Banks

Rebecca Isaac, 50, sits on a wooden chair at the entrance of her house as she peels baskets of cassava at Pegi, a community in Kuje Area Council of Abuja. Her husband and their two children stand nearby, waiting to grind and process the pellets. Mrs Isaac gets farm inputs on credit from people, and support from her husband and children. Her efforts to receive government funding and support in the past did not succeed. Despite being in the federal capital, she, like most other women…

The prospect of losses on the Federal Reserve’s holdings of securities is a real issue for U.S. taxpayers, a former top central bank staffer wrote in a research note Wednesday. Bill Nelson, who now works as chief economist for the Bank Policy Institute industry group, was responding to a report released by the New York Fed on Tuesday. In that report, the bank said the Fed likely suffered paper losses on bonds it owned this year and that those paper losses could be substantial over time depending on how…

Air travel in Singapore is recovering and has reached around 40% of pre-Covid levels despite China's border restrictions, Transport Minister S. Iswaran said.China's passenger traffic is significant for Singapore, he said. Some 3.6 million Chinese residents traveled to Singapore in 2019, accounting for 13% of total visitors, according to data from the local tourism board.China remained among the top sources of visitors to Singapore during the pandemic, but that may be changing as other countries relax border measures. In…

Health officer uses a thermal head to detect a monkeypox virus on arriving passengers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang near Jakarta, Indonesia on May 15, 2019.Jepayona Delita | Future Publishing | Getty ImagesThe sudden emergence of monkeypox in several countries around the world represents a concerning outbreak, the head of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations told CNBC on Thursday, but the virus does not represent the same kind of global threat as Covid-19.His comments come as…

Business and political leaders gathered in the Swiss hilltop town of Davos in May 2022 for the World Economic Forum.Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty ImagesAs the business and political elite gathered in Davos, Switzerland, this week for the first in-person World Economic Forum since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, global health concerns once again loomed heavy.A mysterious recent outbreak of monkeypox — a rare viral infection endemic to Africa — has confounded doctors and scientists as cases have surged…

Nikolay Storonsky, founder and CEO of Revolut.Harry Murphy | Sportsfile for Web Summit via Getty ImagesNot all fintech unicorns are cutting jobs.After Klarna announced plans to lay off 10% of its workforce Monday, some rival fintechs are making it clear that they have no intention of cutting jobs or freezing hiring.Revolut, the $33 billion digital banking start-up, said the company is "actively hiring," with over 250 open roles listed on its website.Meanwhile, Wise CEO Kristo Kaarmann said the London-based money transfer…

Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO, at the WEF in Davos, Switzerland on May 25th, 2022.Adam Galici | CNBCPfizer's CEO said Wednesday that he "wouldn't worry much" about a recent monkeypox outbreak that has seen cases surge in non-endemic countries.Albert Bourla told CNBC that current data on the disease suggests it doesn't transmit as easily as other viruses, such as Covid-19, and that it is unlikely to lead to a pandemic."I don't have all the information ahead of me. With everything I know, I wouldn't worry much," he said at the…

The Kremlin towers and Ivan the Great Cathedral in Moscow.Kirill Kudryavtsev | Afp | Getty ImagesThe Biden administration will ban Russia's government from paying bondholders through American banks starting Wednesday morning, the Treasury Department said.The move increases the odds that Russia will default on its outstanding debt.It is the latest sanction against that country by the United States in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.The Biden administration since the invasion had granted a crucial exception to…

Diess said he expects Germany's auto giant to create some momentum over the coming months.Jens Schlueter | Afp | Getty ImagesThe chief executive of Volkswagen believes Europe's biggest carmaker can overtake Tesla to become the world's largest seller of electric vehicles by 2025.Speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Herbert Diess said alleviating supply chain issues would likely help create some momentum for the German auto giant over the coming…

Buy now, pay later products like Klarna's became wildly popular in the Covid pandemic.Noam Galai | Getty ImagesKlarna plans to lay off about 10% of its global workforce, making the buy now, pay later company the latest major tech name to announce job cuts.Sebastian Siemiatkowski, Klarna's CEO and co-founder, made the announcement to his employees in a pre-recorded video message Monday. The "vast majority" of Klarna employees won't be affected by the measures, he said, however some "will be informed that we cannot offer…