Browsing: Business

As the island nation battles a crippling economic depression, Sri Lanka’s newly appointed prime minister issued a warning of a food shortage, pledging to buy enough fertilizer to enhance productivity in the coming planting season. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s decision to ban all chemical fertilizers in April last year severely decreased yields, and despite the government reversing the ban, there has not yet been any substantial imports. The government is taking measures to ensure adequate supplies of fertilizer for the Maha (September-March) season even if time is not available for the Yala (May-August) season, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said in a…

Tesla’s share price collapsed erasing a large chunk of the wealth of the world’s richest man Elon Musk. Musk’s net worth has dropped to $218 billion as Tesla’s shares are down 6.8%, according to Forbes. Musk’s wealth has been diminishing due to recent comments about politics and the removal of Tesla from S&P Global Ratings’ ESG index. Tesla Inc. fell to its lowest level this year, wiping $12.3 billion from Elon Musk’s wealth, while Twitter further declined. Musk has lost $49 billion since launching his takeover bid last month. This is partly because the wider market tumbled and some Tesla…

The United States Treasury Department has imposed severe sanctions against Hezbollah, specifically targeting the group’s financial facilitator, Lebanese businessman Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah, and his companies. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned eight of Abdallah’s companies located in Lebanon and Iraq. The Treasury Department has announced that Abdallah is an official of Hezbollah and is an active member of its global financial network. The department said that he has been supporting Hezbollah for decades, including trade and business activities in various countries in exchange for profits that are transferred to the Iran-backed group. Due to its…

On Wednesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its biggest plunge since 2020 after another prominent retail company warned of escalating prices, reinforcing investors’ apprehensions about future inflation, and triggering the catastrophic 2022 sell-off. The Dow lost 1,164.52 points, or 3.57%, to 31,490.07, the index’s steepest slide since June 2020. It was the most disappointing Dow performance since March 2021. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 closed 4.04% lower at 3,923.68, marking the most severe fall since June 2020. The Nasdaq Composite is down 4.73% to 11,418.15, which is the steepest downturn in the tech-heavy index since May 5. The shedding was…

A United Nations report accuses Lebanon’s central bank and the banking sector of human rights violations as a result of their alleged role in one of the world’s worst economic and financial crises. A UN report criticizing Lebanon’s government singled out the Banque du Liban and Lebanon’s now largely insolvent banks for particular blame. According to the report, the human rights violations committed by the Lebanese state, including its central bank, are responsible for the unnecessary misery of the population as a result of this manmade crisis. A failed government policy led to the current economic crisis, which could have…

Before finalizing his agreement to buy Twitter, Elon Musk wants to know more details about the number of fake accounts on the social media platform. He said that he wants more details about how many Twitter accounts are fake or spam, so he temporarily put his $44 billion takeover of Twitter on hold. Traders questioned whether Musk would back out of the project altogether after the shock announcement. Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk said he must ensure that fake accounts represent less than 5% of Twitter users, as Twitter estimates. Earlier Friday, Musk tweeted that the giant deal was…

Bitcoin fell below $27,000 for the first time in over 16 months on Thursday. This was amid concerns about rising inflation and the collapse of a controversial stablecoin project. According to Bitstamp data, Bitcoin sank as low as $26,595.52 Thursday morning. That marks the first time bitcoin has fallen below $27,000 since Dec. 30, 2020. As of 1:30 a.m. ET, Bitcoin was trading at $27,061, down 15 percent in the last 24 hours. The second-largest digital currency, Ether, plunged to as low as $1,789 per coin. This is the first time a token has fallen below the $2,000 mark since…

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) reports that world food prices decreased at the end of April after reaching an all-time high in March amid the conflict in Ukraine. In April, the FAO Food Price Index was 158.2 points, down 0.8 percent from March, but still nearly 30 percent higher than in April 2021. The Index tracks monthly changes in the international prices of a basket of food commodities, and the decrease was mainly driven by lower prices for vegetable oils and cereals. While the mild decrease in the index is a welcome relief for low-income countries suffering from…

Jordanian Finance Minister Mohammad Al-Ississ discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation in the areas of finance, tax and customs with Saudi Finance Minister Mohammad Al-Jadaan. In the course of the meeting which was held at the sidelines of the Joint Annual Meeting of Arab Financial Institutions in Jeddah, both sides stressed the close ties that bind Amman and Riyadh together. The meeting was attended by the Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, Adel Sharkas, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Finance of Jordan, Abdul-Halim Shebli, and Director-General of the Department of Income and Sales Tax of Jordan, Hussam Abu Ali.…

A number of Yemeni governorates continue to receive hundreds of tonnes of Ramadan rations that have been provided by the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC). Approximately seven million people are benefitting from the Ramadan Ration and Iftar programmes in Shabwa, Hadramaut, Taiz, Hodeidah, and Socotra. The initiative is pursuant to the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, as well as the follow up from H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler’s Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the ERC, to…