JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel's Finance Ministry said on Tuesday that a panel formed to assess the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank determined that the immediate liquidity risk has been averted.
The ministry in a statement cited a decision by U.S. authorities to back accounts – even those uninsured – at the bank, which has been an important lender for Israeli technology companies.
In a meeting with Citi Bank executives on Tuesday, Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich discussed the impact of the SVB and Signature Bank collapses, among other economic issues, according to a statement released by the minister's office.
"Israel's economy is strong and relatively easy to manage in times of crisis," Smotrich said.
He also addressed plans to overhaul Israel's judiciary that has led to major protests, saying that "noise" over the reform will quiet down ahead when the coalition reaches a deal that Israel's "mainstream" will find acceptable.
"We will calm down the markets. We will calm down the economy. And I really think that investment in Israel today is one of the safest and most profitable investments," Smotrich said, speaking in Hebrew, in a video of the meeting distributed by his office.
Smotrich was in the United States for Sunday's Israel Bonds conference.
His visit was met with protests from some Jewish Americans and an unnamed "high-level U.S. Government speaker" was dropped from the event's program list following controversy caused by the far-right minister's statement earlier this month that a Palestinian town be "erased", which he later partially retracted.
(Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch; Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar; Editing by Steven Scheer and Bill Berkrot)
Related Quotes
Florida lawmakers passed a bill in February giving Governor Ron DeSantis effective control over a board that oversees municipal services and development in a special district that encompasses Walt Disney World resort. But before the takeover by DeSantis's appointees, Walt Disney Co pushed through changes to the special tax district agreement that limit the board's action for decades, according to the Orlando Sentinel, which quoted lawyers for the board who spoke at a meeting on Wednesday. "It completely circumvents the authority of this board to govern," board member Brian Aungst Jr. was quoted as saying.
Most officials see at least one more rate hike — but investors aren’t saying the same.
The firm said it was relocating “immediately” from Washington after the state’s supreme court cleared the way for a capital gains tax on individuals.
(Bloomberg) — Applications for US unemployment benefits ticked up for the first time in three weeks, suggesting some softening in what’s still a robust labor market in which employers are hesitant to let people go.Most Read from Bloomberg$52 Billion Chipmaking Plan Is Racing Toward FailureNew Yorkers Are Moving to These Three Florida Cities$335,000 Pay for ‘AI Whisperer’ Jobs Appears in Red-Hot MarketScotiabank Economist Excoriates Trudeau, Freeland Over $32 Billion Spending BoostFBI Releases F
El-Erian warned “fallout” from recent banking stress is adding to pressure on the economy.
Board members picked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to oversee the governance of Walt Disney World said Wednesday that their Disney-controlled predecessors pulled a fast one on them by passing restrictive covenants that strip the new board of many of its powers. The current supervisors of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said at a meeting that their predecessors last month signed a development agreement with the company that gave Disney maximum developmental power over the theme park resort's 27,000 acres in central Florida. The five supervisors were appointed by the Republican governor to the board after the Florida Legislature overhauled Disney's government in retaliation for the entertainment giant publicly opposing so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation that bars instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, as well as lessons deemed not age-appropriate.
(Bloomberg) — Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is planning to raise billions of dollars from banks and insurance companies by changing the tax rules for dividends they get from Canadian firms. Most Read from Bloomberg$52 Billion Chipmaking Plan Is Racing Toward FailureNew Yorkers Are Moving to These Three Florida CitiesFBI Releases Files on Ivana Trump$335,000 Pay for ‘AI Whisperer’ Jobs Appears in Red-Hot MarketUBS Veteran Ermotti Returns to Lead Credit Suisse TakeoverIn a measure that offic
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose moderately last week, showing no signs yet that tightening credit conditions were having a material impact on the labor market, which remains tight. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 198,000 for the week ended March 25, the Labor Department said on Thursday. "While alternative seasonal adjustment approaches may suggest less upbeat figures as of late, they do not suggest particularly weak results, although momentum may be softening," said Daniel Silver, an economist at JPMorgan.
