Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 22 February 2019
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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 22 February 2019
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* Zimbabwe scraps bond-note dollar peg, paves way for exchange rate slide
* Higher South African spending limit will not weaken policy credibility -
Moody's
* Eskom support will weigh on South Africa's finances - S&P Global
* Nigeria hits oil majors with billions in back taxes
* South Korea's Hyundai opens assembly plant in Ethiopia
* Nigeria's Zenith Bank sees loan growth in 2019 as economy recovers
* Nigeria's Zenith Bank sees loan growth in 2019 as economy recovers
* AMCU plans to extend Sibanye gold strike to other S.African miners
* Australia seeks clarification on China coal import 'block'
* Russia charges US investor with fraud in high-profile case
* Johnson & Johnson in US probe over baby powder claims
* Standard Chartered puts aside $900m for potential fines
* Zuckerberg to meet with UK culture secretary
* Climate change: Ban gas grid for new homes 'in six years'
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Zimbabwe scraps bond-note dollar peg, paves way for exchange rate slide
(Reuters) - Zimbabwe scrapped the peg between its quasi-currency bond note
and the U.S dollar on Wednesday, its central bank governor said, potentially
paving the way for its official currency exchange rate to slide sharply to
match its value on the streets.
Central Bank Governor John Mangudya said the surrogate bond notes and
electronic dollars known as Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) would trade in
a managed float against the U.S. dollar and other foreign currencies in a
new foreign exchange interbank market launched on Wednesday.
Mangudya said bond notes and electronic dollars will be called RTGS dollars
(RTGS$), in effect becoming Zimbabwe’s currency of trade.
The main opposition said the government had re-introduced the Zimbabwean
dollar through the back door but without the fundamentals needed to support
a new currency. The finance minister has said a new currency will come
within 12 months.
“Regrettably the economy now enters another period of self induced shocks
that will see salaries being devalued, hyperinflation, shortages and
queues,” Tendai Biti, a former finance minister and senior opposition
official, tweeted.
Many Zimbabweans had long expected the move after the bond note started
losing value on the black market.
When bond notes were introduced in November 2016, Mangudya said they were
guaranteed by an African Export and Import Bank loan and that anyone could
exchange the surrogate currency at par with dollars.
“We are using what is known in economics as ‘managed floating’ on a willing
buyer, willing seller basis,” Mangudya said in a monetary policy speech,
suggesting that the central bank will try to keep control of the slide in
the exchange rate.
Zimbabwe adopted the U.S. dollar after dumping its hyperinflation-hit
currency in 2009. It has recently been struggling with a shortage of cash
dollars, leading to prices on imported goods spiraling in the last few
weeks.
A sharp increase in the price of fuel together with broader economic
difficulties last month led to violent protests that were met by a brutal
security crackdown.
Mangudya said several currencies like sterling and South Africa’s rand will
remain in use and that importers would buy dollars at rates set by the
interbank market.
Businesses and miners have been lobbying the central bank since last year to
float bond notes and RTGS$.
Zimbabwe has maintained a one-to-one pegged exchange rate between bond
notes, first launched in 2016, and the dollar even though the greenback and
other foreign currencies have fetched high premiums when exchanged for the
notes. The bond notes are used for day-to-day transactions in the shops and
elsewhere.
Harare-based economist Ashok Chakravarti said businesses that bought dollars
on the black market were charging higher prices, fanning inflation, which
reached 57 percent in January.
“This system will stop that completely because you will have a transparent
interbank rate which will be used by the market and importers to price their
goods,” said Chakravarti.
On Wednesday, $1 fetched up to 3.50 bond notes on the street and more for
RTGS dollars.
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Higher South African spending limit will not weaken policy credibility -
Moody's
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody’s said on Thursday that it did
not believe that South Africa’s decision in its 2019 budget to raise the
expenditure ceiling by around 16 billion rand ($1.14 billion) over three
years would weaken fiscal policy credibility.
Moody’s, the last of the big three ratings agencies to rate South Africa in
investment grade, is scheduled to review that rating next month.
It added in a note on the budget that South Africa’s contingent liability
risks remained sizeable and that the country’s government debt burden was
now expected to exceed 60 percent of gross domestic product by the fiscal
year 2023.
($1 = 14.0117 rand)
Eskom support will weigh on South Africa's finances - S&P Global
LONDON (Reuters) - South Africa’s support plan for struggling state-owned
electricity firm Eskom will put further strain on the country’s finances,
rating agency S&P Global said on Thursday, although it should be offset to a
degree by easing external pressures.
