Fri, Jul 17, 2020 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  INDONESIA

  Central bank cuts key rate

  Bank Indonesia yesterday lowered its key interest rate for a second straight month, aiming to help the economy recover from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The central bank cut its seven-day reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 4 percent, the lowest since the current rate system was adopted in 2016. It has said the outlook for the current-account deficit is improving, with the country posting a trade surplus of more than US$5 billion in the first half of the year and foreign investors being net buyers of government bonds in the past three months.

  UNITED KINGDOM

  Payroll decline slowing

  The number of workers on company payrolls slumped by about 650,000 owing to the COVID-19 lockdown, data from the Office for National Statistics showed yesterday. “Early indicators for June ... suggest that the number of employees in the UK on payrolls is down around 650,000 compared with March,” it said in a statement. “The largest falls were seen at the start of the pandemic, and while the number of payroll employees is still falling, the decline is slowing.”

  BREWERIES

  Heineken profit slumps 53%

  Heineken NV, the world’s second-largest brewer, yesterday reported a 53 percent decline in first-half earnings, as lockdowns affected sales to bars and restaurants. Net income plunged 76 percent as the company took a 550 million euro (US$626.75 million) asset impairment charge, Heineken said as it published unscheduled preliminary results. Brewers around the world are struggling as governments consider further restrictions on bars and restaurants to reduce agglomerations of people that could fuel the spread of COVID-19.

  PROPERTY

  India home sales plunge

  Sales of homes and leasing of offices across eight of India’s biggest cities saw their steepest fall in a decade in the first half of this year, as lockdowns to contain the pandemic worsened already slowing economic growth and consumer demand, research firm Knight Frank said in a report published yesterday. Residential sales fell 54 percent and absorption of office space declined 37 percent from the same period a year earlier, it said.

  AIRLINES

  American to furlough 25,000

  American Airlines said on Wednesday that it is sending 25,000 notices of potential furloughs to frontline workers and warned that demand for air travel is slowing again, as COVID-19 cases increase and US states reimpose quarantine restrictions. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires companies to provide 60 days’ notice of potential layoffs or furloughs. American had more than 130,000 employees last year.

  AUTOMOTIVE

  Europe posts smaller drop

  Europe’s automotive industry extended a tentative recovery for a second straight month, leaving manufacturers and dealers hoping state subsidies would help spur a stronger rebound. New passenger car registrations fell 24 percent last month, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said yesterday. That was an improvement on May’s 57 percent slump and April’s 78 percent drop. With sales still well below last year’s levels, hopes are fading for the more V-shaped recovery seen in China. Germany’s Volkswagen AG on Tuesday told workers that it has put a freeze on new hiring, despite a pick-up in orders.
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