Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 September 2018

Thu Sep 20 07:37:10 CAT 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 20 September 2018

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*  Algeria plans 1.5 percent spending cut next year -government document

*  Kenya's finance minister cuts spending, money transfer taxes to rise

*  Egypt to sell around $5 billion in foreign currency bonds in coming
months - finance minister

*  Naspers frees cash-rich Multichoice to take on Netflix & co

*  Johannesburg stock exchange looks to tighten listing rules

*  Life Healthcare to sell stake in Indian JV for $293 million

*  South Africa's rand firms on positive consumer inflation data

*  Liberia loses $104 mln in central bank cash, bans 15 from foreign travel

*  South Africa's CPI slows to 4.9 pct year/year in August

*  Zambian Kwacha falls over size of country's debt, aid freeze

*  Jack Ma rows back on pledge to create one million US jobs

*  Equifax fined by ICO over data breach that hit Britons

*  Brexit will have 'worse economic impact on UK than EU'

*  Argentine GDP in steepest fall since 2014

*  EU wants 'full picture' on Amazon data use

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Algeria plans 1.5 percent spending cut next year -government document

ALGIERS (Reuters) - Algeria plans to cut spending by 1.5 percent in 2019
after a rise this year, despite a recovery in oil prices, as it seeks to
rebalance its finances, according to a government document seen by Reuters.

The government expects a budget deficit of 9.2 percent of gross domestic
product in 2019, up from the 9 percent forecast for 2018, said the document
that is part of the draft budget for next year.

A sharp fall in global crude oil prices after mid-2014 hit state finances
and forced the government to cut spending by 14 percent last year after a 9
percent reduction in 2016.

But the OPEC member increased expenditure by 25 percent this year with the
aim of launching delayed projects in sectors such as health, education and
water resources.

The government also started implementing amendments to the Money and Credit
Law this year that allows the central bank to lend directly to the treasury
to fund budget deficits and internal public debt.

Algeria is benefiting from a recovery in oil prices, with overall energy
earnings reaching $22.021 billion in the first seven months of 2018, a 15.23
percent rise from a year earlier.

But the government said it remains under financial pressure.

The 2019 budget is to “ensure budget sustainability and ... reduce pressure
on the state treasury,” said the document.

Energy revenue accounts for 60 percent of the budget and 94 percent of
exports.

The government uses a large part of energy earnings to pay for imports of
goods due to poor domestic production, despite various attempts to diversify
the economy away from oil and gas.

The goods imports bill is expected to reach $44 billion in 2019, according
to the document, higher than the $43.5 billion forecast for this year.

The government is due to start implementing increases in customs duties on
finished goods this year after a failed attempt to reduce the value of
purchases by imposing a ban on imports of around 850 products since early
this year.

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Kenya's finance minister cuts spending, money transfer taxes to rise

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya’s Finance Minister Henry Rotich has cut the
government’s spending budget by 55.1 billion shillings ($546.90 million), or
1.8 percent, for the fiscal year from July this year, a Treasury document
showed on Wednesday.

The government is facing a tough balancing act after a public outcry over a
new 16 percent value added tax on all petroleum products forced President
Uhuru Kenyatta to suggest to parliament to keep the VAT and cut if by half.

In the document detailing the new spending estimates, Rotich said the budget
had to be adjusted because of the amendments to tax measures brought by
lawmakers when they first debated it and passed it last month.

The proposed halving of the VAT rate on fuel has left the government with a
funding shortfall, hence the cuts in spending.

Parliament will vote on a raft of proposals, including the 1.8 percent cut
on spending, in a special sitting on Thursday.

Kenya’s economy is expected to grow by 6 percent this year, recovering from
a drought, slowdown in lending and election-related worries that cut growth
in 2017, but investors and the IMF have expressed concerns over growing
public debt.

While the next election is still four years away, the government’s economic
policies are chafing with citizens angered by increasing costs of living.
Fuel dealers protested when the VAT on fuel kicked in this month and citizen
groups have gone to court to try to block new or higher taxes.

Separate documents sent by Kenyatta to parliament ahead of Thursday’s
sitting underscored the debate in government over how to boost revenues
without hurting the poor.

