By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
TOKYO, April 2 (Reuters) - The amount of money circulating in Japan soared by a fifth to hit a record in March as central bank pumped out cash to cushion blows to the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The average balance of monetary base, or the amount of cash in circulation and deposits at the BOJ, rose 20.8% in March from a year earlier to 613.4 trillion yen ($5.5 trillion), marking the fastest annual gain since February 2017, central bank data showed on Friday.
The increase was driven largely by a surge in the BOJ’s purchases of short-term securities and demand for its loan scheme aimed at channelling funds to COVID-hit firms.
Vingroup, Vietnam's biggest listed company, is seeking to raise $500 million through its inaugural issue of international bonds this year to pay loans and pump up the capital of its subsidiaries, the company said.
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LISBON, March 24 (Reuters) - The volume of loan repayments suspended by Portuguese banks under a scheme to help businesses and individuals through the pandemic slipped in January to 45.7 billion euros ($54 billion), further retreating from a peak in September.
The latest figure released by the Bank of Portugal on Wednesday compares with 46.1 billion euros of the so-called loan moratoriums, including capital and interest, in December and an all-time high of 48.1 billion in September.
The central bank said 54,000 companies had access to the scheme in January, for a total of 24 billion euros, or 33.2% of total corporate loans.
“The accommodation and restaurant companies were the ones that stood out the most, with 57% of their total loans covered by this measure,” it said, without giving further details.
(Repeats April 1 article without changes)
PARIS/BERLIN, April 1 (Reuters) - Germany will next week present a multi-billion-dollar proposal to Lebanese authorities to rebuild the Port of Beirut as part of efforts to entice the country’s politicians to form a government capable of warding off financial collapse, two sources said.
A chemical explosion at the port last August killed 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed entire neighbourhoods in Lebanon’s capital, plunging the country deeper into its worst political and economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
According to two diplomatic sources with knowledge of the plans, Germany and France are vying to lead reconstruction efforts. Berlin will on April 7 outline a proposal that the European Investment Bank has agreed to help fund that would clear the area and reconstruct facilities, they said.
By Reuters Staff
2 Min Read
DUBLIN, April 1 (Reuters) - Ireland’s central bank on Thursday raised its 2021 economic growth forecast by half to 5.9% on improved multinational performance and export prospects, but warned the domestic economy would grow at less than half that rate.
The bank, which in January forecast 2021 GDP growth of 3.8%, said there were signs large global technology and pharmaceutical firms based in Ireland were maintaining strong growth registered last year when they helped lift Ireland to GDP growth of 3.4% despite pandemic lockdowns.
“We had quite a cautious, modest assumption with regard to growth in those multinational sectors but the data are showing that strong growth has actually been sustained” from 2020 into early 2021, Director of Economics and Statistics Mark Cassidy told journalists.