Author: admin
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board will meet on May 9 to discuss the country’s staff-level agreement for a new $1.3 billion arrangement under a climate resilience loan programme, along with the first review of Pakistan’s ongoing $7bn bailout programme, the global lender said. According to the Fund’s website, this will be the first “review under the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility”, along with request for an arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). Previously, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb during his visit to Washington had said he also expected the IMF Executive Board to approve in…
Carey Mott is a researcher at Columbia University. Previously, he was with the Yale Program on Financial Stability and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. With *checks calendar* 70 days left for foreign leaders to cut deals with Trump (or not), you might expect US policymakers to prepare a Plan B in case, you know, fundamentally reshaping the global economy doesn’t work out as intended. But aside from the occasional snark on C-SPAN, Congress has been surprisingly quiet — why? This isn’t the first time US policymakers have stayed mum on tariffs. Long before the US constitution permitted direct taxes…
HSBC, Hong Kong’s biggest lender, unveiled a fresh US$3 billion worth of share repurchases after its first-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates.Net profit fell by 32 per cent to US$6.93 billion,, or 39 US cents per share, in the first three months, according to a stock exchange statement by the London-based bank, which collects most of its revenue in the Asia-Pacific region. The first-quarter result, which was widely expected as the bank had realised a one-off gain from the sale of its Canadian business in the year-earlier quarter, beat the US$5.39 billion expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg.Pre-tax profit fell 25…
HSBC, Hong Kong’s biggest lender, unveiled a fresh US$3 billion worth of share repurchases after its first-quarter earnings beat analysts’ estimates.Net profit fell by 32 per cent to US$6.93 billion,, or 39 US cents per share, in the first three months, according to a stock exchange statement by the London-based bank, which collects most of its revenue in the Asia-Pacific region. The first-quarter result, which was widely expected as the bank had realised a one-off gain from the sale of its Canadian business in the year-earlier quarter, beat the US$5.39 billion expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg.Pre-tax profit fell 25…
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Italian cardinal at the heart of the Vatican’s “trial of the century” announced Tuesday he was withdrawing from participating in the upcoming conclave to elect a new pope for “the good of the church,” ending days of drama that had overshadowed the proceedings. Cardinal Angelo Becciu’ s status has dominated discussions in the days after Pope Francis’ death amid questions about whether he would participate in the conclave to elect Francis’ successor or not.After his 2020 downfall, Becciu had said he would not participate in any future conclave. But in recent days he had asserted…
India has signed a US$7.4 billion deal to acquire 26 Rafale-Marine fighter jets from France, a move analysts said would strengthen the country’s maritime defence capabilities as it grapples with China’s expanding naval presence and renewed tensions with Pakistan.The agreement was finalised on Monday in New Delhi, with Indian Defence Secretary Raj Kumar Singh and French Ambassador Thierry Mathou presiding over the signing ceremony.The deal, which covers 22 single-seat carrier-based jets and four twin-seat trainer aircraft, received approval earlier this month from India’s Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Deliveries are slated to begin between 2028 and…
China’s military is rapidly deploying cutting-edge AI-powered drones that are low-cost and agile on the battlefield, as it races to gain an edge in the modern warfare technology.One of the latest – a micro drone that looks like a thermal flask and weighs less than a kilogram – was featured on state broadcaster CCTV on Saturday. The micro drone is the first of its kind and is designed for use across the People’s Liberation Army infantry units, according to the report.It said the drone’s coaxial dual-rotor system provided superior lift compared with traditional quadcopters, “allowing it to carry up to…
Unlock the White House Watch newsletter for freeYour guide to what Trump’s second term means for Washington, business and the worldIt is tempting to see Donald Trump and his wrecking policies on trade as a destructive thunderbolt from a clear blue sky. Certainly many of his domestic policies, even compared with his first term, have taken a sharper and more definitive turn towards the extreme.In the case of trade and globalisation, however, there is perhaps a little more continuity, not just with his first time in office but with previous US administrations. Regardless of whether it was actually reflected in…
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.China’s copper stockpiles are on track to dwindle to nothing in just a few months, as the market suffers “one of the greatest tightening shocks” in its history on fears of US tariffs, according to senior executives at commodities trading house Mercuria.Huge US demand, as buyers rush to get their hands on copper ahead of the potential imposition of levies by the Trump administration, was sucking imports of the metal into the country from the rest of the world and setting it…
The World Trade Organization is one of those multilateral institutions that US President Donald Trump’s administration loathes so much that it has suspended its financial support.But the president’s unilateral declaration of trade war on the world could give it a new lease of life, argues the WTO’s director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.She says US behaviour — applying and lifting tariffs at will — has reminded the other 165 members of the importance of its rules-based system. Especially important is the “most favoured nation” (MFN) principle, which means you commit to giving partners, big and small, the same access to your market, although some…