The International Monetary Fund late on July 20 approved a one-year, $1.8 billion loan program for Greece but will not release any funds until the eurozone agrees on a debt relief plan, in a highly unusual compromise step. Source: Daily News
Economics
“The current account deficit recorded $5.24 billion, indicating an increase of $2.13 billion compared to May of the previous year, bringing the 12-month rolling deficit to $35.3 billion,” the Turkish Central Bank said. Source: Daily News
Turkish economy minister Nihat Zeybekci said German investments in Turkey were fully guaranteed by both the Turkish government and its laws, and denied reports Ankara gave Berlin a list of companies it was targeting for suspected links to last year’s coup attempt. Source: Daily News
China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Palestine on trade, infrastructure, human resources and capacity building to improve its economic development and people’s well-being, Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday. Source: China daily
The House Budget Committee on Wednesday approved the 2018 fiscal year budget resolution that would increase military spending, produce billions in cuts to mandatory spending and open the door for a Republican tax reform plan. It allocated $621.5 billion for defense spending. Source: The Hill
China is preparing to accelerate its consolidation of companies owned by the central government, aiming to create from existing enterprises about 80 corporate giants that can be globally competitive, from the current 101. Source: China Economic Review
Chinese buying of US residential property hit a record high of US$31.7 billion in 2016, up at least US$4 billion, according to the US National Association of Realtors (NAR). Source: China Economic Review
China would considering sending troops into the disputed border region between Djibouti and Eritrea, the Chinese envoy to the African Union said, as tension between the two East African countries mounts. Beijing would consider intervening if border tensions between the two countries exploded, Kuang Weilin told the Associated Press on Friday, adding that he hoped the dispute would be “solved amicably.” Source RT
The ‘Joint Sea 2017’ drills of the Russian and Chinese naval forces have begun the first stage of major exercises, marking the first time they have taken place in Europe. Source RT
Taiwan’s air force scrambled fighter jets on Thursday as military planes from China’s mainland passed through its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea, the island’s military said on Friday. Source: South China Morning Post
The German government is considering scrapping a scheme that supports companies operating in Turkey. The move comes after reports surfaced that Turkey had issued a blacklist of German companies it accuses of supporting terrorism. Source Deutsche Welle
A former Chinese diplomat, who was earlier Consul General in Mumbai, told Chinese state media on Wednesday that Indian troops faced three options at Doklam as the stand-off entered one month: withdrawal, capture or an attack by China “should the dispute escalate”. Source India Today
When Islamic State fighter Marat Nurmagomedov escaped from Syria to Turkey after becoming disillusioned with the militant group, he was unable to return home to Russia for fear of arrest. Instead, he managed to obtain a passport under another name and flew from Istanbul to Ukraine, whose ability to identify him as a terrorism suspect was hindered by a lack of intelligence sharing between Moscow and Kiev. Source Reuters
Chinese navy destroyer Changchun, the flagship of long-term overseas drilling, and two other warships docked at Istanbul’s port on July 18, as part of Beijing’s plan to tour them around the world in 180 days. Source HurriyetDaily
A controversial bill to toughen France’s security laws cleared its first hurdle late Tuesday when the conservative-dominated Senate approved the legislation by a majority. Source France 24
France’s armed forces chief resigned on Wednesday in a dispute with Emmanuel Macron. In a statement, Pierre de Villiers said he had tried to keep the armed forces fit for an ever more difficult task within the financial constraints imposed on it, but was no longer able to sustain that. Source Reuters
President Trump has decided to end the CIA’s covert program to arm and train moderate Syrian rebels battling the government of Bashar al-Assad, a move long sought by Russia, according to U.S. officials. The program was a central plank of a policy begun by the Obama administration in 2013 to put pressure on Assad to step aside. Source The Washington Post
The Chinese Army moved tens of thousands of tonnes of military vehicles and hardware into the remote mountainous Tibet region after the standoff with Indian troops in the Dokalam area in the Sikkim sector, the PLA Daily said on Wednesday. Source: Bussness Standard
Saudi Arabia’s National Water Co. is seeking financial advisers to arrange the sale of parts of the country’s water distribution network, according to people familiar with the matter. Source Gulf News
The International Monetary Fund late on July 20 approved a one-year, $1.8 billion loan program for Greece but will not release any funds until the eurozone agrees on a debt relief plan, in a highly unusual compromise step. Source: Daily News
“The current account deficit recorded $5.24 billion, indicating an increase of $2.13 billion compared to May of the previous year, bringing the 12-month rolling deficit to $35.3 billion,” the Turkish Central Bank said. Source: Daily News
Turkish economy minister Nihat Zeybekci said German investments in Turkey were fully guaranteed by both the Turkish government and its laws, and denied reports Ankara gave Berlin a list of companies it was targeting for suspected links to last year’s coup attempt. Source: Daily News
Turkey wants Israel to use its clout to push Cyprus into allowing a pipeline to pass through its waters so the region’s natural gas can be exported to Europe. Source: Bloomberg
China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Palestine on trade, infrastructure, human resources and capacity building to improve its economic development and people’s well-being, Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday. Source: China daily
The House Budget Committee on Wednesday approved the 2018 fiscal year budget resolution that would increase military spending, produce billions in cuts to mandatory spending and open the door for a Republican tax reform plan. It allocated $621.5 billion for defense spending. Source: The Hill
China is preparing to accelerate its consolidation of companies owned by the central government, aiming to create from existing enterprises about 80 corporate giants that can be globally competitive, from the current 101. Source: China Economic Review
Chinese buying of US residential property hit a record high of US$31.7 billion in 2016, up at least US$4 billion, according to the US National Association of Realtors (NAR). Source: China Economic Review
China’s holdings of US Treasuries climbed to the highest level since the country ceded its status as America’s largest creditor nation to Japan last year, the Financial Times reports. China’s ownership of US government bills, notes and bonds rose by $10bn from a month prior to $1.1tn in May. Source: China Economic Review
UAE banks are buying up loans that Qatari banks – Doha Bank and Barwa Bank – extended to UAE companies. Bloomberg had reported last month that some of the banks in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain had started reducing their exposure to Qatari banks by withdrawing their deposits there. Source: Al Arabiya
