Sat, Jul 04, 2020 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  TECHNOLOGY

  Jio adds Intel backing

  Jio Platforms Ltd, the technology venture of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, secured 18.95 billion rupees (US$253.5 million) from Intel Capital, adding to a slew of investments since April that have reached more than US$15 billion. The investment arm of computer chip giant Intel Corp agreed to buy a 0.39 percent stake in Jio, giving the business an equity value of US$65 billion, Ambani’s conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd said in a statement yesterday.

  VIETNAM

  Bank loans rise 3.26%

  The nation reported a 3.26 percent increase in bank lending from the end of last year to the end of last month, the central bank said yesterday. The Southeast Asian nation’s economic growth traditionally relies heavily on increased credit, though authorities have been trying to reduce this reliance. “The central bank is willing to raise its caps on credit growth for local commercial banks during the rest of this year to support economic growth,” Governor Le Minh Hung said in a statement.

  SINGAPORE

  Retail sales plummet 52.1%

  Retail sales plunged in May by the most since records began in 1986, signaling the economic hit from COVID-19 lockdown restrictions could be worse than earlier anticipated. Overall sales plummeted 52.1 percent from a year earlier, the Department of Statistics said in a report yesterday, worse than the 47 percent median in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Purchases fell 21.5 percent from the previous month, versus forecasts for an 8 percent decline.

  PAYMENTS

  EU banks plan one system

  Sixteen European banks have teamed up to deliver by 2022 a new unified payment system that would offer consumers on the continent both cards and digital wallets that could offer a serious alternative to giants in the sector, such as Visa Inc and Mastercard Inc. Dubbed the European Payments Initiative, the “solution aims to become a new standard means of payment for European consumers and merchants in all types of transactions,” the consortium said in a statement. The project aims to eventually capture at least 60 percent of electronic payments in Europe.

  BANKING

  HSBC focusing on China

  HSBC Holdings PLC yesterday pledged to boost investments in China to capture more wealth and retail clients even as political tension escalates after Beijing launched a new security legislation to crack down on Hong Kong. The bank, which has come under fire over its support for the legislation, announced that it was starting a new service to provide customers in mainland China with digital wealth and insurance planning services. It would initially cover new customers in Guangzhou and Shanghai, it said in a statement. The bank is also establishing a fintech company to support its business.

  AVIATION

  Boeing official quits

  Boeing Co communications chief Niel Golightly resigned on Thursday following a complaint over an article he wrote more than 30 years ago contending that women should not serve in combat. His resignation comes as a number of US companies examine their corporate culture following weeks of protests in the country over racism and police brutality, following the killing of black American George Floyd by a white police officer. Golightly leaves his post at Boeing after just months on the job.

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