Disillusioned Lebanese lose faith with politicians ahead of poll
Highlights:
– Under the country’s confessional system, the Sunnis provide the country’s prime minister but Saad al-Hariri, the three-times prime minister, withdrew from politics in January and announced his Future Movement, the leading Sunni party, would boycott the poll. He said he was convinced there “is no room for any positive opportunity for Lebanon in the light of Iranian influence, international disarray, national division, sectarianism, and the collapse of the state”.
– The fear, he said, was that some of those seats would go to Sunnis allied with Hizbollah, further tilting the balance towards the Shia group. One option under consideration, he said, was for Future Movement candidates to run as independents.
– Many people experiencing the collapse of the country will turn to former warlords or to anyone who can provide protection or services,” said Emile Hokayem, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
Read more.
Dubai sets sights on Latin America as key region for $544bln trade — www.zawya.com
Highlights:
– As Dubai works towards the target [of] boosting foreign trade to $544 billion within the next five years, LATAM will be a key focus for our ambitious strategy,” the chairman Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair stated.
– Al Ghurair highlighted how Dubai imports from LATAM were worth “well above $6 billion” between 2018 to 2020, with food being a major contributor.
Read more.
UAE, GCC states move to sell stakes in govt enitities to further develop debt, equity markets – News | Khaleej Times — www.khaleejtimes.com
Highlights:
– “We do not expect revenue generated by the share sales to materially improve the public finances of the respective governments. We view the GRE sector as generating only limited contingent liabilities for their respective governments in most of the region. We believe that, with the exception of Oman, GCC governments have sufficiently strong balance sheets, in relation to the level of outstanding GRE debt, to absorb financial distress in the GRE sector, without materially worsening their overall fiscal positions,” – Timucin Engin, a primary credit analyst at S&P said.
Read more.
India explores ‘rupee-rouble’ exchange scheme to beat Russia sanctions
– Western countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia’s central bank and cut several of its lenders off from the Swift financial messaging system. But India, which has longstanding ties with Russia, its most important supplier of military equipment, has remained neutral.
– A foreign trade executive argued that a rupee-rouble pact would risk a furious reaction from the US, which is India’s biggest export destination, buying more than $50bn of Indian goods per year.
– Indian exporters hope the mechanism could release money they are owed by Russian clients, who cannot wire cash internationally because of the Swift restrictions.
– The foreign trade executive said a rupee-rouble arrangement could allow India to continue buying Russian energy in the event of an oil embargo.
Read more.
Ex-Banker Running Rivian’s (RIVN) Finances Has Plan to Regain Wall Street Trust – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– If we can really prove out this ramp, if we can prove out our opportunity to bring new vehicles to market, to build additional capacity in a cost-effective way, the stock price will just take care of itself,” McDonough said in an interview.
– The Irvine, a California-based company, founded in 2009, only recently started producing its signature plug-in pickup trucks and SUVs, as well as electric delivery vans for Amazon.com Inc., a key investor.
– It could take several more years for its vehicles to produce meaningful revenue to offset cash usage, likely forcing Rivian to raise more capital amid equity market turmoil.
– Rivian raised sticker prices as much as 20% on its consumer models, including for previously placed orders, leading to cancellations by angry customers.
– Just days later, Rivian reinstated the original prices for existing pre-order customers.
Read more.
London’s Threat From Amsterdam Hasn’t Gone Away – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– The recent private-equity related floats in London have performed poorly. While shares in the main U.S.-listed buyout firms have also been weak, they haven’t fared as badly.
– Perhaps CVC reckons it will enjoy a quieter life and come under less scrutiny in Amsterdam than in London.
– Amsterdam has been at pains to establish itself as the neutral venue post-Brexit, home to companies regardless of domicile and sector. On that, it’s arguably made more headway than either Paris or Frankfurt.
Read more.
The Rivalry Between Indian Billionaires Ambani and Adani Looks Ready to Heat Up – Bloomberg — www.bloomberg.com
Highlights:
– Adani’s main interest in hydrocarbons continues to be coal.
– But while coal is very much India’s past and present, it’s not the future. This is why Adani made a big bet on solar power. He also started circling around plastics.
– After Adani set up a new petrochemicals subsidiary last year. The tantalizing question is whether Adani’s ambitions include a refinery as well.
– Back in 2018, Aramco and Adnoc were going to partner with state-owned Indian firms to set up a mammoth $44-billion refinery. That plan has gone nowhere after the project lost its original site in India’s Maharashtra state because of local political opposition. Could the Adani Group insert itself into a revival of that project.
– That would put the billionaires in direct competition.
Read more.