Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 18 November 2022

Fri Nov 18 12:17:12 CAT 2022

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 18 November 2022 

 <https://wwww.nedbank.co.zw/> 

ü  Elon Musk: Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week

ü  Autumn Statement: Jeremy Hunt warns of challenges as living standards
plunge

ü  Shop sales rise but remain below pre-pandemic levels

ü  China urges military veterans to work at iPhone factory

ü  New FTX boss condemns crypto exchange's failure

ü  Shop sales rise but remain below pre-pandemic levels

ü  Gloucestershire firms raising prices due to inflation

ü  Taxing electric cars 'short-sighted' say manufacturers

ü  Royal Mail staff to strike on six more days in run-up to Christmas

ü  Energy bills to rise to £3,000 a year from April

ü  UK faces biggest fall in living standards on record

ü  Nigeria to Produce Additional 255,000 Bpd

ü  Kenya: Hustler Fund Loan Defaulters Will Not Be Penalized Sh10 Million,
CS Chelugui

ü  Kenya: Govt to Install Cameras to Replace Roadblocks, CS Kindiki Says

 <mailto:info at bulls.co.zw> 

Elon Musk: Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week

Twitter has told employees that the company's office buildings will be
temporarily closed, effective immediately.

In a message seen by the BBC, workers were told that the offices would
reopen on Monday 21 November.

It did not give a reason for the move.

The announcement comes amid reports that large numbers of staff were
quitting after new owner Elon Musk called on them to sign up for "long hours
at high intensity" or leave.

The message went on to say: "Please continue to comply with company policy
by refraining from discussing confidential company information on social
media, with the press or elsewhere."

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.

This week Mr Musk told Twitter staff that they had to commit to working long
hours and would "need to be extremely hardcore" or leave the company,
according to reports.

In an email to staff, the firm's new owner said workers should agree to the
pledge if they wanted to stay, the Washington Post reported.

Those who did not sign up by Thursday 17 November would be given three
months' severance pay, Mr Musk said.

Earlier this month the company said that it was cutting around 50% of its
workforce.

Today's announcement that Twitter had temporarily closed its offices came
amid signs that large numbers of workers have now also resigned as they have
not accepted Mr Musk's new terms.

Employees have been tweeting using the hashtag #LoveWhereYouWorked and a
saluting emoji to show they were leaving the firm.

One former Twitter worker who wished to remain anonymous told the BBC: "I
think when the dust clears today, there's probably going to be less than
2,000 people left."

They added that everyone in their team had been terminated.

"The manager of that team, his manager was terminated. And then that
manager's manager was terminated. The person above that was one of the execs
terminated on the first day. So there's nobody left in that chain of
command."

Before Mr Musk took control of Twitter the company had around 7,500 staff.
The firm was also reported to have employed thousands of contract workers,
the majority of which are understood to have been laid off.

Another person said they had resigned even though they had been prepared to
work long hours.

"I didn't want to work for someone who threatened us over email multiple
times about only 'exceptional tweeps should work here' when I was already
working 60-70 hours weekly," they said.

The world's richest person became Twitter's chief executive after buying the
firm last month in a $44bn (£37bn) deal.

In response to a question about concerns that Twitter was on the brink of
shutting down after the message about Twitter's offices being closed was
sent Mr Musk tweeted:

"The best people are staying, so I'm not super worried".

In separate posts he tweeted a skull and crossbones emoji and a meme showing
a gravestone with the Twitter logo on it.-BBC

Autumn Statement: Jeremy Hunt warns of challenges as living standards plunge

Families face "real challenges", Jeremy Hunt has warned, as government
forecasters predict the biggest drop in living standards since records
began.

The Office for Budget Responsibility says household income will fall by 7%
over the next 18 months.

The chancellor said tax rises and a spending squeeze in his Autumn Statement
would help tame inflation which he said had caused the drop.

But Labour said he had picked the nation's pockets with "stealth taxes".

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves described the emergency budget measures as
"an invoice for the economic carnage" created by the policies of former
Prime Minister Liz Truss.

In a sombre statement lasting just under an hour, Mr Hunt undid much of the
tax-cutting mini-budget unveiled by his predecessor as chancellor, Kwasi
Kwarteng, only 55 days ago.

