Latest news with #Haddad
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
EU approves 150-billion-euro loan scheme to rearm
EU countries on Tuesday (May 27, 2025) formally approved a new 150-billion-euro loan programme to help rearm in the face of Russia and worries over U.S. reliability, according to the Polish presidency of the bloc. The SAFE borrowing scheme backed by the EU's central budget was proposed by Brussels in March as the bloc rushes to boost its defences. Finalised by member states earlier this month, the text received final approval at a meeting of Europe Ministers in Brussels, with 26 countries voting for and one abstention, the Presidency said. EU countries had haggled at length over what the money could be spent on and how countries outside the bloc can access the funds. In the end, the agreement stuck to the original proposal, allowing 35% of the value of the weapons to come from manufacturers beyond the bloc and Ukraine. France's Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad called SAFE "a major step forward" that asserts "a very clear principle of European preference to support our industries, reduce our dependencies, including from the United States, and invest in Europe's strategic autonomy." "But it is just one step — and we will need to go further," Mr. Haddad told reporters in Brussels. The borrowing programme is part of a package of measures including loosening budget rules that Brussels says could potentially unlock 800 billion euros of defence spending. The approval of SAFE came after the EU and the UK agreed a new defence partnership as part of a post-Brexit "reset". London would still need to strike a separate deal with the EU if it wants to fully open the new scheme to the British Defence industry.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
EU approves 150-billion-euro loan scheme to rearm
EU countries on Tuesday formally approved a new 150-billion-euro loan programme to help rearm in the face of Russia and worries over US reliability, according to the Polish presidency of the bloc. The SAFE borrowing scheme backed by the EU's central budget was proposed by Brussels in March as the bloc rushes to boost its defences. Finalised by member states earlier this month, the text received final approval at a meeting of Europe ministers in Brussels, with 26 countries voting for and one abstention, the presidency said. EU countries had haggled at length over what the money could be spent on and how countries outside the bloc can access the funds. In the end, the agreement stuck to the original proposal allowing 35 percent of the value of the weapons to come from manufacturers beyond the bloc and Ukraine. France's Europe minister Benjamin Haddad called SAFE "a major step forward" that asserts "a very clear principle of European preference to support our industries, reduce our dependencies including from the United States, and invest in Europe's strategic autonomy." "But it is just one step -- and we will need to go further," Haddad told reporters in Brussels. The borrowing programme is part of a package of measures including loosening budget rules that Brussels says could potentially unlock 800 billion euros of defence spending. The approval of SAFE came after the EU and the UK agreed a new defence partnership as part of a post-Brexit "reset". London would still need to strike a separate deal with the EU if it wants to fully open the new scheme to the British defence industry. ob-ec/ub/lth
France 24
4 days ago
- Business
- France 24
EU approves 150-billion-euro loan scheme to rearm
The SAFE borrowing scheme backed by the EU's central budget was proposed by Brussels in March as the bloc rushes to boost its defences. Finalised by member states earlier this month, the text received final approval at a meeting of Europe ministers in Brussels, with 26 countries voting for and one abstention, the presidency said. EU countries had haggled at length over what the money could be spent on and how countries outside the bloc can access the funds. In the end, the agreement stuck to the original proposal allowing 35 percent of the value of the weapons to come from manufacturers beyond the bloc and Ukraine. France's Europe minister Benjamin Haddad called SAFE "a major step forward" that asserts "a very clear principle of European preference to support our industries, reduce our dependencies including from the United States, and invest in Europe's strategic autonomy." "But it is just one step -- and we will need to go further," Haddad told reporters in Brussels. The borrowing programme is part of a package of measures including loosening budget rules that Brussels says could potentially unlock 800 billion euros of defence spending. The approval of SAFE came after the EU and the UK agreed a new defence partnership as part of a post-Brexit "reset".
Jordan News
5 days ago
- Business
- Jordan News
15 New Electric Buses to Operate in Amman in the Second Half of 2025 - Jordan News
15 New Electric Buses to Operate in Amman in the Second Half of 2025 The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) has purchased 15 new electric buses that will begin operating in the second half of 2025 as part of the Amman Bus and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) projects. اضافة اعلان According to Carol Haddad, the head of transport network design at GAM, the current fleet includes approximately 300 buses—175 for the BRT system and 131 for Amman Bus. Haddad noted that during the first third of 2025, around 7,208,228 passengers used the BRT system, while 3,593,044 passengers used Amman Bus services, highlighting growing demand for public transportation in the capital. GAM previously announced that the number of fare-exempt cards issued for senior citizens and persons with disabilities reached 33,390 cards as of last Friday. These cards have been used for over 9 million trips since the launch of the system—2,246,913 trips on BRT buses and 6,885,475 trips on Amman Bus. Amman's Bus Rapid Transit is the city's first high-capacity rapid public transport system. It offers a flexible, safe, and highly reliable service using large-capacity buses that run on dedicated lanes with frequencies as short as every 3 minutes. The system also includes fully integrated and modern transit stations. Al-Mamlaka TV
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Brazil walks back higher tax on investments abroad under fire
By Fernando Cardoso, Bernardo Caram and Marcela Ayres SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil's Finance Ministry on Friday said it had scrapped a higher transaction tax on funds invested abroad after critics inside and outside the government blasted the move as backsliding toward the return of capital controls. The measure was part of an executive decree on Thursday raising Brazil's IOF financial transactions tax for a range of operations in order to plug a budget gap. Immediate outcry led Finance Minister Fernando Haddad to partially reverse course. "Due to the repercussions we had to be quick with the revision," Haddad told journalists in Sao Paulo. "We understood that ... it was worth reviewing this item to avoid speculation about objectives that are not proper to the Finance Ministry or the government, such as inhibiting foreign investment, which had nothing to do with it," he said. Brazil's currency weakened over 1% against the U.S. dollar in Friday morning trading before paring losses, supported by global dollar weakness. The higher tax rates, rolled out on Thursday with immediate effect, caught the central bank and parts of the government's own economic team off guard, according to three officials who requested anonymity. The central bank did not approve or support the move, which reversed Brazil's recent efforts to streamline currency-related taxation as part of a push to join the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the sources said. "It's a setback for the internationalization of the Brazilian economy," said one of the officials. Haddad, who said in January that the government would not modify the IOF tax on currency transactions, acknowledged on social media that Thursday's measures were not coordinated with the central bank. Former central bank director and economist Tony Volpon blasted the measures on X. "Imposing a 3.5% IOF on all investments made by Brazilians abroad ... amounts to capital controls," he wrote on Thursday. On Friday, he said the reversal on financial flows was correct, but lamented that companies still had to pay a 3.95% IOF rate on loans, on top of interest rates in double digits. High-income Brazilians will also pay more for transfers involving their pension funds. A range of foreign exchange operations such as international credit, debit and prepaid card transactions will pay a new IOF rate of 3.5%. The Finance Ministry announced the higher rates as a way to boost public revenue by 20.5 billion reais ($3.61 billion) this year and 41 billion reais in 2026 to hit fiscal targets. By returning to zero the IOF rate on transfers by Brazilian funds investing abroad, rather than raising it to 3.5% as planned, Haddad said the government would forego about 6 billion reais of additional revenue through 2026. ($1 = 5.7058 reais) Sign in to access your portfolio