His government has to reduce a gaping fiscal deficit while boosting spending
on priority areas such as healthcare and affordable housing.

In order to balance the government’s books after the reduction of the fuel
tax, he is trying to reinstate several tax measures struck out by
parliament, including a 2 percentage hike on excise duty for mobile phone
money transfers to 12 percent.

Kenya’s biggest mobile phone operator Safaricom said in June it was opposed
to any tax rise on mobile phone-based transfers, arguing that it would
mainly hurt the poor, most of whom do not have bank accounts and rely on
services such as its M-Pesa platform.

The president also asked parliament to double the excise duty on the fees
charged by banks, money transfer services, and other financial institutions
to 20 percent.

Parliament in August threw out an earlier version of proposed fees on bank
transfers, a so-called “Robin Hood” tax of 0.05 percent on transfers of more
than 500,000 shillings.

The president has not yet signed the budget due to the dispute over the
planned tax hikes. Kenyatta’s Jubilee party and its allies have a
comfortable majority in parliament.

The Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry this month said the
government should widen the tax base. It also urged the state to cut
expenditure, reduce wastage of public funds and deal with corruption, which
some studies have found lose the government about a third of its annual
budget.

($1 = 100.7000 Kenyan shillings)

Egypt to sell around $5 billion in foreign currency bonds in coming months -
finance minister

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt’s plans to sell around $5 billion in foreign
currency bonds in the coming months, the country’s finance minister said on
Wednesday.

“We are going to sell bonds in the coming months in the market. It could be
$5 billion plus or minus,” Finance Minister Mohamed Maait told reporters.

Naspers frees cash-rich Multichoice to take on Netflix & co

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African media and e-commerce group Naspers’
plan to spin off Multichoice, Africa’s biggest pay-TV business by
subscribers, will free up cash for the unit to compete with fast-growing
Netflix and other streaming services.

The group, which owns a $155 billion one-third stake in Chinese technology
giant Tencent, unveiled plans on Monday to hive off Multichoice to help
close a more than 60 percent discount in its share price to the value of its
holding in Tencent.

This leaves Multichoice free to fend for itself in an increasingly
competitive market where Netflix is already supplying thousands of viewers
with original TV content and Hollywood hits such as “Stranger Things” and
“House of Cards”.

“The intention is to basically have absolutely minimal debt going to
Multichoice to provide them with flexibility to make any strategic move they
want to make,” said Naspers’ chief executive Bob van Dijk. “We’re not going
to suck any cash out of Multichoice.”

Although streaming is still rare on a continent hobbled by slow internet
speeds, reaching fewer than 2 million of sub-Saharan Africa’s billion
citizens, it is increasingly challenging more popular satellite-TV services.

Multichoice’s fledgling internet-streaming service, Showmax, is betting a
blend of Hollywood blockbusters and local content such as “Real Househelps
of Kawangware” and “The Bachelor South Africa” will set it apart from
rivals. It launched Showmax in 2016.

Naspers does not provide subscriber numbers for Showmax, but London-based
Digital TV Research estimates it had 334,000 at the end of last year, fewer
than half as many as Netflix and mostly in South Africa.

SHOWMAX

Multichoice had 7.5 billion rand ($503 million) cash at the end of the
latest financial disclosure period in March, generated largely from
subscription fees of as much as 809 rand a month from some of its 13.5
million households across the continent.

“The listing of Multichoice Group will create a leading entertainment
business on the JSE that is profitable and cash generative,” Patel said in
e-mail reply to questions.

The company did not provide details on how it would deploy the money but
said its balance sheet would allow it to pursue growth opportunities in
African video entertainment and pay a “meaningful dividend” to shareholders.
Analysts also expect it to scale up Showmax.

“I expect them to be quite a good dividend paying stock but on the other
hand it is an industry that is facing structural change so I expect them to
continue to invest in Showmax to defend the position,” said Renier de Bruyn,
a portfolio manager at Sanlam Private Wealth.

Multichoice’s dominant position in most of its markets makes it unlikely to
seek to acquire rivals.

Founded in 1915, Naspers has transformed itself from an apartheid-era
newspaper publisher into a $100 billion behemoth thanks largely to cash flow
from Multichoice that enabled it to pursue private-equity style investments
in e-commerce platforms across the world.