It was deliberately stripped of surprises and political theatre, with many
of the announcements having been trailed in the media beforehand.

Mr Hunt told the BBC's political editor Chris Mason his plan would bring
down inflation, while protecting public services.

"These are real challenges for families up and down the country," he said
adding: "I'm not pretending these aren't going to be difficult times, but
there's a plan, there's hope - and if we follow this plan, if we stick with
it, we can get through to the other side.

"We need to be sensible about the way we do this. We don't want to make the
recession worse."

BBC economics editor Faisal Islam said the statement was comprised of two
halves - the first covering the years until the next general election in
which there would be further support for households, and the second coming
after 2025 when spending cuts would kick in.

The key measures were:

Tax thresholds will be frozen until April 2028, meaning millions will pay
more tax

Spending on public services in England will rise more slowly than planned -
with some departments facing cuts after the next election

The state pensions triple lock will be kept, meaning pensioners will see a
10.1% rise in weekly payments

The household energy price cap has been extended for one year beyond April
but made less generous, with typical bills capped at £3,000 a year instead
of £2,500

There will be additional cost-of-living payments for the "most vulnerable",
with £900 for those on benefits, and £300 for pensioners

The top 45% additional rate of income tax will be paid on earnings over
£125,140, instead of £150,000

UK minimum wage for people over 23 to increase from £9.50 to £10.42 an hour

The windfall tax on oil and gas firms will increase from 25% to 35%, raising
£55bn from this year until 2028

The chancellor announced extra money for schools, the NHS and social care in
England for the next two years.

Mr Hunt denied that he had been forced to raise taxes and reduce spending
because of the turmoil caused by Ms Truss's mini-Budget.

He said there had been mistakes, but insisted the government had "corrected
those within weeks".

He argued that other countries, such as Germany, France and America were all
facing similar problems as a result of the conflict in Ukraine and rising
energy prices.

But, Mr Hunt denied he had postponed difficult decisions, with the squeeze
on government departments to come.

The Chancellor's tone was sober; the facial expressions of Conservative MPs
business-like rather than emblazoned with smiles.

Even the opposition parties were relatively muted too: times are and will
continue to be very difficult for millions of households.

For all of the numbers, the forecasts, the rhetoric, the standout statistic
comes from the government's independent analysers, the Office for Budget
Responsibility: Living standards are falling further right now than at any
point since the 1950s.

Bad news.

Add to the mix a chancellor wrestling with a recession; responding with tax
rises - taxation levels are their highest for 75 years - and government
spending below what it was expected to be.

He argues that protecting the state pension, benefits, and the announcements
on spending for education and health shield the government against the
suggestion this is another era of austerity.

But lots of government departments face lean years, inflation pickpocketing
their spending power.

And Mr Hunt has also postponed the big spending squeezes until after the
next election.

That could turn out to be a hospital pass to the future and, after an
election, to the next government, whatever its political colour.

2px presentational grey line

The OBR, which produced an economic forecast to accompany Mr Hunt's Autumn
Statement, says high inflation and rising interest rates will lead to
consumers spending less, tipping the UK's economy into a recession "lasting
just over a year".

It predicts the economy will shrink by 1.4% in 2023 before growth slowly
picks up again.

The forecaster also says that as a result of Mr Hunt's decisions, the tax
burden would rise to its highest level since the end of World War Two.

Mr Hunt described a target to reduce government debt in five years time as
one of "two new fiscal rules". But speaking on BBC Newsnight, OBR chairman
Richard Hughes suggested the plan could end up only being an aspiration
because the end date can be extended every year at the budget.

The Resolution Foundation think tank said the Autumn statement piled further
pressure on "the squeezed middle" earners.

Research director James Smith said: "As an energy importer during an energy
price shock, Britain is getting poorer. Deciding how we do so was, to a
significant extent, the choice facing the chancellor."

Attacking Mr Hunt's plans in Parliament, Labour's Rachel Reeves said he had
introduced "a Conservative double whammy that sees frozen tax thresholds and
double-digit inflation erode the real value of people's wages".

