Headlines

The European Union is closing in on agreeing a sixth package of sanctions against Russia, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, Reuters reported. "Talks on the sixth sanctions package are ongoing, they are well advanced and from our point of view they could be concluded soon," the spokesperson told a regular government news conference in Berlin. Read more.

India’s central bank is intervening in all foreign-exchange markets and will continue to do so to protect the rupee that slid to a record low Monday, Bloomberg News reported. The Reserve Bank of India sees its foreign-currency reserves of about $600 billion as a formidable stockpile that it will put to use against speculators. The RBI is seeking an orderly depreciation. The rupee dropped as much as 0.8% to an unprecedented 77.53 a dollar on Monday, as foreigners continue to pull money from Indian stocks.

Debt-ridden Future Group firm Future Enterprises Ltd expects to raise around Rs 3,000 crore from selling its stake in the insurance business to pare debt, which may save the company from facing the rigour of the insolvency process, the Economic Times of India reported. Earlier on Thursday, Future Enterprises Ltd completed the sale of its 25 percent equity in Future Generali India Insurance Company Ltd to joint venture partner Generali for Rs 1,266.07 crore. After this transaction, FEL will directly and indirectly continue to hold 24.91 per cent shares in FGIICL.

The United Arab Emirates will introduce a form of unemployment insurance, the cabinet said on Monday, the latest reform by the Gulf country as it strives to attract talent and investment amid increasing regional economic competition, Reuters reported. Insured workers would receive some money for a limited time period if made unemployed, UAE Prime Minister and Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who is also the ruler of trade hub Dubai, said on Twitter, citing a cabinet decision.

Germany's finance minister warned on Monday that rising wages could further fan inflation, adding that parties involved in collective bargaining had a responsibility to help prevent that from happening and that one-off payments might be needed, Reuters reported. German inflation hit an annual 7.8% in April, the highest in more than four decades, which is expected to fuel wage demands. Wage agreements for some 10 million workers are up for re-negotiation in Germany this year, according to the German federation of trade unions.

Morrisons now looks set to clinch a last ditch deal to buy the convenience store chain McColl's, BBC News reported. The supermarket has been in a two-way battle with EG Group, the Blackburn-based petrol station empire owned by the billionaire Issa brothers. McColl's is poised to go into administration, but in what's known as a pre-pack deal the business will immediately be sold to a new owner. McColl's has more than a thousand small stores and 16,000 workers. No formal announcement has been made but it is understood that Morrisons has secured the winning bid.

Chile's LATAM Airlines received backing by a majority of its unsecured creditors in its chapter 11 bankruptcy exit plan, the airline said on Friday, Reuters reported.

China's central bank said on Friday it launch a 100 billion yuan ($15 billion) relending facility to support the transport, logistics and storage sectors which have been hit hard by COVID-19, Reuters reported. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will better combine its broad-based and structural policy instruments, and constantly optimise its structural policy system, it said in a statement posted on its Wechat account.

Canada’s labor market stalled even as the jobless rate fell to a new record low, hampered by a dearth of new workers, Bloomberg News reported. The economy added 15,300 jobs in April, Statistics Canada reported Friday in Ottawa, fewer than half the 40,000 gain anticipated by economists. The small increase ended a surge that saw Canada create about 410,000 jobs over the previous two months. The unemployment rate fell to 5.2% in April -- the lowest in data going back to 1976 -- as the economy failed to produce any new growth in the labor force.

The EMEA Credit Derivatives Determinations Committee said on Friday it closed the case looking into whether credit default swaps would be paid to holders of Russian debt after Russia paid its obligations, Reuters reported. Russia last week avoided a default, announcing it had paid nearly $650 million it owed in coupons and principal to holders of two bonds, ahead of a grace period expiry on May 4. The payments had initially been made in rubles, potentially breaching the contract, which triggered the opening of the CDS case.