Author: Charlotte

Predictable policies, improving liquidity flows and rebuilding investor confidence dominates the upcoming national budget as Bangladesh navigates a challenging economic landscape marked by inflation, sluggish investment and financial-sector vulnerabilities. Talking to The Financial Express, days before the new government’s maiden budget lands in parliament, Dr Rashed Al Titumir also explains that the government’s economic strategy is built around a five-year framework of “recovery, restoration and reconstruction for acceleration”. “The budget size remains relatively small compared to the size of our economy and the financing needs in health and education,” he says, stressing the need to increase public spending to reduce…

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Watch the price at the crypto pump.© SOPA Images/Getty Images, © coreyfrey/stock.adobe.com; Photo composite Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.If you’ve ever paid a toll on a highway, then you already know something about Ethereum gas fees. Ethereum gas fees are like paying a “toll” to use the Ethereum blockchain. Highway tollbooths may be operated by one person, but the Ethereum blockchain involves many decentralized operators.Here’s a quick guide to Ethereum gas fees, including what they are, how they’re determined, and why they matter for your crypto portfolio.What is Ethereum gas?Ethereum gas is what users pay to process transactions or use smart contracts…

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FRANKFURT, June 1 (Reuters) – The increased use of stablecoins could reinforce the dollar’s global dominance, undermine some nations’ ability to set monetary policy ‌and even diminish the role of the euro, European Central Bank ‌board member Isabel Schnabel said on Monday. The use of stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency pegged to ​certain assets and designed to maintain a stable value, is still relatively low but has increased quickly and modelling by analysts has suggested a further rapid spread. The vast majority of stablecoins are pegged to the U.S. dollar and a rapid growth in ‌issuance could slow or ⁠even…

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AI data cloud company Snowflake has signed a major cloud capacity agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS).Snowflake entered into a multi-year deal with AWS valued at $6 billion for access to compute needed to meet growing enterprise demand for AI and data workloads.According to the company, this is its largest commitment to AWS to date. Under the agreement, Snowflake will expand its use of AWS’ custom Graviton processors, as well as GPU-accelerated EC2 instances for model training and inference.“AI has generated enormous excitement, but for enterprises, the real challenge and opportunity is turning intelligence into action,” said Sridhar Ramaswamy, CEO…

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Speech by Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the 2026 Bank of Korea International Conference on Central Banks and the Future of MoneySeoul, 1 June 2026The nature of money has never been static. Over the centuries, financial innovation has reshaped how money is created, transferred and stored, often enhancing efficiency, broadening access and boosting economic welfare. When such innovations reach scale, they alter the structure of the financial system, with consequences for financial stability, monetary policy and the international monetary order.One recent innovation has been stablecoins. These are privately issued digital tokens pegged to fiat…

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The interim government has introduced 77 reform measures across the financial sector, covering planning, finance, commerce, industry, labour, and power and energy. The initiatives helped ease some macroeconomic pressures, as falling foreign exchange reserves stabilised and inflation showed signs of moderation.Yet, vital reforms in the banking and revenue sectors moved slowly from planning to implementation.For instance, the Bangladesh Bank (BB) proposed amendments or new laws for seven areas, but only two — the Bank Resolution Act and Bank Deposit Protection Ordinance — were enacted.Even though the Bank Resolution Act was passed in May last year, Sammilito Islami Bank, the new…

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The British Business Bank has appointed Charlotte Lawrence, an investment professional with over two decades of experience, as its new managing director of direct equity. In her new role, Lawrence will be in charge of the bank’s direct and co-investment activity. Her appointment follows reforms to the bank’s investment capabilities made in 2025 that mandated it to increase the number and size of investments it makes into high-growth UK scaleups. “As the Bank takes on a bigger role in providing scaleup capital, strengthening our direct investing capability is a priority,” said the bank’s chief investment officer Leandros Kalisperas. “Our direct…

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The organisation implemented a decarbonisation roadmap alongside sustained executive-driven growth and performance.Msheireb Properties won the CEO of the Year – Asia and Strategic Partnership of the Year – Qatar categories at the Real Estate Asia Awards 2026, reflecting its leadership direction and its collaboration with global multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy Cundall on a portfolio-wide decarbonisation programme across Msheireb Downtown Doha.Strengthening district performance through leadershipIn 2025, Msheireb Downtown Doha welcomed 16 million visitors, with over 5 million recorded during the winter season, driven by a vibrant calendar of cultural programming, retail activations, and major public events. This sustained momentum translated into strong…

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