In his maiden budget speech on Wednesday Finance Minister Tito Mboweni
outlined a 69 billion rand ($5 billion), three-year bailout for Eskom, which
has been suffering major power outages in recent months.
The cash call has reignited worries about South Africa’s last remaining
investment grade rating with Moody’s. But S&P, which has stable ‘outlooks’
on both its junk-rated BB and BB+ foreign currency and local currency Africa
ratings, is watching closely too.
“The Eskom package does weigh on the fiscal (picture)although they have
attempted to compensate via cutting other expenditures,” S&P’s primary
analyst for South Africa Ravi Bhatia told Reuters.
He added that S&P always viewed Eskom as a “contingent liability”, meaning
the government would support it. Wednesday’s bailout plan therefore “was
broadly something we were expecting to a certain extent”.
Lacklustre growth in South Africa, though, and the chance the ongoing
electricity outages could make the situation worse were also a concern.
“On the flip side, the (U.S.) Fed rate rises are slower and the current
account deficit is relatively small, so on the external front the situation
is not so threatening, you could say,” Bhatia said.
In its last review of South Africa in November, S&P estimated overall
public-sector debt at around 71 percent of gross domestic product (GDP),
including the debt of central and local governments and of public sector
companies.
It also forecast the government’s fiscal deficit - its spending versus
revenues from things like taxes - would be 4.1 percent this year.
Nigeria hits oil majors with billions in back taxes
LONDON (Reuters) - Nigeria has ordered foreign oil and gas companies to pay
nearly $20 billion in taxes it says are owed to local states, industry and
government sources said, in a move that could deter investment in Africa’s
largest economy.
In a letter sent to the companies earlier this year via a debt-collection
arm of the government, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) cited what it
called outstanding royalties and taxes for oil and gas production.
Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Eni, Total and Equinor were each
asked to pay the central government between $2.5 billion and $5 billion,
said the sources, who saw or were briefed on the letters.
Norway’s Equinor, which produced around 45,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil
in Nigeria in 2017, confirmed the request.
“Several operators have received similar claims in a case between the
authorities in Nigeria and local authorities in parts of the country,” an
Equinor spokesman said.
Exxon “is currently reviewing the matter”, a spokeswoman for the U.S.
company said.
Shell, Total, Eni and Chevron declined to comment, as did Nigeria’s
presidency, petroleum ministry and NNPC.
‘NO MERIT’
The charge came after the central Nigerian government and local states
settled a dispute over the distribution of revenue from hydrocarbon
production. The sides agreed last year that Abuja would pay the states
several billion dollars, three company and government sources said.
The companies were expected to dispute their respective payment claims.
“Equinor sees no merit to the case,” the company spokesman said.
A source at another company said: “This looks like an internal dispute
between the federal and local governments. The central government is simply
trying to shift to the IOCs (international oil companies) money it owes.”
It was unclear whether the move was linked to the upcoming presidential
election in Nigeria, the most populous African country.
The tax demand adds a fresh challenge to energy companies investing in
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil and gas producer, which have been negotiating
production-sharing agreements with the government to develop and operate
giant offshore fields.
Oil theft, massive oil spills and corruption further complicate operations
in the country.
Nigeria, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC), produced around 2.1 million bpd of oil last year, compared with 1.86
million bpd in 2017, NNPC says.
Nigeria uses several types of contract with energy companies including the
establishment of joint ventures and production sharing, the two most common
partnerships for international oil companies in the country.
The companies pay the government in the form of royalties and tax as well as
providing the state with oil and gas.
South Korea's Hyundai opens assembly plant in Ethiopia
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co opened a
10,000-a-year vehicle capacity assembly plant in the Ethiopian capital Addis
Ababa on Thursday, its first factory in East Africa.
While second-hand vehicles dominate sales in the Horn of Africa country,
Hyundai hopes locally-assembled cars could prove attractive given the cost
of imports due to high taxes.
Vehicles that will roll off the assembly line at the plant just outside of
the capital include passenger hatchback cars and trucks, Haile Gebrselassie,
the former Olympian-turned businessman who has partnered with the South
Korean firm.
Some of the cars will be exported to the region, Haile said.
“This plant is big enough (to assemble) for Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia,
Djibouti, Eritrea and Sudan,” he said.
Ethiopia produces around 10,000 commercial and other vehicles a year for its
home market. It imported more than 40,000 cars in 2017, automobile traders
say.
