Category: 3. Business

DOHA, July 1, 2025 — The World Bank Group (WBG) announced today the appointment of Holly Welborn Benner as the World Bank Group Country Manager for the State of Qatar, based in Doha. This underlines the World Bank Group’s commitment to strengthening the partnership with Qatar by supporting Qatar’s private and public sector development priorities in line with its National Vision 2030. A new WBG office in Doha will deepen our engagement in response to development challenges, and national priorities with speed, efficiency, and impact. 

Most recently, Ms. Benner was the Resident Representative for Jordan, overseeing a program focused on growth and jobs aligned with Jordan”s Economic Modernization Vision. With over 20 years of experience, she has worked on development solutions for countries facing complex transition and reform challenges, including leading operations in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Her work included conflict-recovery efforts in Ukraine and programs in Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic that integrated energy infrastructure with community development.

“As I step into the role of Country Manager for Qatar, I am both honored and excited to contribute to the World Bank Group’s mission of fostering sustainable development and economic growth, bringing together public and private sector solutions to help Qatar implement its National Vision 2030,” said Holly W. Benner, the World Bank Group Country Manager for Qatar. “Qatar’s dynamic landscape also offers unique opportunities for the World Bank Group to promote Qatar’s knowledge, innovation and investment in the Middle East region and globally.”

The World Bank Group is assisting Qatar in achieving its “National Vision 2030” which aims to strengthen human capital, support job creation, diversify the economy, and drive sustainable growth by catalyzing cross-border investments, facilitating public-private partnerships, promoting women’s economic empowerment, and addressing sustainability challenges.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group focused on the private sector in emerging markets, has invested and mobilized $1.84 billion of financing to help Qatari companies expand to new markets in developing countries. MIGA, the home of the World Bank Group Guarantee Platform, issued guarantees in the amount of $225 million to Kasada Hospitality Fund LP, a firm that is 69.7% owned by a subsidiary of the Qatari Investment Authority. These guarantees enabled investments in 17 hotels with 2,900 hotel rooms in seven countries across sub-Saharan Africa.

The Qatar office will operate under a single Country Manager for the World Bank Group including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

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About the World Bank Group: The World Bank Group has a bold vision: to create a world free of poverty on a livable planet. In more than 100 countries, the World Bank Group provides financing, advice, and innovative solutions that improve lives by creating jobs, strengthening economic growth, and confronting the most urgent global development challenges. The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries. It consists of the World Bank, including the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA); the International Finance Corporation (IFC); the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA); and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). For more information, please visit www.worldbank.org , www.miga.org , and www.ifc.org.

• The Japanese Yen attracts some sellers as Trump raised doubts over a US-Japan deal.
• A positive risk tone also undermines the safe-haven JPY and lends support to USD/JPY.
• The divergent BoJ-Fed expectations favor the JPY bulls and might cap the currency pair.

The Japanese Yen (JPY) remains depressed through the Asian session on Wednesday, which, along with a modest US Dollar (USD) uptick, assists the USD/JPY pair to move away from a nearly one-month low touched the previous day. US President Donald Trump expressed skepticism about reaching a trade deal with Japan and suggested that potential tariffs on Japanese imports would be higher than the 24% rate announced on April 2. This, along with the bullish risk tone, is seen undermining the safe-haven status of the JPY.

Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan’s (BoJ) cautious approach to unwinding its ultra-loose policy forced investors to push back their expectations for early interest rate hikes. Investors, however, seem convinced that the BoJ will stay on the path of monetary policy normalization as inflation has persistently exceeded its target for nearly three years. This, in turn, helps limit losses for the JPY and caps the USD/JPY pair. Traders also seem reluctant to place aggressive directional bets ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report on Thursday.

Japanese Yen bulls remain on the sidelines amid trade jitters; downside potential seems limited

