Norway Financial News

By Ahmad Ghaddar

Ethiopia is growing popular for Bitcoin mining after China ejected the industry from its borders in 2021.

By MacDonald Dzirutwe and Libby George

FRANKFURT, GERMANY : The European Central Bank left its key interest rate untouched at a record-high 4% on Thursday, keeping credit expensive for businesses and consumers as it tries to make sure inflation is firmly under control before cutting borrowing costs — a move expected later this year. The question is, how much later this year. Financial markets are expecting a rate cut as early as April, while ECB President Christine Lagarde has indicated it likely would happen this summer.

New Delhi: India has taken a strong stance on the issue of subsidies provided to poor and marginal fishermen. The country is planning to push its demand for the extension of subsidies to poor fishermen up to 200 nautical miles (nm) at the WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13), to be held from 26 February to 29 February in Abu Dhabi, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Also Read: India's crude oil output down 1.03% to 2.5 MMT in December, imports rise 1.1% YoY: PPAC Back home, on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), crude oil futures due for a February 16 expiry, was last trading 0.06 per cent lower at ₹6,261 per bbl, having swung between ₹6,118 and ₹6,265 per bbl during the session, against a previous close of ₹6,265 per barrel. The International Energy Agency (IEA) this week raised its 2024 global demand forecast, but its projection is half that of producer group Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

By Sinéad Carew and Amanda Cooper

US International Development Finance Corporation or DFC, Norway government-owned Norfund and two other financiers have provided $1 billion in funding to waste-to-energy producer SAEL Industries, the company said in a release on Tuesday. Asian Development Bank and Tata Cleantech Capital are the other financiers. The company did not provide a break up of how much of the funding was in the form of debt and what component was an equity investment. ET had reported on 18 January that SAEL Industries was close to finalising a $1 billion funding.

Investing.com — Oil prices fell Tuesday, handing back early gains as worries over rising supply countered continued Middle East tensions.

By Robert Harvey

European Free Trade Association (EFTA)—the four-nation trading block comprising Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland—are close to signing a trade agreement after both sides have reached an understanding on key issues, news agency PTI reported citing a senior official on Monday. "Following extensive negotiations, a shared understanding has been achieved on key issues during the ministerial meeting. Ongoing efforts are now focused on shaping the convergence that has emerged," the news agency quoted the official as saying Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal held a meeting recently with Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin in Mumbai.

free trade agreement between India and the four-nation EFTA bloc are at an advanced stage as both sides have reached a shared understanding on key issues, a senior official has said. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. India and the EFTA have been negotiating the pact, officially dubbed as Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), since January 2008 to boost economic ties.

Israel-Hamas war: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu-led government on Sunday decided to hold the tax fund collected for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and transfer it to Norway. The move comes as Israel accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of funding Hamas operations- the terrorist group that launched the brutal 7 October attack against Israel, which triggered the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Gaza authorities on Sunday informed that the death toll in Israel's operations Hamas has reached a staggering 25,000 most of which include innocent civilians.

Apple has promised to open up its tap-and-go mobile payment system to rivals as a way to resolve an antitrust case and avoid potentially billions in fines

Apple is prepared to open the iPhone's ability to tap-to-pay to rivals — in the EU — after coming under fire for keeping users in its own ecosystem, the European Commission and the company said on Friday. The commission, the European Union's market regulator, said it was weighing Apple's proposal, which was made after Brussels determined that the Cupertino company enjoys a dominant position in iOS mobile wallet transactions by shutting out competitors.

U.S. power companies raced to get in on the offshore wind boom a few years ago. Now some are rushing to get out.

Investing.com — Oilfield services giant SLB (NYSE:SLB) has reported fourth-quarter profit that topped analyst estimates and bumped up its dividend.

The mood of the global elite meeting in Davos, Switzerland, is a useful indicator for investors—as long as they do the opposite. When the elite are depressed, buy. When they’re positive, sell.

SAEL Ltd, which converts agricultural waste into energy, is close to finalising a fundraise of $1 billion (about ₹8,300 crore) from US and European investors, said people aware of the matter. US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Norfund, which is owned by the Norway government, are likely to participate in the fundraising along with some domestic investors who could collectively pump in funds in a combination of equity and debt in the company, according to the people. The fundraising is likely to include an equity component of $150 million and the remaining $850 million could be raised by way of loans or debt securities issued to investors, they said. DFC recently committed around $500 million of financing to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone's port terminal project in Sri Lanka. Norfund is an existing investor in SAEL. ET's queries to SAEL, DFC and Norfund did not elicit a response till press time. Delhi-based SAEL, promoted by Jasbir Awla, has established waste-to-energy conversion projects in Haryana, UP, Rajasthan and Punjab and also operates solar power plants. Awla's other business interests include warehousing and agro-processing.

Heavy snow and freezing rain have hit parts of northern and central Europe, bringing transport to a halt in some Scandinavian regions and causing major disruption at airports in Frankfurt and Oslo

Statec -- South Africa's largest player in the solar energy market -- said its solar battery storage system started feeding power into Eskom's grid in mid-December from its hybrid solar and battery facility in the Northern Cape province, which receives the greatest amount of sunlight in the country throughout the year. -Statec has built three plants in the region, covering 879 hectares and stretching 10 kilometres from north to south. Together, the plants can produce a combined solar capacity of 540 MW while its massive solar battery system can deliver up to 225 MW of power into the grid.