Assemblers in the country include Chinese brands Geely, FAW and BYD, as well
as Lifan.
Hyundai Chief Executive Won Hee Lee said the Korean firm was drawn by
Ethiopia’s growth, one of Africa’s fastest for more than a decade.
“We have good opportunities in Ethiopia. We believe the economic growth in
Ethiopia will be faster than any other country in middle Africa,” he told
reporters at the inauguration ceremony.
Nigeria's Zenith Bank sees loan growth in 2019 as economy recovers
LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria’s Zenith Bank expects loan volumes to return to
growth this year after 2018’s decline, and is targeting higher activity in
the agricultural sector, the bank said on Thursday.
The top tier lender said it aimed to grow loans by 7.5 percent in 2019 after
they declined last year due to early repayments, saying borrowers were
replacing overdrafts with term loans. It had guided for loans to grow 2.5
percent in 2018.
“Our expectation is that the economy will continue to strengthen,” the bank
told an analysts’ call. “It will throw up opportunities to grow the loan
book.”
Nigeria’s economy expanded in 2018 at its fastest pace since a recession two
years earlier, while inflation fell in January from a seven-month high.
The bank said it saw opportunities in the agricultural sector, which
receives good support from the government, and that as the economic recovery
continues it could also open up opportunities to lend to manufacturers.
Zenith Bank on Tuesday posted a 16.2 percent rise in pretax profit to 231.7
billion naira for 2018. Its shares have risen 25 percent from their January
lows, though they fell 1.94 percent on Thursday.
The bank said its $500 million eurobond matures in April. It plans to repay
the bond from its cashflow, it said, and has no need to tap the market again
immediately.
Nigeria's Zenith Bank sees loan growth in 2019 as economy recovers
LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria’s Zenith Bank expects loan volumes to return to
growth this year after 2018’s decline, and is targeting higher activity in
the agricultural sector, the bank said on Thursday.
The top tier lender said it aimed to grow loans by 7.5 percent in 2019 after
they declined last year due to early repayments, saying borrowers were
replacing overdrafts with term loans. It had guided for loans to grow 2.5
percent in 2018.
“Our expectation is that the economy will continue to strengthen,” the bank
told an analysts’ call. “It will throw up opportunities to grow the loan
book.”
Nigeria’s economy expanded in 2018 at its fastest pace since a recession two
years earlier, while inflation fell in January from a seven-month high.
The bank said it saw opportunities in the agricultural sector, which
receives good support from the government, and that as the economic recovery
continues it could also open up opportunities to lend to manufacturers.
Zenith Bank on Tuesday posted a 16.2 percent rise in pretax profit to 231.7
billion naira for 2018. Its shares have risen 25 percent from their January
lows, though they fell 1.94 percent on Thursday.
The bank said its $500 million eurobond matures in April. It plans to repay
the bond from its cashflow, it said, and has no need to tap the market again
immediately.
AMCU plans to extend Sibanye gold strike to other S.African miners
JOHANNESBURG/LONDON (Reuters) - Workers led by South Africa’s Association of
Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) plan to down tools at gold and
platinum mines next week in support of colleagues at Sibanye-Stillwater who
are striking over wages and job cuts.
AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Anglo American Platinum Lonmin, Village
Main Reef and DRDGold have received notices of the strike action, which is
expected to begin on Feb. 28 and last until March 7, industry body, the
Minerals Council, said on Thursday.
Sibanye-Stillwater last week said it could cut nearly 6,000 jobs at its gold
mining operations, where AMCU has been on strike since mid-November over a
wage dispute.
AMCU reached wage agreements with AngloGold, Harmony Gold and Village Main
Reef last year.
South Africa is home to the world’s biggest platinum group metals deposits
and accounts for just over 90 percent of global production.
Lonmin’s South African listed shares fell 8.29 percent, while its
London-listed shares slipped 6 percent by 1215 GMT after it said it had
received a strike notice.
The miner said it was in the process of obtaining legal advice on AMCU’s
notice.
Lonmin, which is in the process of being bought by Sibanye, has been
crippled by soaring costs and subdued platinum prices.
The firm has been cutting spending to conserve cash and retain a positive
cash balance, one of the conditions upon which Sibanye’s takeover is
contingent.
“Any disruption is obviously bad news. The deal with Sibanye hasn’t been
finalised yet and Sibanye wants Lonmin to be in a cash positive position so
obviously if there is a prolonged strike this could affect things,” said
Yuen Low, mining analyst at Shore Capital.