According to Digital TV Research the number of pay TV users in sub-Saharan
Africa - a region of more than a billion people - is expected to jump by
three quarters between 2017 and 2023 to nearly 41 million, with more than
half of that signing up for satellite TV offerings.

Over the same period, subscriptions for streaming services - which also
include Kwese, Cell C’s Black and Vodacom’s VideoPlay - are forecast to grow
more than six-fold to nearly 10 million.

CUTTING EDGE

“We’re quite confident. The combination of Multichoice’s reach, Showmax and
DSTV Now cutting edge internet television services will provide unique and
unmatched offering,” said Multichoice Chief Executive Imtiaz Patel.

DSTV Now is an app that allows Multichoice subscribers to live stream
channels on the satellite platform.

The company has invested heavily in infrastructure that allows it to beam
television content since its launch more than 20 years ago.

Video offering via satellite is expected to remain at the heart of video
entertainment for the majority of Africans for at least the next five years
despite a rapid uptake of video on demand offerings from internet streaming
services.

The bulk of internet users rely on mobile phones to connect but hardly use
their data to stream videos because of the cost. In South Africa, for
example, a 1GB data bundle costs around 149 rand, a stiff price in a country
where the minimum wage is 20 rand an hour.

The listing of Multichoice is likely to fetch between 9 and 12 times its
$627 million annual core earnings, or EBITDA, valuing it at least $5.6
billion, bankers and analysts said and making it a blue-chip Top-40 stock on
the Johannesburg bourse similar in size to drugmaker Aspen Pharmacare.

“We endorse this decision. Naspers recently raised 140 billion rand, twice
the size of Multichoice, by selling 2 percent of Tencent and 33 billion rand
from the sale of their Flipkart stake,” said Byron Lotter, a portfolio
manager at Vestact, which owns shares in Naspers.

“Historically Naspers used the Multichoice cash cow to fund new
acquisitions. They no longer need the cash from Multichoice.”

($1 = 14.9056 rand)

(1 South African rand = $0.0670)

Johannesburg stock exchange looks to tighten listing rules

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) wants to
increase the minimum capital amount required for a primary listing and is
considering stricter rules on secondary listings as it seeks to improve
corporate governance.

Africa’s biggest securities exchange published its proposals in a public
consultation paper circulated on Wednesday, aiming to ease investor concerns
about listed companies following recent high-profile corporate scandals.

The paper proposes increasing the capital amount required for a primary
listing from 500 million rand ($34 million), but did not suggest a new
minimum level.

On secondary listings, the exchange could limit which jurisdictions would be
suitable.

“The intention would be for the JSE to create a pre-approved list of foreign
exchanges with regulatory regimes with which the JSE is comfortable,” JSE
says in the consultation paper. “This approach is followed by peer global
exchanges such as the Australian Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock
Exchange.”

The Johannesburg exchange is already crafting tighter disclosure rules for
companies with listed debt instruments, announced in May, as part of efforts
to improve corporate governance and increase transparency.

It has been hit by scandals including that of retail group Steinhoff
International. Steinhoff’s shares crashed last December after the group
revealed “accounting irregularities” and its CEO quit, prompting a JSE
investigation into whether the group broke the exchange’s disclosure rules.

The consultation will conclude on Oct. 22.

“Depending on the nature of the comments received in response to this paper,
it may be appropriate to convene a colloquium to discuss the improvement of
governance,” JSE’s Chief Executive Nicky Newton-King said in a statement.

($1 = 14.6883 rand)

Life Healthcare to sell stake in Indian JV for $293 million

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African private hospital group Life
Healthcare said on Wednesday it will sell its entire 49.7 percent stake in
Max Healthcare to a global investment firm for 4.3 billion rand ($293
million) in order to focus on its operations elsewhere.

“The Company will initially use the net disposal proceeds to settle debt as
well as to invest in growth opportunities in its core markets,” the group
said in a statement.

($1 = 14.6676 rand)

South Africa's rand firms on positive consumer inflation data

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s rand gained more than 1 percent on
Wednesday after better than expected inflation data cooled bets the central
bank would raise lending rates at its meeting on Thursday.