• US President Donald Trump had expressed frustration over stalled US-Japan trade negotiations and cast doubt about reaching an agreement with Japan. Moreover, Trump suggested that he could impose a tariff of 30% or 35% on imports from Japan, above the tariff rate of 24% announced on April 2.
• Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Tuesday that although headline inflation has been above 2% for nearly three years, underlying inflation remains below target. Ueda added that any future rate hikes will depend on the overall inflation dynamic, including wage growth and expectations.
• Moreover, BoJ’s new board member Kazuyuki Masu said on Tuesday that the central bank should not rush into raising interest rates given various economic risks. However, concerns about mounting inflationary pressure in Japan keep the door open for a BoJ rate hike in 2025, especially if trade risks stabilize.
• In contrast, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell noted that the US central bank would have eased monetary policy by now if not for Trump’s tariff plan. When asked if July would be too soon for markets to expect a rate cut, Powell answered that he can’t say and that it’s going to depend on the data.
• Nevertheless, traders still see a small chance that the next rate reduction by the Fed will come in July and are pricing in over a 75% probability of a rate cut at the September policy meeting. This, in turn, dragged the US Dollar to its lowest level since February 2022 and should cap the USD/JPY pair.
• Meanwhile, the US ISM Manufacturing PMI showed on Tuesday that economic activity in the manufacturing sector contracted for the fourth consecutive month, albeit the rate of contraction slowed in June. In fact, the gauge edged up to 49 from 48.5 in May, above market expectations of 48.8.
• Separately, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) that the number of job openings on the last business day of May stood at 7.769 million. This followed 7.395 million openings in April and was above estimates for 7.3 million.
• Traders now look forward to the release of the US ADP report on private-sector employment for some impetus later this Wednesday. The focus, however, remains on the closely-watched US monthly employment details – popularly known as the Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report on Thursday.

USD/JPY remains vulnerable while below the 144.40 region, or the 200-SMA on H4

From a technical perspective, negative oscillators on 4-hour/daily charts suggest that any subsequent move up towards the 144.00 mark could be seen as a selling opportunity. This, in turn, should cap the USD/JPY pair near the 200-period Simple Moving Average (SMA) on the 4-hour chart, currently pegged near the 144.35 region. Some follow-through buying, leading to a subsequent strength beyond the 144.65 horizontal hurdle, should allow spot prices to reclaim the 145.00 psychological mark.

On the flip side, the 143.40-143.35 area could offer some support ahead of the 143.00 round figure and the overnight swing low, around the 142.70-142.65 region. Failure to defend the said support levels will reaffirm the near-term negative bias and make the USD/JPY pair vulnerable to accelerate the fall toward the May monthly swing low, around the 142.15-142.10 region. The downward trajectory could extend further towards testing sub-141.00 levels in the near term.

Tokyo, July 2, 2025 – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has received an order for the supply of four circulating water pumps (CWP) for Units 5 and 6 of the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in China, in collaboration with Dongfang Electric Machinery Co., Ltd. (Head office: Deyang, Sichuan Province, “DFEM”), a core company of the Dongfang Electric Group, one of China’s three major heavy electrical equipment manufacturers. DFEM and MHI are advancing collaboration to expand the business of nuclear power plants in China, and this order is an example of MHI Group’s partnering efforts. MHI will continue to build strategic partnerships globally to incorporate external expertise through partnering efforts and deliver its technologies, products and services to a wider range of customers.

The Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant is located in Sanmen County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province in southeastern China. Construction of the newly ordered Units 5 and 6 will follow Units 1 and 2 that are in operation and Units 3 and 4 that are under construction. The reactor type for these units will be the Hualong One / HPR1000, a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) with a capacity of 1215 MWe.

This contract marks the first order received under the collaboration between DFEM and MHI, and both parties aim to expand their business in the field of circulating water pumps for nuclear power plants in China.

Circulating water pumps are used in the condensate systems, which cool the steam discharged from the turbine in the secondary system of PWRs and returns the steam to water. To cool the steam, circulating water pumps need to draw a large volume of water from the water source and supply it to the condenser, which requires a very large-sized pump. MHI has a proven track record of supplying over 500 CWPs to the market.

MHI will continue contributing to greater energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact across a wide range of countries and regions through valuable proposals for the energy market.

For more information about DFEM, please visit https://dfem.dongfang.com/

Reuters

Reuters
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Columbia University agreed to pay $9 million to settle a proposed class action by students who claimed it submitted false data to boost its position in U.S. News & World Report’s influential college rankings.

A preliminary settlement, which requires a judge’s approval, was filed on Monday in Manhattan federal court.

Students said Columbia artificially inflated its U.S. News ranking for undergraduate schools, reaching No. 2 in 2022, by consistently reporting false data, including that 83% of its classes had fewer than 20 students.

They said the misrepresentations enticed them to enroll and allowed Columbia to overcharge them on tuition.

The settlement covers about 22,000 undergraduate students at Columbia College, Columbia Engineering and Columbia’s School of General Studies from the fall of 2016 to the spring of 2022.