Workers led by the AMCU also plan to extend their strike at
Sibanye-Stillwater’s gold shafts to its platinum mines next week, the
company said on Thursday.
“We have strike plans. It’s not going to change our view,” said Sibanye
chief executive Neal Froneman.
AMCU said in a strike notice document seen by Reuters that it intends to
strike at Sibanye’s platinum operations for the duration of the protected
strike at its gold mines and until the dispute is resolved.
Sibanye’s full-year loss, hit by multiple disruptions at its South African
gold operations and a deferred tax charge, was limited by the strong
performance of the company’s U.S. and South African platinum group metals
(PGM) operations, the firm said during its results on Thursday.
Australia seeks clarification on China coal import 'block'
The Australian government says it is seeking an "urgent" clarification from
Beijing over reports that a major Chinese port has halted imports of
Australian coal.
Australia is a top supplier of coal to China, its biggest export market.
Beijing has not confirmed the reported halt in the port of Dalian, but
called changes in such arrangements "normal".
Canberra sought to play down speculation on Friday that the matter may be
linked to bilateral tensions.
Australian officials said there was "confusion" over the situation, and they
were consulting their Chinese counterparts.
"I wouldn't jump to conclusions. The Australia-China trading relationship is
exceptionally strong," Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation.
Australia ups Pacific role to counter China
Foreign interference laws passed amid China tension
Fears about the issue have prompted a fall in the Australian dollar.
What has happened?
On Thursday, Reuters reported that China's Dalian port region would not
allow Australian coal to pass through customs.
The news agency quoted officials as saying that only Australian coal had
been affected, with no limits placed on Indonesian and Russian shipments.
It said other Chinese ports had delayed Australian coal shipments in recent
months.
Australian trade officials said they had been notified of recent industry
concerns about market access.
When asked about the reported halt, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng
Shuang offered general comments that authorities sought "to safeguard the
rights and interests of Chinese importers and protect the environment".
What else is being debated?
Some security analysts in Australia have suggested it could be a tit-for-tat
move by China, after Australia blocked tech giant Huawei from providing 5G
technology.
"The banning of those coal shipments is a form of coercion against
Australia. It's punishment against states that resist China's pressure,"
said Dr Malcolm Davis, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
Other recent tensions have emerged over allegations - denied by Beijing - of
Chinese interference in Australian politics and society.
Chinese billionaire rejected by Australia
Australian parliament 'hacked by state actor'
Is racism worsening Australia's China row?
However others, including the head of the Reserve Bank of Australia, have
suggested that China's concerns about its own coal industry may be behind
any such halts.
Blocking "a couple of months of coal exports" would not hurt the Australian
economy, said Philip Lowe.
"If it were to be the sign of a deterioration in the underlying political
relationship between Australia and China then that would be more
concerning," he said.
Mr Frydenberg said: "We can see these occasional interruptions to the smooth
flow but that doesn't necessarily translate to some of the consequences that
aspects of the media might seek to leap to."--BBC
Russia charges US investor with fraud in high-profile case
Russian investigators have charged US investor Michael Calvey with
large-scale fraud, in a case that has further strained ties between the two
nations.
Mr Calvey, the founder of the Baring Vostok investment fund, is suspected of
embezzling 2.5bn roubles ($38m; £29m) from a Russian bank, Vostochny.
Mr Calvey, who was held last week with five other suspects, denies this.
The US embassy in Moscow said Russia was denying US diplomats access to Mr
Calvey, seven days after his arrest.
"Under the bilateral consular convention, Russia is obliged to provide
consular access within four days," the embassy said in a tweet (in Russian).
"We insist on an immediate access," it added.
Mr Calvey says that charges against him are being used as an instrument in a
dispute among shareholders of Vostochny.
In an unusual move, Russia's business ombudsman Boris Titov has questioned
the legality of Mr Calvey's arrest.
Meanwhile, several prominent Russian businessmen have warned that the
high-profile case could raise concerns among foreign investors about the
business climate in Russia.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov admitted that Mr
Calvey's case was "at the centre of rather lively political discussions".
Relations between the US and Russia have been strained over a number of
issues, including a major arms control treaty and Russia's occupation of
Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in 2014.--BBC
Johnson & Johnson in US probe over baby powder claims
US authorities are investigating Johnson & Johnson, spurred by concerns
about asbestos contamination of its talc products, such as baby powder.