Stocks were fractionally higher for a second session in line with global
markets which rallied to shrug off the latest development in the trade spat
between the U.S. and China.

At 1524 GMT the rand was 1.71 percent firmer at 14.6400 per dollar, slightly
softer than its session-best of 14.6250 - its firmest level since August 31.

South Africa’s headline consumer inflation slowed to 4.9 percent
year-on-year in August, with economists having expected CPI to rise to 5.2
percent year-on-year.

While analysts expect the central bank to hold rates on Thursday for a third
meeting in a row, they also see it striking a more hawkish tone as it weighs
economic weakness, the rand’s recent plunge and calls for it do more to
support economic growth.

The currency has weakened 17 percent against the dollar so far this year,
battered by a flight from riskier assets globally as the United States lifts
lending rates, made worse by concerns over tepid economic growth locally.

“We expect the current very deflationary environment - the weak economy and
subdued price pressures increases will allow SARB to keep rates unchanged
for the foreseeable future,” said head of research at Old Mutual Johann Els
in a note.

“This is assuming the rand stabilises and there are no serious secondary
price pressures from the weaker currency,” Els added.

Lower inflation and relatively high lending rates have helped South Africa
lure yield-hungry investors to buy the currency and bonds despite the poor
growth outlook and rising threat of credit downgrades.

Bonds also gained, with the yield on benchmark government paper due in 2026
down 11 basis points to 9.100 percent.

The broader all share index was 0.11 percent firmer at 56,446 points while
the top 40 index was 0.10 percent higher at 50,272 points.

“The market and volumes have been fairly healthy today. The rand hedges have
been softer today as the rand strengthened,” said Ryan Woods, equities
trader at Independent Securities.

Private hospital group Life Healthcare’s shares jumped to over 7.7 percent
after announcing the sale of its entire 49.7 percent stake in Max Healthcare
to a global investment firm for 4.3 billion rand ($293 million).

Aspen Pharmacare slumped 7.9 percent, extending losses for a fifth
consecutive session, after the company issued a statement aimed at allaying
investor concerns the sale of its baby food unit to Lactalis and fears about
its debt levels after the release of its financial results last week.

“The voluntary statement did not provide any new information so it is hard
to explain the increasingly huge selloff at this stage,” said Woods.

Liberia loses $104 mln in central bank cash, bans 15 from foreign travel

MONROVIA (Reuters) - Fifteen Liberians, including the son of former
president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, are banned from leaving the country while
the government investigates the whereabouts of $104 million in missing cash
intended for the central bank, the government said.

A series of shipments of notes ordered by Liberia’s central bank from
printers overseas have disappeared since last year after passing through the
country’s main ports, Liberia’s information minister Eugene Nagbe told local
radio on Tuesday.

The missing amount is the equivalent of nearly 5 percent of the West African
country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Charles Sirleaf, the son of Nobel Peace Prize winner Ellen Johnson Sirleaf,
and former central bank governor, Milton Weeks, are among those barred from
travel as part of the investigation, said a Ministry of Information
statement released late on Tuesday.   

“The government... takes the ongoing investigation seriously because it has
national security implications,” it said.

Neither Sirleaf nor Weeks were immediately reachable for comment. Central
Bank officials also did not respond to requests for comment. 

Investigators are still trying to ascertain how much money was ordered,
where it was printed, how much of it eventually arrived in the country, and
where it is now. The money was ordered when Sirleaf was still in power,
before President George Weah took over this year.

Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean said Sirleaf’s administration had not
informed Liberia’s current government of the initial order and that an
investigation had begun once Weah became aware of it in August.  

Information minister Nagabe told Voice of America on Tuesday there were no
records of the containers being collected from the ports, despite several
bank staff employees having written a request for pick-up on March 31. The
containers were recorded as having arrived in November 2017 and August 2018.

Liberia does not have its own mint, and the central bank is the only body
with the power to order new currency. Liberia’s government last approved the
printing of new notes in August 2016, as the country recovered from a
devastating Ebola epidemic.  

The missing cash comes as an unexpected blow to Liberia, one of the world’s
poorest countries that suffered two civil wars between 1989 and 2003. Ebola
struck in 2013, killing thousands over the following three years.