Lawyers for the students called the accord fair, reasonable and adequate. Columbia denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

The university said in a statement that it “deeply regrets deficiencies in prior reporting,” and now provides prospective students with data reviewed by an independent advisory firm to ensure they receive accurate information about their education.

The litigation began in July 2022, after Columbia math professor Michael Thaddeus published a report alleging that data underlying the school’s No. 2 ranking were inaccurate or misleading. Columbia’s ranking dropped to No. 18 that September.

In June 2023, Columbia said its undergraduate schools would stop participating in U.S. News’ rankings.

It said the rankings appeared to have “outsized influence” with prospective students, and “much is lost” in distilling education quality from a series of data points.

Some other universities, including Harvard and Yale, also stopped submitting data to U.S. News for various schools. U.S. News also ranks graduate schools.

Lawyers for the Columbia students plan to seek up to one-third of the settlement for legal fees, leaving about $6 million for the students.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the USD/CNY central rate for the trading session ahead on Wednesday at 7.1546 as compared to the previous day’s fix of 7.1534 and 7.1623 Reuters estimate.

(Bloomberg) — Asian shares edged lower at the open after President Donald Trump said he won’t delay the July 9 deadline for imposing higher levies on trading partners. 

A regional stocks gauge fell 0.2%. Japanese stocks declined 1% after Trump threatened to hike tariffs on the country and deepened his criticism of Japan for not accepting US rice exports. A gauge of the dollar slipped in early Asian trading after touching its lowest since 2022 in the prior session. Treasuries were steady Wednesday after yields rose on Tuesday.

Investors are closely watching how Trump decides to handle the current pause on his April tariffs, which he put on hold for 90 days to allow time for talks. Stock markets – which once swung wildly on trade headlines – appear to see little risk, as equity indexes sit near all-time highs. The calm is being fueled by expectations that Trump will extend his tariff deadline based on his pattern of threatening first and backing down later.

“While US stocks are probably overly optimistic, international stocks have been prone to an overly pessimistic knee-jerk response each time Trump escalates,” said Phillip Wool, head of portfolio management at Rayliant Global Advisors Ltd. “It’s not surprising at all to see Trump holding the prospect of a July 9th impasse and a painfully high tariff out as a threat to push for better deals. There’s also an element of political theater here.”

Trump for weeks has sought to exert leverage over trading partners with threats to set high levies on governments he sees as being difficult. His top economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, earlier signaled agreements would be announced after the July 4 holiday and the signing of the tax and spending bill the US Senate approved.

Trump’s latest tariff comments don’t pose a major threat to Japanese stocks, said Neil Newman, head strategist at Astris Advisory Japan.

“I read from his rhetoric President Trump has run out of things to complain about,” he said. “I believe there is too much on the Japanese negotiation table for the Americans to walk away from, but we know Trump will push to the limits to get more. This is just noise.”

Meanwhile, US job openings hit the highest since November, largely fueled by leisure and hospitality, and layoffs declined. Fed policymakers have consistently characterized labor-market conditions as strong in recent weeks. Fed Chair Jerome Powell repeated that the US central bank probably would have cut rates further this year absent Trump’s expanded use of tariffs, although he didn’t rule out easing at its meeting later this month.

The government’s June employment report, due Thursday, is expected to show a slowdown in nonfarm payroll growth and an uptick in the unemployment rate.

Separate data Tuesday showed US factory activity contracted in June for a fourth consecutive month as orders and employment shrank at a faster pace, extending the malaise in manufacturing.

Trump’s $3.3 trillion tax and spending cut bill passed the Senate after Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote. House lawmakers are returning to Washington from a holiday week to vote Wednesday on the Senate version of the bill but face Republican resistance from moderate and ultra-conservative GOP lawmakers.

In commodities, gold held an advance, after rallying 2% over the previous two sessions while oil steadied in early Wednesday trading.

Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 9:30 a.m. Tokyo time
• Nikkei 225 futures (OSE) fell 0.7%
• Japan’s Topix fell 0.3%
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4%
• Euro Stoxx 50 futures were little changed

Currencies

• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed
• The euro was little changed at $1.1801
• The Japanese yen fell 0.1% to 143.58 per dollar
• The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.1619 per dollar
• The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6581

Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $105,659.61
• Ether fell 0.3% to $2,408.72

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.24%
• Australia’s 10-year yield advanced three basis points to 4.14%

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed
• Spot gold was little changed

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Alice French, Rob Verdonck and Aya Wagatsuma.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.