Private equity firm BlackRock is leading a consortium that plans to purchase a controlling interest in the country of Panama’s ocean ports from Hong Kong-based C.K. Hutchison Holdings for $22.8 billion.
Category: 18 March 2025
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SPOTLIGHT: TRADE WAR FALLOUT
Donald Trump’s abrupt and aggressive tariff policies have swerved the global economy onto a trajectory of slowed growth and rising costs that will worsen the longer and more acrimonious the trade war becomes, a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned.
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CHINESE ECONOMIC BRIEFS
Still struggling to revive the country’s consumer economy, Chinese officials have instructed banks to encourage households to borrow and to use their credit cards.
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UNILEVER WILL HIRE MORE SOCIAL INFLUENCERS TO PROMOTE ITS PRODUCTS
Unilever, the global conglomerate selling foods, soaps, and other consumer products, will focus more of its advertising dollars on social media influencers to promote its products because “messages coming from corporations are suspicious” in consumers’ eyes, new CEO Fernando Fernandez said in an interview with Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman.
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IN FINANCIAL INDUSTRY, STABLECOINS ARE GOLDEN
Companies from PayPal to Bank of America are getting ready to issue their own stablecoins as regulators take a softer approach and Donald Trump’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies has given the idea new energy.
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RUSSIA SOCKS CHINESE CAR IMPORTS WITH TARIFFS
Someone other than Donald Trump has a trade beef with China. Russian officials have put a fee equivalent to about $7,500 on Chinese passenger vehicles coming into the country.
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BANK OF CANADA CUTS INTEREST RATE BY ANOTHER QUARTER POINT
On 12 March, as expected, the Bank of Canada took another quarter point off its key interest rate, lowering the rate to 2.75 percent.
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TRILLION-DOLLAR SELL-OFF HITS INDIA’S STOCK MARKETS
A prolonged slide in India’s stock values has erased $1 trillion in value from investors’ holdings. The flagship Nifty 50 index has retreated 14.5 percent from its September high. The Sensex, a catalog of 30 major companies traded on the Mumbai exchange, has dropped 13.9 percent.
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U.K. GDP SHRINKS IN JANUARY
The U.K.’s economic activity contracted by 0.1 percent in January, surprising economists who had foreseen a 0.1-percent increase that would have built on December’s 0.4-percent gain.
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ISRAEL MURDERS MORE THAN 400 PALESTINIANS IN NEW AIRSTRIKES, CEASEFIRE DEAD, TRUMP COORDINATED
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered massive airstrikes across Gaza early Tuesday—killing over 400 and shattering a ceasefire agreement that was routinely violated by Tel Aviv.