Sirleaf was lauded for cementing peace during her 12-year presidency but was
criticised for failing to rein in high-level corruption.

Charles Sirleaf, one of three of her sons appointed to government posts, was
suspended from his position as Deputy Central Bank Governor in 2012 during
an anti-corruption investigation. But he was re-appointed interim central
bank chief in February 2016, drawing accusations of nepotism.

South Africa's CPI slows to 4.9 pct year/year in August

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s headline consumer inflation slowed
to 4.9 percent year-on-year in August from 5.1 percent in July, data from
Statistics South Africa showed on Wednesday.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation contracted 0.1 percent in August after
rising from 0.8 percent in July.

Core inflation, which excludes the prices of food, non-alcoholic beverages,
petrol and energy, fell to 4.2 percent year-on-year in August from 4.3
percent in July, while on a month-on-month basis was flat at 0.0 percent
from 0.6 percent.

Zambian Kwacha falls over size of country's debt, aid freeze

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia’s kwacha lost more than 1 percent on Wednesday,
hit by investor worries about the size of nation’s debt and an aid freeze by
Britain and Finland over suspicion that social welfare funds may have been
misused.

The currency of Africa’s No.2 copper producer fell as much as 1.6 percent to
11.1800 per dollar on Wednesday from a close of 11.0000 per dollar on
Tuesday, Reuters data showed.

“Zambia’s debt issues continue to create anxiety among investors. In
addition, emerging market currencies have been generally weakening,” one
senior commercial bank trader said.

Zambia’s external debt rose to $9.37 billion by the end of June from $8.7
billion in December, the finance ministry said in August, a week after the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised concerns over country’s high
borrowing.

Britain and Finland have frozen funding to Zambia on suspicion that $4
million they channelled into a social welfare scheme may have been misused,
the Zambian presidency said on Tuesday.

“One can speculate that players are buying dollars to keep their money in
hard currency after news that donors have frozen aid,” independent financial
analyst Maambo Hamaundu said.

Zambian Kwacha falls over size of country's debt, aid freeze

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia’s kwacha lost more than 1 percent on Wednesday,
hit by investor worries about the size of nation’s debt and an aid freeze by
Britain and Finland over suspicion that social welfare funds may have been
misused.

The currency of Africa’s No.2 copper producer fell as much as 1.6 percent to
11.1800 per dollar on Wednesday from a close of 11.0000 per dollar on
Tuesday, Reuters data showed.

“Zambia’s debt issues continue to create anxiety among investors. In
addition, emerging market currencies have been generally weakening,” one
senior commercial bank trader said.

Zambia’s external debt rose to $9.37 billion by the end of June from $8.7
billion in December, the finance ministry said in August, a week after the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised concerns over country’s high
borrowing.

Britain and Finland have frozen funding to Zambia on suspicion that $4
million they channelled into a social welfare scheme may have been misused,
the Zambian presidency said on Tuesday.

“One can speculate that players are buying dollars to keep their money in
hard currency after news that donors have frozen aid,” independent financial
analyst Maambo Hamaundu said.--BBC

Jack Ma rows back on pledge to create one million US jobs

Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who once boasted his e-commerce firm would spur the
creation of one million jobs in America, has rowed back on those plans.

Citing the ongoing trade war between the US and China, Mr Ma told China's
Xinhua news agency: "There is no way to complete the promise."

It follows remarks by Mr Ma at Alibaba's investor day that the trade
tensions could continue for decades.

He had previously embraced the idea of expanding in the US.

In January 2017, Mr Ma met with US President Donald Trump, outlining a plan
to increase Alibaba's presence in America and strengthen relations between
the two countries.

Alibaba said access to Chinese customers through its online marketplace
would help US businesses grow and hire workers - as many as one million
people over five years.

What do Donald Trump and Jack Ma have in common?

Alibaba's Jack Ma courts US firms

However, on Thursday Mr Ma said the pledge had been based on the idea of
strong US-China relations, which have now turned sour.

"The current situation has already destroyed the original premise," he said.

"There is no way to complete the promise, but we will not stop our efforts
and will work hard to promote the healthy development of Sino-US trade."

