BUSINESS Saturday, September 9, 201710

COUNTRY/CURRENCIES SELLBUY

Rates are for indication purpose only. For firm rates or for currencies not listed above please call Bahrain Financing Company. Telephone: 17228888, Website: www.bfc.com.bh

COUNTRY 1 US DLR 1 UK STG 1 SFR 100 YEN

BAHRAIN 0.3770 0.5738 0.3947 0.3475

KUWAIT 0.2855 30.9739 0.2989 0.2632

OMAN 0.3849 0.3677 0.4030 0.3548

QATAR 3.6420 3.4788 3.8128 3.3570

UAE 3.6730 3.5084 3.8453 3.3856

SAUDI 3.7500 3.5820 3.9259 3.4565

AUSTRALIA 0.3094 0.3069BANGLADESH 0.00476 0.00467CANADA 0.3158 0.3126DENMARK 0.0638 EGYPT 0.0234 0.0217EURO 0.4584 0.4559HONGKONG 0.04969 0.04929INDIA 0.00602 0.00593INDONESIA 0.00003055 0.00002900IRAN TUMAN 0.000323 IRAQI DINAR 0.000304 JAPAN 0.00362 0.003550JORDAN 0.5350 0.5354KOREA 0.00038474 KUWAIT 1.249 1.249MALAYSIA 0.0916 0.0916NEW ZEALAND 0.2759 0.2759NORWAY 0.0507 NEPAL 0.00395 0.00369OMAN 0.98014 0.98288PAKISTAN 0.00376 0.00358PHILIPPINES 0.00763 0.00742QATAR 0.2831 0.10376SAUDI ARABIA 0.10058 0.10066SINGAPORE 0.0285 0.2829SOUTH AFRICA 0.03080 0.03070SRI LANKA 0.00272 0.00248SWEDISH 0.0505 SWITZERLAND 0.4037 0.4007SYRIA 0.001740 0.0017TAIWAN 0.013100 THAILAND 0.011600 0.011600TURKEY 0.1166 UNITED KINGDOM 0.5016 0.4987UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 0.102500 0.102840UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 0.37790 0.37800YUAN 0.056800 0.056800

Shanghai

China raised the exchange rate for the yuan against

the US dollar for the 10th consecutive session Friday, pushing the unit to its highest level in 16 months.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the value of the yuan -- also known as the renminbi -- at 6.5032 to the dollar, up 0.36 percent from Thursday’s rate, according to data from the Foreign Exchange Trade System.

It was the highest rate since May 2016.

Analysts said the yuan’s rise has been due mainly to a sagging dollar, which has

been hit by Hurricane Irma and doubts over further US interest rate hikes.

“The appreciation of the RMB against the USD this year has been driven by a combination of USD weakness, China’s tighter management of capital outflows, reduced risk of large scale US-China trade war, and improved economic performance and market sentiment on China,” UBS China economist Wang Tao said in a note.

China allows the yuan to rise or fall only two percent either side of a fixed daily rate to control volatility.

The yuan has been under pressure since late 2015 from uncertainty over the health of the world’s second-largest economy, massive capital outflows seeking better returns abroad, and a sharp rise in the dollar.

Earlier this year, it flirted with the 7.0-to-the-dollar level, a threshold not crossed in more than eight years.

China has taken various measures to shore up its currency, including rolling out new restrictions to curb the outflow of money into “irrational” investments overseas.

Michael Every, senior

Asia-Pacific strategist for Rabobank Hong Kong, also believes that China may have raised the value of the yuan ahead of a key Communist Party congress next month.

“It’s almost all a weak USD and the rest of it is China wanting to look strong before the 19th Party Congress.

“Nothing -- and I stress nothing -- has improved fundamentally in China to justify it.”

The onshore yuan traded at 6.4501 on Friday afternoon, up 0.72 percent from Thursday’s close of 6.4972, according to the Foreign Exchange Trade System.

China raises yuan rate to 16-mth high

Brussels

EU finance ministers are set to discuss changing

rules so that tech giants such as Google or Facebook are on the hook to pay more taxes in Europe, according to an EU document.

European regulators have become increasingly aggressive against US technology giants seen by officials as gaining too much power, with Amazon and Apple also facing scrutiny.

“It is urgent to close the gap in international tax rules in order to ensure the fair taxation of profits from businesses in the digitalised economy,” said an EU document, prepared for a meeting of finance ministers

in Estonia on September 15.The paper was drawn up

by the government of Estonia,

which currently holds the EU’s six-month rotating presidency and sees itself

as a digital  leader in Europe.

The document deplores the current situation in Europe in which taxing rights are held by EU nations with the “physical presence” of multinationals.

Instead, in the proposal, large digital businesses would be liable to pay corporate tax in the countries where they make profits, not only where they are present.

Many digital platforms operating in the EU are based in Ireland which offers a low corporate tax regime, allowing internet giants to escape a higher tax rate in other member countries. (AFP)

Europe to seek Google tax reform: document

Representative picture

Saturday, September 9, 2017 11

readies for hurricaneUSWashington

The US military was mobilising thousands of troops and

deploying several large ships yesterday to aid with evacuations and humanitarian relief from Hurricane Irma, as the Air Force evacuated scores of planes from the region.

The governors of Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Florida have together activated nearly 14,000 National Guard personnel to support search-and-rescue missions and evacuations, a Pentagon statement read.

