Category: Business

China’s central bank announced on Friday that it will lower the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for foreign exchange deposits by 2 percentage points, effective from Sept. 15, in a move to ease the appreciation pressure on the yuan. What is the RRR and why does it matter? The RRR is the proportion of deposits that banks must hold as reserves at the central bank. It affects the amount of money…

China cuts deposit rates and forex reserves to boost economy China is facing a slowdown that has rattled global markets, with the spotlight now firmly focused on the troubled developer Country Garden’s spiraling debt crisis in a sector that contributes to roughly a quarter of the economy. As pressure mounts, Chinese authorities have rolled out a series of measures to shore up the country’s faltering economy and revive the crisis-hit…

Pandemic sparks entrepreneurial spirit The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenging time for many people, but it has also inspired some to pursue their dreams of starting their own businesses. According to the Census Bureau, Americans are opening more new businesses in 2023 compared to 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, there were 1.36 million new business applications, an increase of 8.4% from the same period in 2022. This…

The UK housing market has been hit by a double whammy of rising interest rates and rail strikes, resulting in the sharpest annual decline in house prices since 2009, according to the latest data from Nationwide. House prices fall by 5.3% from peak The building society reported that house prices fell by 5.3% from their peak in August 2022 to this year, the fastest decline since the financial crisis caused…

Ethos says UBS should have spun off Credit Suisse’s Swiss business Ethos, a Swiss proxy adviser, has expressed its disappointment with UBS’s decision to fully integrate Credit Suisse’s Swiss business, after the two banks announced their merger in August 2023. Ethos said that UBS should have spun off Credit Suisse’s Swiss business instead, to avoid a major systemic risk for Switzerland, an important negative impact on employment and issues for…

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is hosting a training course on the application of big data analysis and artificial intelligence (AI) to central banking, in collaboration with the COMESA Monetary Institute (CMI). The course, which runs from August 27 to August 31, 2023, is part of the presidential directives to support Egyptian-African cooperation and integration. Course objectives and participants The course aims to enhance the skills and knowledge of…

The Federal Reserve is stepping up its oversight of regional banks in the wake of three bank collapses earlier this year, according to a report by Fox Business. The central bank has issued a number of private warnings to lenders with assets of $100 billion to $250 billion, urging them to improve their liquidity planning, capital adequacy, technology and compliance. Regional banks face liquidity and interest rate risks The Fed’s…

Strong Performance Despite Economic Challenges The Turkish banking sector has shown a remarkable resilience in the face of the economic difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the currency depreciation. According to the data from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), the combined net profit of Turkish banks increased by 41 percent in the January-July period from a year ago to 293.4 billion Turkish liras ($11.1 billion) . This…

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has instructed the regional rural banks (RRBs) to take steps to remove the duplication of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts and ensure that the benefits of the scheme reach the intended beneficiaries. She also asked the RRBs to facilitate storage facility for apple growers in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, where the fruit production is high. PMJDY scheme aims to provide financial inclusion…

Some of the biggest local and international banks in Singapore are facing scrutiny for their alleged involvement in one of the city-state’s largest money laundering cases involving more than S$1 billion ($740 million) of assets. The case has raised questions about the safeguards against illicit money flowing into one of the world’s most important financial hubs. How the money laundering scheme worked According to the charge sheets seen by Bloomberg…