He added: "The trade in the world really needs to be perfected, but trade is
not a weapon, it cannot be used for war, it should be a propeller for
peace."

'Great things'

Alibaba's jobs pledge followed investments by the firm in US companies such
as Snapchat and Jet.com, as well as efforts to launch a US online shopping
site.

After their 2017 meeting, Mr Trump appeared positive, telling reporters,
"Jack and I are going to do some great things."

Weeks later, Alibaba's digital payments affiliate, Ant Financial Services
Group, announced plans to acquire the US money transfer firm Moneygram.

But the deal never moved forward as relations between the US and China
deteriorated.

In August 2017, Mr Trump ordered an investigation of Chinese trade
practices, accusing the country of unfair treatment of US companies.

And in January, his administration blocked Ant Financial's Moneygram deal on
national security grounds.

The US has since announced tariffs of up to 25% on Chinese imports worth an
estimated $250bn in trade in 2017. The newest round will go into effect next
week.

China has retaliated by raising its own tariffs on US-made products.
Analysts have also warned that US companies selling in China could face
nationalist backlash against their products.--BBC

Equifax fined by ICO over data breach that hit Britons

Credit rating agency Equifax is to be fined £500,000 by the Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO) after it failed to protect the personal data of
15 million Britons.

A 2017 cyber-attack exposed information belonging to 146 million people
around the world, mostly in the US.

The compromised systems were also US-based.

But the ICO ruled Equifax's UK branch had "failed to take appropriate steps"
to protect UK citizens' data.

It added that "multiple failures" meant personal information had been kept
longer than necessary and left vulnerable.

Originally, Equifax reported that fewer than 400,000 Britons had had
sensitive data exposed in the breach - but it later revealed that the number
was nearly 700,000.

A further 14.5 million British records exposed would not have put people at
risk, the company added last October.

The ICO, which joined forces with the Financial Conduct Authority to
investigate the breach, found that it affected three distinct groups in the
following ways:

19,993 UK data subjects had names, dates of birth, telephone numbers and
driving licence numbers exposed

637,430 UK data subjects had names, dates of birth and telephone numbers
exposed

Up to 15 million UK data subjects had names and dates of birth exposed

Guard let down

Equifax had also been warned about a critical vulnerability in its systems
by the US Department of Homeland Security in March 2017, the ICO revealed.

And appropriate steps to fix the vulnerability were not taken, according to
the ICO.

Because the breach happened before the launch of the EU's General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May this year, the investigation took place
under the UK's Data Protection Act 1998 instead.

And the fine of £500,000 is the highest possible under that law.

"The loss of personal information, particularly where there is the potential
for financial fraud, is not only upsetting to customers, it undermines
consumer trust in digital commerce," said information commissioner Elizabeth
Denham.

"This is compounded when the company is a global firm whose business relies
on personal data."

An Equifax spokesperson said the firm was "disappointed in the findings and
the penalty".

"As the ICO makes clear in its report, Equifax has successfully implemented
a broad range of measures to prevent the recurrence of such criminal
incidents and it acknowledges the strengthened procedures which are now in
effect.

"The criminal cyber-attack against our US parent company last year was a
pivotal moment for our company. We apologise again to any consumers who were
put at risk."--BBC

Brexit will have 'worse economic impact on UK than EU'

Brexit will have a bigger economic impact on the UK than the European Union,
the former head of the European Central Bank has told BBC Radio 5 Live.

Jean-Claude Trichet added the break-up was "totally contrary to the new
world" of large emerging economies, with single currencies and single
markets.

Asked how Brexit would affect the other EU countries, he said: "It's very
much a question of proportion."

The EU's economy is worth about £13tn, compared to the UK's £2tn.

Speaking to the Wake up to Money programme, he said: "If I take the EU as a
whole and compare the GDP of the EU to the GDP of the UK, you see there's a
small portion which is the UK."

He added: "It's normal that the European 27 are less impacted themselves
than the UK by this event which has been entirely decided upon by the UK -
when all the 27 wanted the UK to stay."

'New world'

The EU is the UK's biggest trading partner, accounting for nearly half of
all exports in 2016, according to official figures.

