FILE PHOTO: Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives at Downing

Beijing-Backed AIIB to double funds under coronavirus crisis facility to $10 billion

BEIJING (Reuters) – The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank said on Friday that it was doubling available funds under its COVID-19 crisis recovery facility to provide up to $10 billion in financing to meet high client demand. Requests for funding have sharply exceeded the $5 billion originally allocated for emergency relief, the Beijing-backed bank said […]

Euro zone banks fully utilizing ECB’s two-tier rate scheme

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Euro zone banks are making almost full use of the European Central Bank’s two-tier deposit facility as they have redistributed excess liquidity to take advantage of an exemption from the most punitive charges, the ECB said on Friday. The ECB introduced the facility on Oct. 30 to relieve some pressure on bank […]

Venezuela to impose tax up to 25% on purchases in foreign currency

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela will begin applying an extra sales tax on purchases of goods using foreign currency under a law approved this week by the government-controlled Constituent Assembly. Venezuelans have increasingly taken to using dollars or euros for day-to-day transactions, as hyperinflation erodes the value of the crisis-torn country’s bolivar currency. The law allows […]