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Exclusive - After Islamic State defeat, broken Iraqi farmers weigh heavy losses

By Michael Georgy and Maha El Dahan QARAQOSH, Iraq/ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Sami Yuhanna was making a decent living as a wheat farmer until a jihadist put a gun to his head and declared his land in Iraq's Nineveh province the property of Islamic State. An army offensive has cleared the militants from the eastern half of the provincial capital, Mosul, and nearby towns and villages like Qaraqosh, home to Yuhanna's fields.
Fake receipts at Glencore warehouse unit triggered sector credit freeze, Qingdao shivers - sources

By Melanie Burton MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Some global banks briefly froze credit lines for Singapore metal traders last month after a unit of commodities giant Glencore uncovered fake warehousing receipts, people familiar with the matter said, reviving the spectre of a $3 billion scandal that rocked the trading world three years ago. Two people who have metal storage dealings with Access World said the company told them the receipts were from a third party, not issued internally. "We checked with (Access World) and all our stock was in good order," said one of the people, an official at a Singapore trading house.

Rs 5 lakh crore worth of orders signed for roads, ports: Gadkari

New Delhi, Feb 12 (IANS) The government's road and highway building programme has enough cash to build the crucial infrastructure, Road Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari has said. "We have signed contracts worth Rs 5 lakh crore for infrastructure, roads, ports. As per the 2017-18 Budget, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this month, the AAA-rated National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has been permitted to raise Rs 70,000 crore through infrastructure bonds, he said.
Greece, lenders risk euro zone instability if review talks drag on - EU's Dombrovskis

Greece and its lenders should quickly approve a review of reforms the indebted country must take in return for unlocking new loans, a senior European Union official said on Sunday, warning of financial instability in the euro zone if the issue lingers. "Now is not the time to turn the clocks back to financial instability," Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission and the EU's financial services chief, told Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "The reforms in the programme are aimed at improving the competitiveness of the Greek economy and to give Greeks hope of a stable and secure future," he added.

Exclusive - U.N. set to defer report on companies with Israeli settlement ties

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations report on establishing a database of companies with business interests in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank is set to be delayed until later this year, diplomats and activists said on Friday. The U.N. human rights office had been due to present its first report on the politically charged issue at a session that opens on Feb. 27, which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is also due to address.

Euro zone, IMF agree on a common stance on Greece - official

By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone lenders and the International Monetary Fund have reached agreed between themselves to present a common stance to Greece later on Friday in talks on reforms and the fiscal path Athens must take, euro zone officials said. Such a united stance would be a breakthrough because the two groups have differed for months on the size of the primary surplus Greece should reach in 2018 and maintain for years later as well as the issue of debt relief. "There is agreement to present a united front to the Greeks," a senior euro zone official said, adding that the outcome of Friday's meeting with the Greeks was still unclear and it was unclear if Athens would accept the proposals.

Exclusive: Bain to seek $1 billion for its first Asia-focused credit fund - sources

By Elzio Barreto HONG KONG (Reuters) - Bain Capital is planning its first Asia-focused credit fund, seeking to raise $1 billion to capitalise on distressed debt and direct lending opportunities as banks dispose of those assets and operations, people familiar with the plans told Reuters. The move would double the private equity firm's presence in credit-related investments in the region as it also has about $1 billion in distressed debt and so-called special situations transactions done through its global funds.
State Bank of India Q3 net profit jumps, beats estimates

MUMBAI (Reuters) - State Bank of India , the nation's top lender by assets, on Friday reported its first jump in quarterly profit since mid-2015, which also beat analysts' expectations, helped by lower provisions for bad loans. Standalone net profit, not including contributions from subsidiaries or associates, rose 134 percent to 26.1 billion rupees ($390 million) for the quarter ended December, from 11.15 billion rupees a year ago. That was above with an average estimate of 24.64 billion rupees from 23 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. ...

Germany prefers stronger euro, higher rates - deputy finance minister

Germany prefers a stronger euro and higher interest rates in the single currency bloc, Deputy Finance Minister Jens Spahn said, responding to claims by the United States that Europe's largest economy was exploiting the exchange rate to boost trade. "When one considers only the German economic situation, the euro is too weak at the moment and the rates are also too low," Spahn said in an interview with public broadcaster ZDF to be aired on Thursday. The European Central Bank (ECB) has been buying bonds, holding rates in negative territory and giving banks free loans to fight anaemic growth and inflation.

Ecobank CEO wants 100 million customers by 2020 from 10 million now

Pan-African group Ecobank Transnational plans to increase its customers to 100 million by 2020 from 10 million now, using technology to hit that goal, the chief executive said on Thursday. Lenders in Sub-Saharan Africa, where studies show about a third of people have accounts, have been using mobile and Internet banking to recruit new customers, cut operating costs and create new income sources. Speaking at the launch of Ecobank's new mobile banking application in Kenya, Ade Ayeyemi told Reuters this would help the group reach more users in 33 African nations where it operates.