Briefing
i ebanon poised for first debt defaultL
Beirut has started preparing for talks with creditors
as it grapples with debts of $90bn. Premier Hassan
Diab told the nation on Saturday it will not be able
to pay a $1.2bn Eurobond maturingtoday.— PAGE 4i yiv clear-out raises investor concernsK
A shake-up last week that saw the departure from
government of respected reformers has raised fears
that President Volodymyr Zelensky has ditched a
bid to rid the economy of corruption.— PAGE 4i hareholder backs Musk oversight moveS
The electric carmaker’s top external investor has
said that regulatory battles and the recent addition
of independent directors to oversee Elon Musk have
made Tesla a “better run” company. —PAGE 6i rudential set to unveil plan for US armP
The 172-year-old UK insurer
will this week unveil plans to
float or sell a stake in Jackson,
as it responds to demands from
activist investor Dan Loeb for a
break-up.— PAGE 6i oftBank pressed over ride-share tie-upS
Investors have urged SoftBank to help bring about
an alliance in Indonesia between Gojek and Grab, in
which the Japanese investor has a stake. Both are
bleeding cash ina battle for market share.— PAGE 6i dlib sceptical of ‘killer ceasefire’I
The truce hammered out by Ankara and Moscow
has brought some days of much-needed calm to the
province of Idlib, the last-rebel held enclave. But
few Syrians believe the peace will last.— PAGE 4i S meat substitute sales surge 18%U
Increasing consumer interest in alternative proteins
has pushed plant-based meat substitute sales to
almost $1bn, according to industry bodies. Overall
plant-based food sales rose by 11 per cent.— PAGE 7Datawatch
MONDAY9 MARCH 2020 WORLD BUSINESS NEWSPAPER EUROPE
World Markets
STOCK MARKETS
Mar 6 Feb 28 %Week
S&P 500 2972.37 2954.22 0.
Nasdaq Composite 8575.62 8567.37 0.
Dow Jones Ind 25864.78 25409.36 1.
FTSEurofirst 300 1432.45 1464.48 -2.
Euro Stoxx 50 3232.07 3329.49 -2.
FTSE 100 6462.55 6580.61 -1.
FTSE All-Share 3600.95 3673.61 -1.
CAC 40 5139.11 5309.90 -3.
Xetra Dax 11541.87 11890.35 -2.
Nikkei 20749.75 21948.23 -5.
Hang Seng 26146.67 26778.62 -2.
MSCI World $ 2192.35 -
MSCI EM $ 1039.34 -
MSCI ACWI $ 525.64 -CURRENCIES
Mar 6 Feb 28
$ per € 1.131 1.
$ per £ 1.303 1.
£ per € 0.868 0.
¥ per $ 105.345 107.
¥ per £ 137.302 137.
SFr per € 1.061 1.
€ per $ 0.884 0.Mar 6 Feb 28
£ per $ 0.767 0.
€ per £ 1.152 1.
¥ per € 119.151 118.
£ index 79.295 80.
SFr per £ 1.222 1.COMMODITIESMar 6 Feb 28 %Week
Oil WTI $ 41.54 45.19 -8.
Oil Brent $ 45.50 50.00 -9.
Gold $ 1659.60 1652.00 0.INTEREST RATES
price yield chg
US Gov 10 yr 0.74 -0.
UK Gov 10 yr 0.23 -0.
Ger Gov 10 yr 106.91 -0.71 -0.
Jpn Gov 10 yr -0.15 -0.
US Gov 30 yr 126.14 1.30 -0.
Ger Gov 2 yr 106.02 -0.87 -0.price prev chg
Fed Funds Eff 1.58 1.55 0.
US 3m Bills 0.62 0.72 -0.
Euro Libor 3m -0.50 -0.49 -0.
UK 3m 0.55 0.50 0.
Prices are latest for edition Data provided by MorningstarANJLI RAVAL, DAVID SHEPPARD
AND DEREK BROWERSaudi Arabia has launched an oil price
war targeting its biggest rival produc-
ers, a move that threatens to swamp
the crude market with upplies just ass
the coronavirus outbreak hits demand.
Saudi Arabia will raise production and
offer its crude at deep discounts to win
new customers next month, according
to two people familiar with the country’s
oil policy.
The move threatens to send oil prices
tumbling, after they had already
dropped by a third since January to near
$45 a barrel.
The Saudi move is also expected to
ripple though the US junk bond market,
where shale producers have borrowed
billions of dollars in recent years. The
kingdom plans to pump more than 10mbarrels a day next month whileoffering
discounts of almost 20 per cent in key
markets, in an apparent attempt to pun-
ish Russia, which last week refused to
join production cuts with Opec.
The move will also increase pressure
on the US shale industry and other
igher-cost producers.h
Production could surpass 11m barrels
a day, one of the people said, well above
the roughly 9m b/d Riyadh had previ-
ously proposed loweringoutput to.
Traders and analysts have warned
that an all-out price war could see oil
prices fall to $30 a barrel or lower, bring-
ing back memories of the last time Saudi
Arabia opened the taps in 2014.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Sal-
man, the de facto Saudi ruler, moved at
the weekend to consolidate his position,
arresting at least three members of the
royal family hat may have posed atthreat to his accession to the throne.