Brexit supporters argue new, lucrative trade deals can be made with
fast-growing emerging markets.

Mr Trichet suggested Brexit will also be detrimental to the EU at a time of
economic growth elsewhere in the world, arguing that it should be avoided
"for the sake of the UK in the very long run, and for the sake of our
continent".

He said: "In a period when India, China, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and all
emerging economies are going very fast and are dwarfing Europe more and
more, how can it be that we decide to separate ourselves, to split? It is
totally contrary to the new world.

Rising debt

"How many single markets with a single currency will we have which will be
enormous in 10 or 20 years' time? Look at India, look at China, look at all
those emerging countries.

"I am a little bit passionate because I think that there's something which
goes against what would be a good strategy for all Europeans."

Mr Trichet ran the European Central Bank from 2003 to 2011, overseeing its
response to the 2008 crash and the Greek debt crisis. He's now concerned
about rising public and private debt levels around the world.

"We see financial leverage continuing at a pace which is not sustainable and
we should, at the level of the international community, be much more aware
of the fact this global financial leverage is dangerous and could be one of
the causes - not the only one - of the next crisis."

He added: "If we had a new crisis nobody would forgive the international
community for not having taken the appropriate steps to avoid it."--BBC

Argentine GDP in steepest fall since 2014

Argentina's economy shrank by 4.2% in the second quarter, its sharpest
year-on-year slowdown since 2014.

The decline was accompanied by a steep fall in exports, after a drought hurt
the country's agricultural sector.

The contraction also came amid a currency crisis that has prompted the
central bank to raise interest rates to 60% and the government to cut
spending.

The country has also requested a bailout from the International Monetary
Fund (IMF).

President Mauricio Macri last month asked the IMF to speed up the funding.

He cited in part the deteriorating economy, which has exacerbated the
government's financial situation and raised doubts about its ability to meet
its financial commitments.

A government official this week predicted that the country's gross domestic
product would fall by 2.4% this year.

The 4.2% decline in the April-to-June period followed six consecutive
quarters of year-on-year GDP growth, according to the Instituto Nacional de
Estadistica y Censos .

It matched a 4.2% contraction in the third quarter of 2014.

Exports dropped by more than 14% from the first three months of the year,
Indec's seasonally adjusted figures showed. Private consumption also
declined by about 1%.--BBC

EU wants 'full picture' on Amazon data use

The EU's competition chief says she is looking into Amazon's use of data
from sellers on its site amid concerns that it might harness it to boost its
own retail sales.

Margrethe Vestager warned of a potential conflict between the US firm's role
as both a selling platform and a retailer competing for business.

However, she said it was "early days" and no formal case had been launched.

Her office has sent questionnaires to merchants and others involved.

"The question here is about the data," she said at a press conference,
noting that Amazon could use insights from merchant sales to help its own
retail business.

"We have no conclusions... We are trying to make sure that we get the full
picture."

Amazon, which reported sales of nearly $180bn (£137bn) last year, declined
to comment.

The investigation reflects growing concern about Amazon's rising market
power both in the US and abroad.

The company is a dominant player in online shopping and has a leading cloud
services business, but its wide-ranging offerings also include music,
logistics and advertising.

Third party sellers accounted for more than half the items sold on its site
in 2017.

Amazon's size has prompted calls from critics such as US President Donald
Trump for regulators to break up the company.

The potential conflict arising from the firm's dual role as a selling
platform and retailer has also faced questions in the US, where it was the
focus of a widely circulated legal paper.

The Federal Trade Commission, a US competition regulator, has launched a
review of its approach to anti-trust enforcement, spurred in part by those
concerns.

Europe has a reputation for taking a harder line on competition matters
related to tech firms.

In recent years, the Commission has announced hefty fines against Google,
Microsoft and others.--BBC

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Hippo

AGM

Meikles

26/09/2018 12PM

Bindura

AGM

Chapman Golf Club, Eastlea

27/09/2018 9AM

CBZH

interim dividend of 0.5c per share record date

28/09/2018

Hippo

final dividend of 2c per share record date

28/09/2018

Star Africa

AGM

45 Douglas Road, Workington

28/09/2018 11AM

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