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Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. In the UK, over 40% of the population have received at least one vaccine dose. This compares to the US (24%), Italy (9%), Spain (9%) and France (9%). The UK government borrowed £19.1bn last month, the highest February borrowing since records began in 1993. Debt rose to £2.13tn, and consumer confidence rose to its highest level since last March.
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SME Barometer: lockdown measures turn down recovery expectations
The SME Business Climate Index presented today shows a partial recovery of 5.2% up to 59.8% after the negative record of 54.6% registered in autumn 2020. Although deconfinement and the temporary return to business-as-usual operations triggered a positive rebound, the numbers are mitigated by the outbreak of the second wave at the end of 2020. Read more →
TFG and ICC partner up with the WTO and the Global Blockchain Forum
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Trade Finance Global (TFG) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are partnering at the 2021 Global Trade & Blockchain Forum, themed “Accelerating Trade Digitalization through DLT”. ICC, TFG and WTO will also be launching their latest research publication: Accelerating trade digitalization to support MSME financing. Read more →
LIBOR Transition: The Priorities for Trade Finance
Despite the disruption of Covid-19, progress towards the demise LIBOR has continued. At the end of 2020, Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), which administers Libor, proposed a plan to cease publication. ICE would stop publishing the one-week and two-month settings of USD LIBOR immediately after December 31, 2021 and would cease publishing the remaining USD LIBOR settings on June 30, 2023. Read more →
RELEASED: Trade Finance Talks – A pathway towards sustainable trade finance
Trade Finance Global released its spring issue of Trade Finance Talks entitled ‘A Pathway Towards Sustainable Trade Finance’. We also spotlight the rockstar women in global trade, as we celebrate International Women’s Day. We are recognising over 30 women in trade, sharing their professional views and personal challenges around diversity and inclusivity. Read more →
Afreximbank announces landmark phosphate mining term loan facility worth US$350m
Afreximbank announced the signing of a 7-year US$350 Million Term Loan Facility to provide financing to OCP Group, the world’s largest phosphate mining and leading fertilizer company. This facility will support OCP Group’s expansion plans across Africa. Read more →
UK Business & Biodiversity Forum formed ahead of COP26 to combat biodiversity losses, worth $33tn per year
BP, Barratt Developments, Skanska, and Balfour Beatty are among the founding companies of the UK Business & Biodiversity Forum (UKBBF), which has been set up ahead of the United Nations’ COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow this November. The Forum, which will guide private-sector efforts to manage biodiversity risks, is the first of its kind in the UK. Read more →
ADB Bolsters Support for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has quadrupled its support for food systems development in the past decade from $409 million in 2010 to $1.2 billion in 2020 to help close the financing gap in ensuring food security. Read more →
