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BOSTON, March 5 (Reuters) - A go-to lender for U.S. electric cooperatives has $4 billion in exposure to the Texas market, where last month’s deep freeze slammed the finances of several co-ops hit with astronomically high gas and electric prices during the state’s grid blackout.
The latest quarterly financial disclosure from the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corporation (CFC) shows the Texas market accounts for 15% of the lender’s $27.1 billion in outstanding loans. Dulles, Virginia-based CFC has not had any loan defaults in its electric utility loan portfolio since fiscal 2013.
Numerous Texas electric co-ops are facing potential bankruptcy due to the massive bills incurred when power prices spiked during the Texas freeze that killed several dozen people and left millions without power for days.
The U.S. Senate on Saturday approved a Republican measure setting federal unemployment benefits for those made jobless by the coronavirus pandemic at $300 per week through July 18, as part of President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
By Reuters Staff
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WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats have reached a deal on jobless assistance, a sticking point for the coronavirus relief bill under consideration in the chamber, and will offer an amendment to extend the assistance through Sept. 6 at $300 per week, an aide said on Friday. (Reporting by Makini Brice and David Morgan; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
The supply chain finance party is coming to a messy end. Greensill Capital’s collapse has once again highlighted the hidden risks in the $1.3 trillion business of helping big companies channel payments to their suppliers. The combination of scandal and sunlight should produce.
By Reuters Staff
3 Min Read
ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s government is facing criticism for hiring consulting giant McKinsey to help it rewrite plans for spending the European Union funds aimed at rebuilding the economy.
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The government said on Saturday it had signed a 25,000 euro ($30,000) contract with McKinsey to look at the issue. It did not give details of how much work the firm would do, but the sum is very small by the standards of consulting firm costs.
An Italian official told Reuters that McKinsey was willing to work pro bono but the government insisted that they have at least expenses paid.