16/05/2025

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‘Record’ Boeing order by Qatar Airways DOHA: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Qatar Airways had placed a “record” order for 160 planes from Boeing, as he signed a raft of deals in Doha alongside Qatar’s emir. The order, Boeing’s largest ever for its wide-body jets, deepens ties between the US aerospace giant and the giant Middle East carrier. one that solidifies their future fleet,” Boeing commercial plane chief Stephanie Pope said. The order represents a win for new Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg, although analysts noted that the planes will not be delivered for at least five years due to industry backlogs.

Ortberg joined Trump for part of Wednesday’s signing ceremony that also included defence agreements and the purchase by Qatar of American MQ-9B drones, after about two hours of talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani. “It’s over US$200 billion but 160 in terms of the jets. That’s fantastic. So that’s a record,”Trump said, adding: “It’s the largest order of jets in the history of Boeing. That’s pretty good.” The list prices of the 777X and 787 Dreamliner suggest the total value of the Boeing deal is well under US$200 billion. The US$96 billion figure in the White House factsheet also appears to include some business for GE Aerospace. – AFP

Qatar Airways will honour a “US$96 billion agreement to acquire up to 210 American-made Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines”, according to a White House fact sheet. “This is Boeing’s largest-ever widebody order and largest-ever 787 order,” it said. The order is comprised of 130 Dreamliner planes and 30 Boeing 777-9 jets, which are still being certified by the US Federal Aviation Administration. There are also options for 50 additional 787 and 777X planes, according to a Boeing news release. “We are deeply honoured that Qatar Airways has placed this record-breaking order with Boeing,

Sheikh Tamim (fourth from left) and Trump watch as Ortberg and Qatar Airways CEO Badr Mohammed al-Meer sign documents at the Royal Palace in Doha. – AFPPIC

Crypto industry calls for regulatory clarity in US

Australia employment surges in April SYDNEY: Australian employment blew past expectations in April in a sign of strength that lessens the need for aggressive stimulus, but markets still expect an interest rate cut next week as slowing inflation allows policymakers to respond to rising global risks. The Australian dollar got some support from the strong data and was last up 0.1% at $0.6435, while three-year government bond yields extended an earlier rise to be up 6 basis points at 3.669%, the highest since early April. Investors remain confident the Reserve Bank of Australia will cut rates by a quarter point to 3.85% next Tuesday due to cooling inflation at home and global uncertainty caused by US tariff policies. Beyond that, they have been scaling back expectations and now see around 75 basis points of easing by year-end, compared to more than 100 basis points a couple of weeks ago, in part due to the tariff truce between the United States and China. “We don’t see this strong labour landscape as a hindrance to more rate cuts. That being said, this rate cut cycle will be shallow,” said My Bui, an economist at AMP. “The Australian labour market has been very resilient throughout the past year, with unemployment rate hovering just above 4% and solid jobs growth.” Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed net employment jumped 89,000 in April from March, when they rose an upwardly revised 36,400. That was far above market forecasts for a 20,000 rise and the biggest monthly increase in over a year. The monthly gain was driven by full-time jobs, with a surge of 65,000 in female employment. The jobless rate held at 4.1%, as expected, as the participation rate climbed back to near record highs at 67.1%, showing the supply of labour was meeting strong demand. Despite the strength in employment, hours worked were unchanged, after two months of falls. – Reuters

But believers see digital assets as a financial revolution that reduces dependence on centralised authorities and an alternative to traditional banking systems. Some say crypto’s success at the grassroots level would be stamped out by regulation that would give massive financial institutions free rein to dominate the sector. But for Connor Spelliscy, who heads the non-profit Decentralization Research Centre, crypto platforms would benefit from fast regulatory action. “It’s so important that we establish some rules of the road for the industry before potentially the House switches,” he said, referencing a widely-held view that Democrats, currently the minority party in the House and Senate, are more hostile toward crypto. Congress is considering two cryptocurrency bills. The so-called stablecoin bill, which aims to regulate digital coins whose value is tied to the dollar, is seen as less contentious. But it is being held up by Democrats who are furious over Trump’s increasing holdings in the sector while in office. The second, thornier bill, aims to create a regulatory framework for the entire digital assets market – like a regulated stock market for cryptocurrencies. “This administration needs to put these rules in writing,” Tierney said. “We need to build a framework that’s regulatorily solid.” – AFP government’s maiden budget in October. It also precedes a baseline 10% tariff imposed on the UK and other countries by US President Donald Trump last month. The growth spurt is “set to be short lived as tariffs take effect”, said Yael Selfin, chief economist at KPMG UK. “Additionally, the indirect impact of trade tensions between the US and the EU will further constrain demand for UK exports.“ – AFP

when it announced that its top holders would be invited to a dinner with the president, set to take place on May 22 at the Trump National Golf Club near Washington. US crypto investors were major supporters of Trump’s presidential campaign, contributing millions of dollars toward his victory in hopes of ending the deep skepticism of the previous Democratic administration toward digital currencies. Conference participants did not conceal their lingering contempt for Joe Biden’s presidency. Annemarie Tierney of Liquid Advisers, a regulatory expert who previously worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that Trump’s return to the White House offered “a chance to reset the relationship” between the industry and Washington. Biden’s administration had implemented restrictions on banks holding cryptocurrencies and allowed former SEC chairman Gary Gensler to pursue aggressive enforcement. Trump’s pro-crypto SEC chair Paul Atkins has dropped cases against major platforms like Coinbase and Kraken initiated under Biden. “This is one of the most important things the SEC has done. I never thought I would see this,” Tierney said. Cryptocurrency critics warn that digital assets function primarily as speculative investments with questionable real-world utility that could cause massive damage if the market crashes.

o Trump’s first three months earn rave reviews at Consensus conference TORONTO: The start of President Donald Trump’s term earned rave reviews at the world’s leading crypto conference on Wednesday, but top industry lawyers said digital platforms wanted regulatory clarity while the Republicans control Congress. “Across the board, it’s been a very encouraging three months,” said Lewis Cohen, a lawyer specialising in digital assets with the New York firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Cohen was speaking at Consensus, the world’s longest-running crypto conference, hosted this year in Canada’s largest city, Toronto. Trump’s son Eric, who is promoting his own crypto business, is expected to address the conference later this week amid increasing questions about potential conflict of interest with his father in the White House. Eric is deeply involved in the crypto industry through direct business ventures, notably as a co-founder and executive at American Bitcoin, as well as through family-backed projects like World Liberty Financial and the $TRUMP meme coin. The digital currency saw a spike in value

UK economy beats forecast to grow 0.7% in Q1 LONDON: Britain’s economy grew more than expected in the first quarter, official data showed yesterday, covering the period before business tax hikes and US President Donald Trump’s tariffs blitz took effect. government, which struggled to kickstart stagnant growth since it came into power in July. UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves welcomed the news saying the figures “show the strength and potential of the UK economy”. But analysts cautioned that the bumper growth may not be sustained.

Gross domestic product rose 0.7% in the January-to-March period after only growing slightly in the final quarter of last year, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. The data comes as a boost for the Labour

Yesterday’s gross domestic product data covers the period before April’s introduction of a hike to a business tax laid out in the Labour