Meanwhile, the USS Kearsarge and the USS Oak Hill -- an amphibious assault ship and a dock landing ship -- are being sent to aid in relief efforts. The ships will not be in the Irma’s path and were due to start response operations in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico on Friday.

Hundreds of Marines aboard the ships had initially been deployed late last month to help with relief operations in Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

Additionally, the USS Iwo Jima and USS New York are preparing to provide additional support, while the USS Wasp -- an amphibious assault ship bedecked with helicopters -- is conducting patient evacuation operations in the US Virgin Islands.

Northern Command, which is coordinating military efforts, is also “providing urban search-and-rescue capabilities in the Caribbean to assist with life-saving and life-sustaining efforts,” the Pentagon statement read.

And the Defense Logistics Agency

is supplying 50,000 gallons of gasoline and 50,000 gallons of diesel to an air base in Georgia.

The US Army Corps of Engineers was preparing to conduct port surveys and dredging missions to reopen ports after the hurricane passes.

The Hague

Looting is a “serious” problem on the Dutch part of the hurricane-

hit island of St Martin, with troops seeking to restore order, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said yesterday.

“The situation is serious,” he said when asked about looting, adding that authorities were being hampered in dealing with it as communications were cut off when Hurricane Irma roared through on Wednesday.

Extra troops and police are arriving on the southern part of the island, which is shared between France and the Netherlands, and part of their job is to help keep order, officials said.

The badly damaged airport and port have now “been opened for military purposes,” Rutte told reporters, adding “we are doing everything possible to get aid to the area.”

He said food, water and security were the priorities on the island, known in Dutch as Sint Maarten.

“We will not abandon Sint Maarten,” he said, adding that officials were also sending medicines, tents, tarpaulins and hygiene kits as fast as possible to the Caribbean. 

“The military has two tasks after arriving there. Firstly to ensure that there is food and water, but also to ensure security,” Rutte said.

“There are people on the streets armed with revolvers and machetes,” one witness told the Dutch newspaper AD on Friday.

“The situation is very serious. No one is in charge.”

Dutch officials have confirmed that one person was killed on the Dutch part of Saint Martin by the Category Five storm, before it was downgraded early Friday to a four as it barrelled towards Cuba and Florida.

Looting ‘serious’ in St Martin: Dutch PM

As monstrous Irma takes aim at Florida, Hurricane Jose is threateningto barrel into some of the same Caribbean islands that were

flattened by Irma, leaving behind a swathe of destruction

Source: U.S. National Hurricane Center © GRAPHIC NEWS

CaribbeanSea

02:00 Sep 8

02:00 Sep 11

02:00 Sep 10

02:00 Sep 9

05:00 Sep 8

02:00Sep 9

02:00 Sep 10

02:00 Sep 11

02:00 Sep 12

02:00 Sep 13

02:00 Sep 1202:00 Sep 13

Barbuda: 1

PuertoRico: 3

Hurricane Irma:Expected to makelandfall in Floridaon Sep 10. Some500,000 peopletold to evacuate

Jose: Categorythree hurricaneto reach northernLeeward Islandsby Sep 9

U.S. Virgin Islands: 4

Anguilla: 1

St Martin: 5

People killedby Irma: 14

250 miles400km

Potential track areaAll times EST (GMT-4)

CUBA HAITIMEXICO

DOMINICAN REP.

NC

SCGAALMS

TN

Turks andCaicos

Bahamas

Irma damage over 200 mln euros: insurer

Moderate quake hits NJapan, no tsunami warning

Paris

Damage caused by Hurricane Irma on French islands in the Caribbean is estimated to be

“much higher” than 200 million euros ($240 million), a state insurance group said. 

Bertrand Labilloy, head of the Caisse Centrale de Reassurance (CCR) which specialises in natural disasters, said hurricanes typically caused around 100-200 million euros worth of damage on the French islands. 

“But Irma is much more powerful... so you should expect the figure to be much higher than this,” he told the CNews channel.

It is however “far too early to give any precise figure” for the damage in the French West Indies, he said. 

“The greatest damage from Irma is still to come, especially in Florida where there is around 100 billion euros worth of insured property,” Labilloy added.

Tokyo

A moderate 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan Friday night but there was

no tsunami warning, Japanese authorities said.The quake was at a depth of 10 kilometres

(6.2 miles) in Akita prefecture at 10:23 pm (1323 GMT), Japan’s meteorological agency said.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, according to public broadcaster NHK. The Japan Meteorological Agency did not issue a tsunami warning.

No abnormality was reported at nuclear power facilities in the region, NHK said.

‘Be prepared to evacuate’Miami

Florida Governor Rick Scott warned yesterday

that all of the state’s 20 million inhabitants should be prepared to evacuate as Hurricane Irma bears down for a direct hit on the southern US state.

“The storm is powerful and deadly,” Scott said. “Do not ignore evacuation orders.

“Remember, we can rebuild your home, we can’t rebuild your life,” he said. “All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate soon.”

Irma was downgraded overnight from a Category Five to a Category Four storm but it is still considered extremely dangerous, packing winds of 150 miles per hour (240 kilometers per hour).

“Today is the day to do the right thing for your family and get inland for safety,” he said, adding that the storm “is wider than our entire state.”

“It is expected to cause major and life threatening impacts from coast to coast,” Scott said.

A photo taken on September 7, 2017 shows damage in Orient Bay on the French Carribean island of Saint-Martin, after the passage of Hurricane Irma.