Administrator of the East African Cables PLC (EAC), a key player in the region’s electrical cable manufacturing industry, is looking for potential investors to help revive its operations after being placed under administration due to financial distress, the Kenyan Times reported. In a notice issued on Friday, July 25, by its joint administrators, the administrator has invited expressions of interest (EOIs) from strategic or financial investors willing to participate in its rescue or acquisition process.
Europe’s exports to the U.S. fell for the second consecutive month in May after a first-quarter boom, but remained higher than a year earlier, a sign of resilience that will be tested as higher tariffs look set to become a settled feature of trans-Atlantic trade, the Wall Street Journal reported. Exports to the U.S. from the European Union edged down to 46.2 billion euros, or around $53.6 billion, in May from 47.7 billion euros a month earlier, statistics agency Eurostat said Wednesday. Overall exports fell 0.8%, with the EU’s overall trade surplus rising to 13.4 billion euros.
Mexico's banking regulator slapped three financial institutions, which had been sanctioned by the U.S. for alleged money laundering, with more than 185 million pesos ($9.81 million) in fines in June, local media reported on Tuesday, Reuters reported. The U.S. Treasury last month prohibited certain transactions with Mexico's CIBanco, Intercam Banco and Vector Casa de Bolsa as part of fentanyl sanctions. The fines were largely related to money-laundering prevention, local media reported, citing data published by the regulator.
Much higher U.S. tariffs on imports from the European Union would further weaken already anemic growth in the eurozone, and likely prompt the European Central Bank to lower borrowing costs, the Wall Street Journal reported. President Trump on Saturday threatened to raise the duty charged on imports of a wide range of goods to 30% from 10% if the European Union doesn’t drop all of its tariffs on U.S. goods. The U.S. already charges higher tariffs for imports of automobiles and metals, and is considering additional duties on pharmaceuticals and other goods.
The International Monetary Fund said on Monday it has completed its eighth review of Ukraine's $15.5 billion four-year support program, paving the way for a disbursement of an additional $500 million to the war-torn country, Reuters reported. That will bring total disbursements to $10.6 billion, the IMF said in a statement, following its board's approval of the review of Ukraine's Extended Fund Facility. It warned of ongoing and "exceptionally high" risks to the country's outlook. “Russia’s war continues to take a devastating social and economic toll on Ukraine.
In a dramatic twist emblematic of Europe’s telecom turbulence, Altice France SA, the country’s second-largest telecom provider, has filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in New York, seeking U.S. court recognition of its French insolvency proceedings as it buckles under €19.2 billion ($22 billion) in debt, USA Herald reported.
South Korea’s headline inflation cooled to a five-month low in May and stayed below the central bank’s 2.0% annual target, justifying its resumed easing of policy to support economic growth, the Wall Street Journal reported. The benchmark consumer-price index rose 1.9% from a year earlier, following a 2.1% increase in April, the country’s statistics office said Wednesday. Price growth was largely kept in check by lower prices of oil products, fruits and vegetables, despite gains in the prices of some other agricultural and livestock goods, according to the statistics office.
Yurtel, based in Corsham, Wiltshire, has revealed that it has gone bankrupt, meaning that all bookings will not be fulfilled after it ceased trading on May 8, the County Gazette reported. Yurtel have previously supplied accommodation for people who visit Glastonbury Festival since 2005, prices for hospitality tickets and accommodation packages from the Yurtel company ranged from £10,000 up to £16,500 for this year's festival.
The state cargo railway company CFR Marfa, which entered insolvency in April after five years of pre-insolvency status, plans to diminish its dues by 32% to RON 3.1 billion (EUR 620 million) during this year by the transfer of RON 1.5 billion (EUR 300 million) of assets to the newly set up company Carpatica Feroviar, according to the budget of the company inked by the Transport Ministry and quoted by News.ro.
Finance leaders from the Group of Seven democracies will strive for a show of unity when they meet this week on topics other than U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, including economic security, Ukraine and artificial intelligence cooperation, Reuters reported. But mostly, they'll want to keep the powerful Western policy alliance from fracturing, even if it means less-specific language and agreed actions, according to G7 officials and economic diplomacy experts. U.S.