The inquiries by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange
Commission follow news reports in December that said the firm had known
about the risks for decades.
The firm, which contested the reports, said it was co-operating.
It also faces numerous lawsuits linked to the health concerns.
These are the first federal investigations stemming from the issue.
In a statement, the company said the inquiries - which it disclosed in its
annual report - were related to the December news stories, which prompted
the firm's share price to plunge by more than 10%.
The firm said the stories had included "inaccurate statements and also
withheld crucial information that had already been made public in the
litigation and in prior media reports".
"We intend to co-operate fully with these inquiries and will continue to
defend the company in the talc-related litigation," Johnson & Johnson said.
The company is facing lawsuits from thousands of customers, who say use of
the firm's talc products caused cancer.
Investors have also sued the company over its disclosures about the issue.
Johnson & Johnson maintains that the baby powder is "safe and asbestos-free,
and does not cause cancer".
However, court decisions have been mixed.--BBC
Standard Chartered puts aside $900m for potential fines
Standard Chartered is putting aside $900m (£690m) for potential fines
involving investigations in Britain and the US.
The money will cover separate investigations into breaches of US sanctions
and foreign exchange trading issues.
It also covers a £102.2m fine from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority
related to financial crime controls.
The provision will be included in the bank's results due next week.
The bank, which is listed in London and Hong Kong, warned last year that
continuing investigations by the US and UK regulators could have a
"substantial financial impact".
"Standard Chartered's 2018 fourth quarter results will include a provision
totalling USD900 million for potential penalties relating to the... US
investigation and FCA decision, and for previously disclosed investigations
relating to FX trading issues," the bank said in a filing to the Hong Kong
Stock Exchange.
The Financial Times reported in October that the bank could face a $1.5bn
fine from US regulators for alleged sanction breaches involving Iran-based
clients of its Dubai branch.
Standard Chartered shares listed in Hong Kong fell more than 1% earlier,
according to Reuters.--BBC
Zuckerberg to meet with UK culture secretary
Mark Zuckerberg is to meet with the UK’s culture secretary at the company’s
headquarters in California on Thursday.
It follows 18 months in which the Facebook founder refused to address a
parliamentary committee investigating accusations of significant failings at
the social network.
The BBC understands Jeremy Wright will be given about 30 minutes of Mr
Zuckerberg’s time.
Mr Wright told the BBC he hoped to discuss ways to prevent online harm.
Facebook has been under intense scrutiny since the family of the British
teenager Molly Russell claimed she took her own life after viewing material
which glorified suicide on their photo-sharing site, Instagram.
Good reason to engage
A white paper is expected to be published by the Department of Culture,
Media and Sport in the "next few weeks", and will include input from various
technology companies visited during this week’s trip.
The UK delegation, which includes minister for digital and culture Margot
James, will also have spent time at Google, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest,
Apple, Snap and Tinder.
Mr Wright told the BBC he hoped the eventual proposal would become a model
for other countries looking to temper Facebook’s negative impacts.
"So there's good reason for these companies, be it Facebook or any other, to
engage with us at this stage,” he said.
No co-regulation
Mr Zuckerberg did not, however, choose to engage with a DCMS committee
during an 18-month investigation that culminated in a damning report
published earlier this week.
The report suggested the company knowingly violated data privacy and
competition laws. One comment went as far as to describe the firm as being
like a “digital gangster”.
“The period of time that we've been through, where we've simply urged social
media companies to do better and left them to regulate themselves, is a
period that's now coming to an end,” Mr Wright said.
The BBC understands that former UK deputy prime minster Nick Clegg, recently
appointed as Facebook’s head of communications, will not be attending the
meeting.
In the past, Mr Clegg has spoken of his desire to produce “co-regulation”
with governments, an approach Mr Wright said he did not plan to embrace.
“It’s not a phrase I would use,” he said. "If regulation is what's needed,
only governments can produce it.”--BBC
Climate change: Ban gas grid for new homes 'in six years'
New homes should be banned from connecting to the gas grid within six years
to tackle climate change, UK government advisers say.
They want new-build homes in the countryside to be warmed by heat pumps -
and cooking done on induction hobs, rather than using gas boilers and hobs.
In cities, new housing estates and flats should be kept warm by networks of
hot water, says the report.
The water could be heated by waste heat from industry.
An alternative approach is to use heat pumps, which draw warmth from the sea
or lakes; or burn gas from waste.