She accused the government of increasing taxes by "stealth" arguing that
freezing the personal allowance - the amount of income someone does not have
to pay tax on - would cost an average earner more than £600 per year.

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, Ms Reeves said "fairer choices around tax
could have been made", criticising the Tories for not abolishing non-dom
status and instead going to the "pockets of the ordinary working man and
woman".

Media caption,

Watch: Rachel Reeves on 12 weeks of "Conservative chaos"

The Liberal Democrats said people were "being forced to pay the price for
this Conservative government's incompetence".

The SNP's Treasury spokeswoman Alison Thewliss said: "This is a UK so weak
that no-one would wish to join it - Scotland cannot be forced to stay in
broke, broken, Brexit Britain."

There was also an attack from the chancellor's own side with former cabinet
minister, Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg arguing that the measures
announced were based on unreliable economic forecasts.

"I'm particularly concerned about the tax rises, when an economy is going
into recession. You have to be slightly easier in a fiscal sense, than you
do when you're at the peak of a boom."

Meanwhile, a Conservative MP is seeking assurances from the chancellor that
he will not increase fuel duty.

The tax is suppose to rise in line with inflation, but has repeatedly been
frozen. The Treasury has said a final decision would not be taken until the
next budget in spring 2023.

Writing to the chancellor, Conservative backbencher Jonathan Gullis warned
that a "substantial number" of Tory MPs would be opposed to a rise.-BBC

Shop sales rise but remain below pre-pandemic levels

UK retail sales increased in October but remain below pre-pandemic levels as
the soaring cost of living hits households, official figures show.

Sales volumes rose by 0.6% following a 1.5% drop in September, according to
the Office for National Statistics.

The rebound followed weak sales in September when shops were open for fewer
hours or closed for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, the ONS said.

But economists suggested the latest uptick in sales will not continue.

The UK's inflation rate, which measures how quickly prices are rising, hit
11.1% in October - the highest for 41 years - and the government has said
the country is in an economic recession.

UK faces biggest fall in living standards on record

The ONS said petrol and diesel sales rebounded in October and non-food
stores sales increased, though both remain well below February 2020 levels.

However, the rebound was not seen by food stores, which saw sales drop.

Non-store shops, which are mostly online retailers, saw sales increase by
1.8% after a fall in September. Unlike traditional High Street businesses,
online sales remain around fifth higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics for the ONS, said the October
rebound in sales was due to September's sales being affected by the extra
bank holiday for the state funeral.

"Looking at the broader picture, retail sales continue their downward trend
seen since summer 2021 and are below where they were pre-pandemic," he
added.

The ONS said sales volumes in the August to October period fell by 2.4% when
compared with the previous three months.

Gabriella Dickens, senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the
rise in sales in October would "prove a false dawn".

Lynda Petherick, head of retail at Accenture in the UK & Ireland, said:
"Despite Black Friday coming up next week, it's unlikely that retailers will
be in celebration mode as we head into the festive season this year.

"Rising inflation and the fall in real wages will only be adding to the
sense of unease over whether this will be a 'golden quarter' after all.

"With further price rises expected, businesses may feel like they are
already doing all they can in what is likely to be a difficult Christmas
trading period."

The UK faces its biggest drop in living standards on record with wage rises
struggling to keep up with inflation, and higher prices have led households
to tighten their belts when it comes to spending.

It means so-called "big ticket" purchases for goods such as washing machines
and sofas have been avoided in recent months.

Marks and Spencer has warned of a "gathering storm" of higher costs for
retailers and pressure on household budgets.

The High Street giant has said trading will become "more challenging" and
said "all parts" of retail will be affected by the UK's current economic
climate, adding unviable firms would go bust.

Online furniture retailer Made.com collapsed into administration last week,
resulting in 500 job losses, while clothing group Joules has also collapsed
into administration, putting 1,600 jobs at risk.-BBC

China urges military veterans to work at iPhone factory

China wants retired military staff to help boost production at the world's
largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou.

The call came from a Veteran Affairs Bureau of the People's Liberation Army
in the same province as the plant.

Output at the Foxconn factory has been hit by a local Covid outbreak.