The fall in oil prices risks new turmoil
in the kingdom, as Prince Mohammed’s
plan to modernise the economy relies at
least in part on higher energy revenues
to fund the transformation.
Shares in audi AramcoS , the state oil
company, dropped more than 9 per cent
yesterday, falling below its December
stock market listing price.
Saudi Arabia had last week sought the
support of Opec and allies outside the
cartel, such as Russia, for a substantial
cut in production to stabilise the oil
market,already reeling as the spread of
coronavirus hits the global economy.
But Russiatorpedoed the plan, eyeing
an opportunity to hit US shale produc-
ers. That infuriated the kingdom and
resulted inproducers removing all
restrictions on their output from April.
Prince purges rivals age 3pSaudi Arabia launches oil price war to
punish Russia for blocking output cut
Big ReadiPAGE 15Mexico’s surging femicides
raise the heat on president© THE FINANCIAL TIMES LTD 2020
No: 40,343★
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North Macedonia Den
India is expected
to see the fastest
growth in numbers
of the ultra-rich
(whose wealth
exceeds $30m)
over the next five
years. There were
fewer billionaires
in the world in
2019 than the
previous year but
the number of the
ultra-wealthy roseRise of the rich
Projected growth in the number of
ultra-wealthy, - () India
Egypt
China
Sweden
New Zealand
UK
SingaporeSource: Knight FrankList only includes countries where the
number of ultra-wealthy is projected to
increase by more than peopleEconomies
exposed
3 urozone complacent about the viral threatE — WOLFGANG MÜNCHAU,PAGE 17
3 Dependence on Wall Street laid bare— RANA FOROOHAR,PAGE 17
3 News and analysis from around the globe— PAGE 2
DAVIDE GHIGLIONE— ROME
JAMES POLITI— WASHINGTON
Italy has taken drastic actionto contain
a worsening outbreak of the coronavi-
rus, as a jump in the number of deaths
and infections over the weekend made it
the worst-hit country outside China.
The number of confirmed cases in
Italy rose to 7,375 yesterday, surpassing
those in South Korea, while the number
of deaths reached 366. Only China,
where the outbreak originated, has
recorded more infections and deaths as
the result of the flu-like virus.
The increase in cases came as the Ital-
ian government imposed a lockdown on
a swath of its prosperous north that is
home to 16m people.
The restrictions on movements in the
region of Lombardy and its capital
Milan include a ban on entering or exit-
ing certain areas of the country, and the
closing of museums, gyms, schools, uni-
versities and ski resorts, according to a
decree signed by Giuseppe Conte, Italy’s
prime minister, in the early hours of
yesterday morning.
As well as Lombardy, the measures
took effect in more than a dozen other
provinces in neighbouring regions,
including the cities of Parma, Modena,
Padua and Venice. They are expected to
be in force until at least April 3.
“We are facing a national emergency... Without underestimating it, we have
chosen transparency, we are acting with
lucidity, courage and determination,”
said Mr Conte. “We want to contain the
spread of the contagion and avoid over-
loading the hospitals.”
The growing public health crisis
across the world has rattled global mar-
kets and raised fears that the economy
is heading for a sharp slowdown.
The impact of the disease on interna-
tional commerce became clearer over
the weekend, with China reporting a
steep fall in exports during the first two
months of the year.
Measures to tackle the virus are being
stepped up across Europe. Jens Spahn,
Germany’s health minister, yesterday
recommended cancelling all events
with more than 1,000 participants,
while Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s chancel-
lor, promised imminent “additional
measures” to slow the outbreak.
Coronavirus has spread rapidly in
Italy since the first cluster of cases began
to appear in a group of towns south of
Milan. Those areas were rapidly put
under lockdown, but the areaof restric-
tions has now been greatly enlarged tocover millions of people and some of the
most economically productive areas of
the eurozone.
Concern is growing over the intense
strain that responding to the virusis
placing on Italy’s healthcare system, as
well as fears that its spread could push
Italy into recession.
When coronavirus was largely con-
fined to China, Italy quickly moved to
ban direct flights to and from the Asian
nation. But travellers from Italy around
the world are now facing bans of their
own, as well as periods of quarantine
and self-isolation,as other countries
seek to limit the spread of the disease.
Roberto Gualtieri, Italy’s economy
minister, announced a €7.5bn stimulus
package last week to tackle the impact
of coronavirus on theeconomy and
healthcare system.Italy quarantines vast parts of
rich north as virus cases surge
3 Worst-hit nation outside China 3 Fears of recession stoked 3 Europe toughens defences
Milan’s Vittorio
Emanuele II
shopping arcade
yesterday
Antonio Calanni/AP Photo3 Analysis and
reportsPage 2
3 Bleak Japan
signalPage 6
3 Spotlight on
LagardePage 8
3 Editorial
Comment
Page 16
3 Opinion
Page 17
3 Business Life
Page 18MARCH 9 2020 Section:FrontBack Time: 3/20208/ - 18:34 User:simon.roberts Page Name:1FRONT USA, Part,Page,Edition:EUR, 1, 1