Treasury makes $10B coronavirus loan available to US Postal Service

Trump says next stimulus package is still being negotiated

President Trump says the next round of stimulus is still being negotiated and says he wants to do what’s best for the American people and for the economy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday it has reached a deal with U.S. Postal Service on the conditions of a loan of up to $10 billion that was included in recent coronavirus relief legislation.

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The postal service does not need to borrow at the moment, but the money will now be available should the financially strained agency have to access it, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert and Susan Heavey; Editing by Chris Reese)

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RBI must continue monetary easing policy, says IMF official

Asia to undergo ‘deeper contraction, protracted recovery’

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will have to continue its accommodative monetary stance as COVID-19 cases are on the rise in India and economic recovery would be slow going forward, a senior official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

“There is scope for further easing [of policy rates] and additional measures [by the RBI],” said Ranil Salgado, assistant director, Asia Pacific, IMF, in a webinar.

He said the RBI had adopted an accommodative monetary policy stance amid limited fiscal space.

Since March, the RBI had lowered the repo rate by 115 basis points and reverse repo by 145 bps boosting liquidity, he said, adding additional measures were focused on increasing liquidity in parts of the financial system with largest needs, easing public financing and financial sector balance sheet pressures.

He said recent structural reforms undertaken by the government would support medium-term growth. But more efforts were needed with respect to land, labour and trade.

Observing that the sharp rise in COVID-19 cases despite lockdowns was of concern, he said the pandemic could worsen a credit crunch and India needed to address corporate sector vulnerability.

Changyong Rhee, director Asia and Pacific, IMF, said as per IMF’s June World Economic Outlook, the Asia Pacific region would experience a protracted recovery. On the outlook for Asia, he said: “There will be deeper contraction and a protracted recovery as against the forecast made in April”.

ENEL H1 Profit Down

ENEL (ENLAY.PK,EN) Tuesday reported first-half net income of 2.40 billion euros, down from 2.89 billion euros last year. Earnings per share were 0.19 euro, down from 0.22 euro last year.

First-half revenues were 33.375 billion euros, down 18.5 from 40.967 billion euros last year.

The company said the drop in revenues were primarily attributable to End-user markets as a result of lower volumes of electricity sold in Italy and Spain mainly reflecting the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, to the activities of Thermal Generation and Trading in Italy reflecting a decline in trading activities, and the effect connected with the application of IFRIC interpretations, on top of adverse exchange rate developments in Latin America.

Dürr H1 Sales Drop 14%

Dürr Group (DUERF.PK) Wednesday said its sales dropped by 14.1% to 1.615 billion euros in the first half of the year, compared to 1.880 billion euros last year.

EBITDA dropped to 63.4 million euros from 150.4 million euros last year. The company reported a loss after tax of 3 million euros, compared to an earnings after tax of 63.6 million euros last year.

Looking forward to the full year 2020, the company now expects sales of 3.20 billion to 3.40 billion euros.

Border between Australia's most populous states closed

Border between New South Wales and Victoria shut down indefinitely as COVID-19 cases soar.

The border between Australia’s two most populous states is closing indefinitely as coronavirus infections soar on one side.

Authorities in Victoria are scrambling to bring the spiking case numbers back down in the state, locking down residents and bringing in more social distancing measures.

Australia has fared better than many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the outbreak is a clear example of how quickly the virus can return.

Al Jazeera’s Nicola Gage reports from the nation’s capital, Canberra.

Can Sweden's 'vertical farms' solve global food shortages?

Al Jazeera takes a look at an intricate farming operation within Stockholm’s city walls.

The coronavirus crisis has disrupted global food supply chains, leading to shortages in some countries.

The World Bank warns 130 million people could be at risk of starvation.

But an increasingly popular urban farming system could provide a solution.

Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys reports from Sweden’s capital Stockholm.

Unibail-Rodamco H1 Profit Down 27%

French real estate company Unibail-Rodamco SE (UNBLF, UNRDY) reported that its recurring net result for the first-half of 2020 dropped 27.2% to 667 million euros from 916 million euros last year. Recurring earnings per share declined to 4.82 euros from 6.63 euros last year.

Adjusted recurring earnings per share dropped to 4.65 euros from 6.45 euros last year.

Net Rental Income declined 15.1% to 1.07 billion euros from 1.25 billion euros last year.

How 5G and the IoT will transform telecoms, enterprise, government, and consumer tech

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