While most companies on U.S. blacklists aren't publicly owned, a handful of big Chinese technology and internet companies, including Alibaba and Baidu, have cloud businesses that could put them in the crossfire.
Investment is down, labor is scarce, budget is squeezed. Oligarch: ‘There will be no money next year’
(Bloomberg) — Chevron Corp., BP Plc. and other oil giants bid a combined $264 million in a Biden administration oil-drilling auction, a fresh affront to climate activists smarting from the White House’s approval of an Arctic exploration project. Most Read from Bloomberg$52 Billion Chipmaking Plan Is Racing Toward FailureNew Yorkers Are Moving to These Three Florida Cities$335,000 Pay for ‘AI Whisperer’ Jobs Appears in Red-Hot MarketFBI Releases Files on Ivana TrumpScotiabank Economist Excoriate
The U.S. economy maintained its resilience from October through December despite rising interest rates, growing at a 2.6% annual pace, the government said Thursday in a slight downgrade from its previous estimate. The rise in the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — for the October-December quarter was down from the 3.2% growth rate from July through September. Consumer spending rose at a 1% annual rate last quarter, downgraded from a 1.4% increase in the government's previous estimate.
House Republicans are set to approve a sprawling energy package that seeks to undo virtually all of President Joe Biden's agenda to address climate change. The massive GOP bill up for a vote Thursday would sharply increase domestic production of oil, natural gas and coal, and ease permitting restrictions that delay pipelines, refineries and other projects. Republicans call the bill the “Lower Energy Costs Act” and have given it the symbolic label H.R. 1 — the top legislative priority of the new GOP majority, which took control of the House in January.
U.S. lawmakers are considering changes to entitlement programs in the states, with some saying the country should raise the full retirement age.
The founders of artificial intelligence company NtechLab said they resigned over disagreements with the company’s management and investors about projects in Russia. One of the founders left Russia in December 2021 while the other left in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they said. The two founders’ comments came after Reuters published a special report on Tuesday about how Russian law enforcement officials use facial recognition to identify and detain protesters and opposition activists.
(Bloomberg) — Cemex SAB reached a temporary deal to use Vulcan Materials Co.’s port facilities at Punta Venado in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, potentially defusing a legal battle that recently became a flashpoint for US-Mexico relations. Most Read from BloombergFBI Releases Files on Ivana Trump$52 Billion Chipmaking Plan Is Racing Toward FailureNew Yorkers Are Moving to These Three Florida CitiesBanks in France Face More Than $1.1 Billion Fines After RaidsSchwab’s $7 Trillion Empire Built on Low R
The criteria for new U.S. semiconductor subsidies is worrying companies such as Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday, a concern shared by the world's leading contract chipmaker in Taiwan. Conditions include sharing excess profit with the U.S. government, and three industry sources said the application process itself could expose confidential corporate strategy.
The White House on Thursday highlighted new U.S. company moves to support electric vehicles (EVs), as final rules on tax credits aimed at boosting the industry are expected this week. Amazon is rolling out the first 3,000 delivery vehicles it has acquired as part of a commitment to bring 100,000 vehicles to the road by 2030, the White House said, and First Student, a major supplier of school bus services, is pledging to replace 30,000 fossil fuel-powered school buses with electric buses by 2035. The federal government will buy 13,000 light- and medium-duty zero emission vehicles this fiscal year, about four times more than last fiscal year, the White House said.
Households are to be penalised if they do not switch away from gas under net zero plans to be unveiled on Thursday.
(Bloomberg) — One of the Federal Reserve’s most prolific policy messengers is laying low at a crucial moment for the central bank, after finding herself at the center of controversy over turmoil in the banking sector.Most Read from Bloomberg$52 Billion Chipmaking Plan Is Racing Toward FailureNew Yorkers Are Moving to These Three Florida Cities$335,000 Pay for ‘AI Whisperer’ Jobs Appears in Red-Hot MarketScotiabank Economist Excoriates Trudeau, Freeland Over $32 Billion Spending BoostFBI Release