In an open letter posted on messaging app WeChat, the bureau said that
veterans were always under the command of the Communist Party and should
"show up where there's a need".

It urged them to "answer the government's call" and "take part in the
resumption of production".

Foxconn, whose headquarters are in Taiwan, has many factories in China.

The plant in Zhengzhou, a city with a population of about 10 million,
employs more than 200,000 workers and produces 70% of iPhones globally -
about 500,000 a day.

China's Covid wave earlier this year has forced the temporary closure of a
few Foxconn factories.

In order to maintain production, the Zhengzhou factory has been put under a
"Covid bubble" since the beginning of 2022.

Any staff who test positive are sent to quarantine centres within the
factory, but this has not prevented the workers from being infected.

A few cases were found inside the factory in October - at the same time the
city of Zhengzhou announced a lockdown in some districts. The actual number
of infections in Foxconn was not released.

The outbreak triggered panic inside the factory. Videos shared on social
media showed a large number of workers jumping fences outside the plant in
an attempt to flee.

Many Foxconn staff walked miles along a road because there was no public
transport available.

Foxconn production has since been interrupted. Research group TrendForce
found just over two-thirds of the production lines in the factory were under
operation.

China's state-affiliated media Global Times estimated there was a need for
10,000 extra workers at the factory.

Online news site NetEast reported that Foxconn has asked the local
government to send at least one person from each village to the factory, but
the BBC cannot verify this claim.

Foxconn is the biggest employer in Zhengzhou and a top export company. By
September 2022, it had exported more than 261bn yuan (£30.9bn) worth of
products.

Foxconn and Apple have not yet responded to the BBC's requests for
comment.-BBC

New FTX boss condemns crypto exchange's failure

New FTX chief executive John Ray has hit out at the way the failed crypto
exchange was run.

The firm filed for bankruptcy in the US last week and, in court filings, Mr
Ray said he had never "seen such a complete failure of corporate controls".

Mr Ray, who replaced Sam Bankman-Fried, also criticised a "complete absence
of trustworthy financial information".

Meanwhile, Mr Bankman-Fried has told the Vox news website that he regretted
filing for bankruptcy.

He said that the decision had largely taken financial matters out of his
control, and he also expressed his disdain for financial regulators.

'Erratic and misleading'

Mr Ray said what he had found since taking over was "unprecedented" in his
40-year career, which includes overseeing the bankruptcy of US energy giant
Enron.

In documents filed for the first day of bankruptcy proceedings at the
Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Mr Ray also criticised what
he said were "erratic and misleading" public statements by his predecessor.

Mr Ray said that FTX had concentrated control in the hands of a "very small
group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised
individuals", and that it did not maintain centralised control of its cash.

Instead, he said, there was an "absence of an accurate list of bank accounts
and account signatories".

So far he said it had been possible to locate "only a fraction of the
digital assets" held by the firm.

Mr Ray's declaration to the court also says: "In the Bahamas, I understand
that corporate funds of the FTX Group were used to purchase homes and other
personal items for employees and advisors."

The new chief executive did add that there was "a core team of dedicated
employees" who had stayed focused on their jobs since the bankruptcy.

He also noted some of the people most hurt by these events "are current and
former employees and executives, whose personal investments and reputations
have suffered".

FTX is estimated to owe money to more than a million people and
organisations.

It is unclear how much those with funds in the exchange will get back at the
end of bankruptcy proceedings, though many experts warn it may be a small
fraction of what they put into the firm.

Mr Bankman-Fried has recently tweeted: "My goal - my one goal - is to do
right by customers."-BBC

Shop sales rise but remain below pre-pandemic levels

UK retail sales increased in October but remain below pre-pandemic levels as
the soaring cost of living hits households, official figures show.

Sales volumes rose by 0.6% following a 1.5% drop in September, according to
the Office for National Statistics.

The rebound followed weak sales in September when shops were open for fewer
hours or closed for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, the ONS said.

But economists suggested the latest uptick in sales will not continue.

The UK's inflation rate, which measures how quickly prices are rising, hit
11.1% in October - the highest for 41 years - and the government has said
the country is in an economic recession.

UK faces biggest fall in living standards on record