FINANCE MORNING FOR 20TH OF DECEMBER 2016

ICAN faults monitoring MDAs budget by foreign consultants 

 The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, has faulted plans by federal government to hire foreign consultants to monitor Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) budget. Source: Vanguard. Read More.

FG to earn $2bn from new cash call policy 

FG to earn $2bn from new cash call policyThe federal government is expected to earn about $2 billion (about N61billion) from a new cash call policy that comes into effect in January 2017, while its oil production is set to increase to 2.5 million barrels per day in 2019. Source: Vanguard. Read More.

BOJ keeps policy steady, offers brighter economic view

The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady and offered a brighter view of the economy on Tuesday, signaling its conviction that a weak yen and a rebound in overseas demand will heighten prospects for a solid recovery.

“Japan’s economy continues to recover moderately as a trend,” the central bank said in a statement announcing its policy decision. Source: Reuters. Read More.

Better rules, long IPO wait mean secondary market boom for ‘unicorns’

After the debacle that preceded the initial public offering of Facebook Inc (FB.O) in 2012, when the company’s stock changed hands at wildly varying prices and with little oversight, the market in secondary trading in shares of hot startups has made a strong comeback. Source: Reuters. Read More.

Apple’s Tim Cook assures employees that it is committed to the Mac and that ‘great desktops’ are coming

One of the memes to come out of the somewhat contentious rollout of the MacBook Pro is that Apple has given up on the desktop Mac. Given the slower upgrade cycle of desktops and how well my Retina 5K iMac is holding up, it took me a while to pay attention to what was going on there — until it had reached a fever pitch. Source: Techcrunch. Read More.

iPrice raises $4M for its e-commerce aggregator service in Southeast Asia

iPrice, an 18-month-old e-commerce aggregation service that’s active in seven countries in Southeast Asia, has closed a $4 million Series A funding round.

The investment was led by existing backers Asia Venture Group (AVG) and Venturra Capital, with participation from Gobi Partners, DMP, Econa and Starstrike Ventures. Malaysia-based iPrice previously raised $1.2 million one year ago, in addition to a $550,000 seed round that kicked the business off when it launched in early 2015. Source: Techcrunch. 

Italy wants $21 billion to prop up its wobbly banks

Italy is looking to add another $21 billion to its massive debt burden in order to keep its struggling banks afloat.
The Italian government said late Monday that it is asking parliament to let it borrow as much as €20 billion ($20.8 billion) for a potential bank rescue plan in the eurozone’s third largest economy. Source:CNN. Read More.

Why Japan Celebrates Christmas with KFC

Every Christmas, Ryohei Ando gathers his family together for a holiday tradition. Just like their father did as a child, his two children will reach deep into a red-and-white bucket and pick out the best piece of fried chicken they can find. Source: BBC. Read More.