Recession in US not inevitable: Treasury secretary

Published

2 years ago

20/06/2022

MNN

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, however, conceded that “clearly inflation is unacceptably high,” attributing it partly to the conflict in Ukraine.

A recession in the United States is not “inevitable,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said, just days after the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates, raising fears of an economic contraction.

“I expect the economy to slow” as it transitions to stable growth, she said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday, but “I don’t think a recession is at all inevitable.”

Yellen conceded that “clearly inflation is unacceptably high,” attributing it partly to the conflict in Ukraine, which has pushed up energy and food prices.

But she said she did not believe that “a dropoff in consumer spending is the likely cause of a recession.”

Yellen argued that the US labour market is “arguably the strongest of the postwar period” and she predicted that the pace of inflation would slow in the coming months.

She acknowledged, however, that as Fed chair Jerome Powell works to control inflation while preserving labor-market strength, “That’s going to take skill and luck.”

Asked about proposals for a temporary suspension in federal gas taxes, Yellen expressed openness.

US President Joe Biden “wants to do anything he possibly can to help consumers,” she said. “And that’s an idea that’s certainly worth considering.”

Increasing pessimism

The US economy has recovered strongly from the damage wrought by Covid-19, but soaring inflation and supply-chain snarls exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine have increased pessimism.

Wall Street stocks tumbled after the US central bank on Wednesday raised the benchmark borrowing rate by 0.75 percentage points, the sharpest rise in nearly 30 years.

And economists see worrying signs that consumer confidence is weakening, with people beginning to hold off on vacation plans, dining out or doing home repairs.

Source: TRT

BML announce new MVR 1-mil loan facility without collateral

Published

1 day ago

06/05/2024

The Bank of Maldives (BML) on Monday officially announced the launch of two new home loan products; the Home Build Loan and the Home Equity Loan.

The new loan facilities have been introduced to cater to the growing customer needs for home construction and renovation, BML said.

The new Home Build Loan has been designed to allow individuals to borrow up to MVR 1 million without any additional security. The facility provides a repayment period of over 15 years, which is ideal in renovation projects or larger home construction projects across the Maldives.

The bank also, for the first time, has introduced Home Equity Loan for existing Home Loan and Financing customers. This new facility enables these customers to borrow up to the repaid amount, or the usable equity, of the primary loans. The Home Equity Loan is offered for borrowings of more than MVR 50,000 with a repayment period of 20 years.

Moosa Nimal, the Director of Retail and SME Banking said, “These products are designed to make access to finance easier for our customers across the country.”

“The new Home Build Loan does not require any additional security and will allow customers to build or renovate homes at the most competitive market rates. Our Home Equity Loan offers our existing home financing customers to access usable equity available on their property, at a low rate of just 10%.”

The newly introduced loan facilities are available for BML Islamic customers as well.

Source(s): sun.mv

Business

MIB signs an agreement to expedite business registration process

Published

3 days ago

04/05/2024

Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and the Maldives Islamic Bank (MIB) has entered an agreement, aiming to expedite and streamline the registering services for businesses. The agreement was signed to enhance the quality of services, ensure information security, and facilitate an efficient registration process.

Following the signing of the agreement, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Mohamed Saeed disclosed that customer data can be readily verified with the assistance of the ministry’s Application Programming Interface (API). The minister stated that this would enable businesses to set up bank accounts in a convenient manner. Regarding this, Registrar of Companies Mariyam Waheed underscored the pivotal role API will play in authenticating businesses to customers and expediting in the verification process.

This initiative will significantly benefit individuals accessing online services from the ministry, fostering economic development within the nation. This marks the first agreement of its kind signed by the ministry.

Business

MTCC reports staggering 82.9% net profit drop

Published

6 days ago

01/05/2024

Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC) has reported a staggering 82.9% net profit decline for Q1-2024.

According to MTCC, it earned just MVR 5.2 million in net profit for the review quarter, which came down from MVR 30.8 million in the last quarter of 2023.

The company’s revenue for Q1-2024 stood at MVR 664.4 million, which is a 15.8% drop from MVR 789.2 million generated in the Q4-2023.

Moreover, MTCC reported a whopping 94.5% decline in its Gross Profit for the review quarter, registering MVR 2.5 million in Q1-2024 compared to MVR 44.3 million.

The operating profit for the review quarter stood at MVR 41.8 million, which is a 26% drop from MVR 56.5 million in Q3-2023.

The net asset value per share dropped from MVR 227.95 in Q4-2023 to MVR 226.98 to Q1-2024, while earnings per share saw a notable decline from MVR 3.83 in the preceding quarter to just MVR 0.65 in the review quarter.

Source(s): sun.mv