News in Brief
‘OPEC+ working against uncertainities, sentiment’
Reuters – Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said on Sunday that the latest OPEC+ agreement involved comprehensive reform, but that the alliance was also working against “uncertainities and sentiment” within the market.
“That is why we had this agreement,” Prince Abdulaziz said at the Arab-China business conference in the Saudi capital Riyadh, when asked what was necessary to achieve market stability.
Swiss National Bank Chairman hints
at rate rises
CNBC – The Swiss National Bank could raise interest rates to tackle inflation which remains above target, Chairman Thomas Jordan said.
Jordan defended the central bank’s commitment to price stability, which he defined as inflation below 2% but in positive territory, in the article in Swiss newspaper Corriere del Ticino.
Germany refuses Intel’s demand for subsidies for chip plant
FT – Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner refused Intel’s demands for higher subsidies for a 17-billion-euro ($18-billion) chip plant, saying the country could not afford it.
“There is no more money available in the budget,” the newspaper quoted Lindner as saying in an interview. “We are trying to consolidate the budget right now, not expand it.”
The company was due to receive 6.8 billion euros in government support for its fabrication plant in Germany. However, due to higher energy and construction costs, it is now demanding about 10 billion euros, the newspaper reported.