News in Brief
Rouble recovers after slide past 100 vs dollar
REUTERS – The Kremlin on Tuesday stressed that there was no need for concern after the Russian rouble weakened past the symbolic threshold of 100 to the dollar in early trade before recovering slightly.
By 1150 GMT, the rouble was 0.6% stronger against the dollar at 99.17, having hit 100.255 in early trade, a more than seven-week low.
It had gained 1% to trade at 104.91 versus the euro and firmed 0.5% against the yuan to 13.53.
Qatar begins construction on mega gas field expansion
AFP – Qatar’s state-owned energy giant began construction Tuesday on a project to expand production from the world’s biggest natural gas field through an export terminal on the Persian Gulf emirate’s northeast coast.
The emir presided over a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the gas field expansion at Ras Laffan, QatarEnergy’s onshore gas processing base 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Doha.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the project “falls within our strategy towards strengthening Qatar’s position as a global producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG)”.
WB downgrades developing East Asia growth forecast
CNBC – The World Bank trimmed its growth forecast for developing East Asia and Pacific, citing a sluggish China and global demand amid still-high interest rates and dampened trade.
The World Bank said it now expects developing economies in East Asia and the Pacific to grow 5% in 2023, according to its October report published Monday in Asia. That’s slightly less than the 5.1% it had forecast in April.