnose patients with allergies and autoimmune diseases.
BHARATPUR, Jan 29: The Federation of Computer Association Nepal, Chitwan is organizing the Fourth CAN Info-Tech-2075 from February 8 to 12 in Bharatpur, Chitwan.
The IT fair aims at spreading awareness and importance of information, technology and entertainment sector, the organizers said.
Bhanu Sharma, President of the CAN Federation, Chitwan informed that the fair with the slogan with ‘Chitwan’s Prosperity: Information and Technology’, is expected to help built a tech-friendly workforce and expose new technology of IT.
A total of 80 stalls will be set up featuring various electronic appliances like mobiles, smart televisions, printers, laptops and desktop computers.
The fair is expected to be visited by around 150,000 people, according to the organizers.