HSBC plans to cut 348 jobs in France through a voluntary redundancy scheme, amounting to about 10% of its workforce in the country, the bank said on Wednesday. The job losses are part of a cost-cutting drive led by CEO Georges Elhedery, who aims to reduce expenses by $1.8 billion by the end of 2026. The Reuters Daily […]
Saudi Aramco has signed 34 preliminary agreements with major U.S. companies, potentially worth as much as $90 billion, the oil giant said on Wednesday. The deals highlight deepening U.S.-Saudi commercial ties as the kingdom pushes ahead to diversify its economy and attract foreign investment. The agreements span liquid natural gas, fuels, chemicals, emission-reduction technologies and artificial […]
Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, downgraded its full-year outlook on Wednesday citing recent appreciation of the Taiwan dollar, even as it struck an upbeat note about booming demand for AI servers. Foxconn, Apple’s top iPhone assembler and Nvidia’s AI server maker, has ridden the crest of the wave for artificial intelligence demand, but is […]
Crypto prime broker FalconX and global bank Standard Chartered said on Wednesday they had formed a strategic partnership to serve institutional crypto investors. The partnership marks FalconX’s first collaboration with a global traditional bank and suggests growing institutional demand for digital assets through traditional finance channels. FalconX will leverage Standard Chartered’s banking and foreign exchange services […]
The policies of the Trump administration have put the research environment in the United States under pressure. Public research funding cuts, hostility towards academic freedom, climate science denial and the detaining or exclusion of foreign researchers have unsettled the scientific community in the US. Researchers question the US’s traditional role as a safe haven for […]
Imagine getting to work on a program that will bring internet access and digitally enabled services to 180 million people. Opportunities like these illustrate the meaningful role institutions like the World Bank, and teams across the institution like ours, can play in addressing urgent development challenges that can drastically improve people’s lives. In Eastern and […]
The immediate effects of climate-related risks are particularly relevant for the financial sector. Climate stress tests, which are often carried out over three to five-year periods, have become crucial for assessing the impact of shifting weather patterns and evolving climate policies on both the economy and the financial system. This column highlights the key findings […]
The first four months of the year have been turbulent for oil markets. Brent crude oil plunged by more than $12 per barrel ($/bbl) in the four trading days following April 2. This marked the 11th-worst four-trading-day price performance since 1990 and was accompanied by a 50 percent surge in anticipated oil price volatility. Brent […]
The views expressed in the Let’s Talk Development blog are solely those of the author(s). Commodity prices are projected to decline in 2025, driven by improved supplies, policy uncertainty, and an expected slowdown in global economic growth. Energy prices are expected to see the steepest drop, with the World Bank’s energy price index forecast to fall […]
Why budget reliability matters Accurate revenue and expenditure forecasting is crucial for effective budgeting to ensure that governments can adequately plan for public services, infrastructure projects, and social programs without unexpected shortfalls. When forecasting is not accurate, governments may not be able to achieve fiscal stability and deliver on policy priorities. In this blog, we try […]
