Published stories in Finance & Currencies.
The World Bank announced on Thursday that it was providing $750 million in financial guarantees for financing to Indonesia's Bank Mandiri, with the money to be channelled into a government low-interest loan programme for small businesses. HSBC will provide th…
Brazil's central bank cut its benchmark Selic interest rate from 14.25 percent to 14 percent on Wednesday, its fourth consecutive reduction. The bank's Monetary Policy Committee, known as Copom, announced the decision two months before presidential elections…
Argentina and China extended a 130-billion-yuan, roughly $19 billion, currency swap agreement by five years, Argentine financial authorities said Wednesday. The agreement between Beijing and Buenos Aires has been in effect since 2009. Previous renewals had la…
Italian bank Banco BPM raised its 2026 profit outlook after reporting second-quarter net profit of 581 million euros, or $670 million. The quarterly profit was down 17.5 percent from a year earlier. Banco BPM said it now expected to exceed its previous 2026 n…
India's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 5.25% on Wednesday, choosing to wait for clearer signs of whether volatile oil prices linked to the Iran war will spread into wider inflation pressure. The Reserve Bank of India said its Monetary Policy…
The US Federal Reserve approved Santander's acquisition of Connecticut-based Webster Bank, a $12.2 billion deal that would expand the Spanish banking group's US presence. The Fed said Tuesday that, once the proposal is completed, Santander's US holding compan…
US regulators fined an American affiliate of Swiss bank UBS on Monday for anti-money-laundering failures, with the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network imposing a $125 million civil penalty for Bank Secrecy Act violations. FinCEN describ…
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States joined Japan in buying yen because further weakness in the currency risked affecting other Asian markets, giving Washington’s explanation for last week’s first coordinated yen-buying intervention sinc…
All three Federal Reserve policymakers who dissented from this week's decision to keep US interest rates unchanged said Friday that rates should rise now to reduce the risk of inflation becoming entrenched. The Fed held rates at 3.50-3.75 percent for a fifth…
Argentine President Javier Milei announced plans to reform the country's central bank, including a proposed ban on financing government spending. Milei said in a televised address Thursday that the bill would make preserving the value of the currency the cent…
The Bank of Japan kept its main interest rate at 1.0 percent on Friday and slightly raised its economic growth outlook for the year. The central bank said its policy board voted eight to one to leave the benchmark unchanged, after raising it in June to its hi…
The yen jumped 2% against the dollar on Thursday, reaching 160.20 per dollar at 1355 GMT and prompting suspicions that the Bank of Japan had intervened to support the currency. The move came after the Japanese currency hit a 40-year low against the dollar las…
The Bank of England held its benchmark interest rate at 3.75 percent on Thursday and warned that inflation would rise again later this year because the US-Iran war was pushing up energy prices. Governor Andrew Bailey said inflation had fallen faster than the…
The yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond rose to its highest level since 2007.
