Sat, Mar 18, 2023 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  BANKING

  Europe in good shape

  European banks are in “extremely solid” shape and their situation is not similar to that of some US lenders, Banque de France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said yesterday, amid fears of a crisis in the sector. The failure of two US lenders has raised fears of contagion to the wider sector, with troubled European banking giant Credit Suisse having to borrow up to US$54 billion from the Swiss central bank. “European banks are not in the same situation as certain American banks for a very simple reason which is that they are not subjected to the same rules,” Villeroy de Galhau told BFM Business television. Basel III rules that were set after the 2008 financial crisis to ensure that banks have adequate capital and liquidity have been “effective,” he said. Four hundred European banking groups are subject to the Basel III requirements compared with only 13 in the US, he said.

  SOFTWARE

  Microsoft Office goes AI

  Microsoft Corp is infusing artificial intelligence (AI) tools into its Office software, including Word, Excel and Outlook. The company on Thursday said the new feature, named Copilot, is a processing engine that would allow users to do things like summarize long e-mails, draft stories in Word and animate slides in PowerPoint. Microsoft spokesperson Jessica Dash said the new Office features are currently only available for 20 enterprise customers. It will roll it out for more enterprise customers over the coming months. Microsoft is marketing the feature as a tool that would allow workers to be more productive by freeing up time they usually spend in their inbox, or allowing them to more easily analyze trends in Excel. The firm is also to add a chat function called Business Chat. It takes commands and carries out actions — such as summarizing an e-mail about a particular project to co-workers — using user data.

  AVIATION

  Firms look to India for talent

  Boeing Co and Airbus SE are increasingly looking to India for highly skilled, low-cost engineers to meet a boom in demand for aircraft and expand their manufacturing presence in the world’s fifth-largest economy. Airbus plans to hire 1,000 people in India this year out of 13,000 globally. Boeing and its suppliers, which already employ about 18,000 workers in the nation, have been growing by about 1,500 staff every year, the US jet manufacturer’s India head Salil Gupte told Bloomberg News in an interview. With about 1.5 million engineering students graduating annually, India is a rich source of talent for planemakers facing record orders from airlines as travel surges again after the COVID-19 pandemic. Boeing can hire an engineer in Bengaluru, India, for 7 percent of the cost of a similar role in Seattle, salary data compiler Glassdoor said.

  CHINA

  PBOC cuts reserve ratio

  The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) yesterday said it would cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves to release liquidity and support the economy. The bank said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for all banks, except those that have implemented a 5 percent reserve ratio, by 25 basis points, effective March 27. That follows a reduction of 25 basis points for all banks in December last year. The PBOC has promised to make its policy “precise and forceful” this year to support the economy, keeping liquidity reasonably ample and lowering funding costs for businesses. It said weighted average RRR for financial institutions is 7.6 percent after the latest cut.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Napoli’s title hopes shaken by late Genoa equalizer

  • 2

    Privately owned city in Kenya taking on corrupt officials

  • 3

    MOE to encourage foreigners to work in Taiwan

  • 4

    Kane tastes first title as Bayern bid farewell to Mueller

  • 5

    Taiwan celebrates V-E Day for first time