The report, from the independent Committee on Climate Change, recommends
these changes are made to new homes at first because it's much more
economical that way. They say it costs £4,800 to install low-carbon heating
in a new home, but £26,300 in an existing house.
What's more, these systems will only work if homes are insulated to the
highest standards so they need little heating.
It's the committee's job to lay down a pathway for the UK to meet its
targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 (on 1990
levels).
They are dismayed that emissions from housing suddenly increased last year,
when they should be going down.
The housing emissions mainly came from heating boilers - a little-discussed
source of greenhouse gases.
The committee says that to meet climate targets, all homes in future will
have to virtually eliminate emissions.
The government said it's committed to investing £6bn to improve the energy
efficiency of lower income and vulnerable households in a decade.
How big is the problem?
Some 14% of UK greenhouse gas emissions come from our homes, but little's
being done to reduce them.
The committee's spokesperson Prof Julia King told us: "This generation of
home-owners is cheating its children by leaving homes which are completely
inadequate for an age of climate change.
"They're too cold in winter and increasingly, as the climate continues to
warm, they are going to become too hot in the summer."
Tackling existing housing stock is difficult and expensive in the short-term
What's more, she said, many new homes don't even meet building standards
because they are poorly constructed.
"These poorly-built new homes are going to need to be retro-fitted
(re-insulated) 10-15 years down the line. It's a total waste of money
because retro-fitting is 4-5 times more expensive than building it properly
in the first place.
"This is a scandal comparable to the VW emissions scandal. Lots of people
are paying far more on their gas bills than they ought to be because their
new homes are poorly built."
What should we do with existing homes?
Tackling existing housing stock is difficult and expensive in the short-term
- though it saves on gas bills in the long term.
The committee wants the government to treat renovating the UK's housing
stock as a national infrastructure priority, akin to widening roads.
"There's already government cash for help-to-buy," said Prof King. "That
should be extended to help-to-insulate."
The report says upgrades and repairs to existing homes should include plans
for shading and ventilation to combat the extreme heatwaves expected in
future.
They should also have measures to reduce indoor moisture, improve air
quality, water efficiency and protection in homes at risk of flooding.
Who is to blame?
"The reason carbon emissions are rising again in homes is the decision by
the Cameron government to slash funding for home energy efficiency," Ed
Matthew, from the climate think tank E3G, told the BBC.
"As a result, home insulation has crashed by 95% since 2012.
"The chancellor must make building energy efficiency an infrastructure
investment priority. Failure to do so will lead to entrenched fuel poverty,
failure to meet carbon budgets, higher NHS costs and higher energy bills for
us all."
The Treasury has typically been reluctant to invest in insulating private
houses because it believes people who are able to pay should upgrade their
homes without public money.
"They seem to have missed the memo on the climate emergency," Mr Matthew
said.
A government spokesperson said: "The UK has reduced emissions faster than
any other G7 nation, and moving to a greener, cleaner economy while
continuing to grow the economy is at the heart of our modern Industrial
Strategy.
"We will carefully consider the Committee's recommendations."
The chair of the Committee, Lord Deben, is being investigated by the Lords
Standards Commissioner to see if he has breached rules by not declaring
income from firms that benefit from pro-active climate policies. Lord Deben
says he has followed advice on the rules.--BBC
INVESTORS DIARY 2019
Company
Event
Venue
Date & Time
ART
AGM
202 Seke Road, Graniteside
27 Feb 2019 2:30pm
Cafca
AGM
Boardroom, Head Office, 54 Lytton Road, Workington
28 Feb 2019 12pm
Powerspeed
AGM
Boardroom, Gate 1, Powerspeed Complex, Graniteside
28 Feb 2019 - 11am
Willdale
AGM
Boardroom, Willdale Adminstration Block, Teneriffe Factory, 19.5km peg
Lomagundi Road, Mt Hampden
07 March 2019 11am
Mash
AGM
Boardroom, ZB Life Towers, 77 Jason Moyo Avenue
18 March 2019 12pm
Zimbabwe
Independence Day
Zimbabwe
18 Apr 2019
Good Friday
19 Apr 2019
Easter Saturday
20 Apr 2019
Easter Sunday
21 Apr 2019
Easter Monday
22 Apr 2019
Workers Day
01 May 2019
Africa Day
25 May 2019
<mailto:info at bulls.co.zw>
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investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of
any companies referred to in this report. Other Indices quoted herein are
for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.
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