US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said Wednesday that the central bank would restore price stability but warned there was no “magic wand” to bring inflation back to the Fed’s two percent target. “We are on the job. We will deliver,” Warsh said. “But the su…
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady after a two-day meeting, and chair Kevin Warsh said Wednesday that the 12-member committee had a robust debate on monetary policy. “Most of our discussion were on the big questions that matter to the conduct of m…
Bolivia and the International Monetary Fund have reached a staff-level agreement on a new $1.9 billion bailout as the country faces a severe economic crisis. The IMF said the three-year programme still depends on Bolivia carrying out certain prior actions and…
The International Monetary Fund has reached a staff-level agreement with Liberia that could allow about $50 million to be disbursed if the IMF board approves the reviews in late September. IMF Liberia mission chief Daehaeng Kim said IMF staff and Liberian aut…
The International Monetary Fund has approved a final disbursement of about $371 million to Ghana, the last tranche under the country's $3 billion support programme. The IMF said Monday, after completing its sixth and final review, that Ghana's performance und…
Elon Musk’s X on Monday began offering its X Money banking service to all US subscribers of its paid Premium and Premium+ tiers, widening access to a product that had been in limited testing since late June. X Money lets users hold deposits, send peer-to-peer…
Singapore tightened monetary policy on Monday for the second time in three months, saying imported costs and inflation risks are likely to increase as global energy markets remain volatile. The Monetary Authority of Singapore said it would raise the rate of a…
Bank Indonesia governor Perry Warjiyo resigned before his second term was due to end in 2028, citing unspecified personal reasons, the Indonesian government said on Monday. State Secretary Prasetyo Hadi said President Prabowo Subianto had accepted the resigna…
The US Federal Reserve kept interest rates at 3.50 to 3.75 percent on Wednesday for a fifth straight meeting, while three policymakers dissented and called for a quarter-point increase to fight inflation. Fed chair Kevin Warsh said after the decision that the…
Russia's central bank cut its key interest rate to 14% from 14.25%, even as it said price growth had accelerated in June and July. The bank said recent price movements were strongly affected by volatile items, including motor fuel, fruit and vegetables. Fuel…
The European Central Bank kept its key deposit rate unchanged at 2.25 percent on Thursday, but signalled that a rate rise in September was possible as renewed Middle East fighting threatened to push prices higher. ECB President Christine Lagarde said the deci…
European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said some governors considered a rate hike at the latest ECB meeting. The comment relates to the meeting at which the ECB kept its key deposit rate unchanged at 2.25 percent, according to a supplied published…
The Japanese yen remained near a four-decade low against the dollar, and analysts warned that authorities may struggle to reverse the currency's decline. The yen edged higher Thursday after a report said the Bank of Japan was considering a faster pace of inte…
Indonesia's parliament unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday to create an international financial centre known as PFII. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa told lawmakers the centre is expected to attract foreign capital flows and sustainable portfolio inves…
Fresh fighting in the Middle East and higher oil prices have put the European Central Bank on alert before its rate-setting meeting on Thursday. Two weeks of renewed conflict between Iran and the United States have again slowed traffic through the Strait of H…
Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack said on Friday that inflation is too high and broad-based, signaling that she could support higher interest rates at future US central bank meetings. Hammack, a voting member of the Fed's rate-setting committee…
The European Union said on Friday that it needs larger banks if the 27-nation bloc wants to catch up with competitors in the United States. The EU published a report on the banking sector as part of efforts to strengthen the European economy by unlocking more…
South Korea's central bank raised interest rates on Thursday for the first time in more than three years and signalled that more increases may follow, citing strong growth linked to the artificial intelligence chip boom, persistent inflation and risks to fina…
Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook said she is ready to act against inflation if price increases do not show signs of easing soon, while also saying the US central bank can wait a little longer to study the data. Cook told an event in Washington that she was…
Canada's central bank kept its key lending rate at 2.25 percent on Wednesday, saying the economy is showing signs of improvement while warning that uncertainty over US trade policy and the Middle East conflict remain risks. The Bank of Canada said businesses…
Large US banks reported sharply higher second-quarter profits on Tuesday, helped by strong financial markets, AI-related stock gains and a solid US job market despite continuing consumer concern about inflation. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wel…
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh is due to tell Congress on Tuesday that the central bank will seek to end a years-long US inflation surge, according to prepared remarks. Warsh is scheduled to appear before the House Financial Services Committee at 10:00…
Goldman Sachs reported stronger second-quarter results, helped by active trading businesses and higher revenue linked to mergers and underwriting. The New York investment bank said profit for the quarter was $6.4 billion, up 84 percent from a year earlier. Re…
JPMorgan Chase reported higher second-quarter profit on Tuesday, helped by stronger investment banking fees, trading revenue and exceptional items including higher equity investments. The bank reported profit of $21.2 billion, up 41 percent from a year earlie…
US Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said the central bank should be ready to raise interest rates soon if inflation continues to run above its target. Speaking in Rome, Waller said that when inflation is far above target and the labor market is nea…