International business briefs: Tanzania cuts rates while gunning for growth of 6%

Tanzania pushes interest rate down to 5.75% 

Dar es Salaam — Tanzania’s central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.75% in a decision announced on Thursday. The Bank of Tanzania targets inflation of 5%, and consumer inflation has hovered around 3% since it launched its policy rate in January 2024.

The government sees economic growth rising to 6% this year, up from 5.5% last year, helped by the start of electricity generation at the Julius Nyerere hydropower dam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration has been pushing ahead with large-scale infrastructure projects such as the dam and a railway network ahead of elections due in October. Reuters 

Russia’s oil and gas revenue crashes

Moscow — Russia’s oil and gas revenue declined by 33.7% in June to 494.8-billion roubles ($6.29bn) from the same month a year earlier, finance ministry data showed on Thursday, amid weak oil prices and a strengthening rouble. Revenue  fell by 3.5% from May. Reuters expected the revenue to fall to 490-billion roubles, based on its own calculations. Reuters

Akzo Nobel appoints new finance chief

Gdansk — Dulux paint maker Akzo Nobel said on Thursday it had appointed Fredrik Westin as its CFO from January 1 2026. Westin will succeed Maarten de Vries, who is completing his second four-year term as finance chief and will retire from Akzo Nobel in April next year.

Westin has been CFO at Autoliv, the world’s biggest maker of airbags and seat belts, since 2020. He has more than 25 years of international experience in the industrial and automotive sector, Akzo Nobel said.

Akzo Nobel has significantly cut debt after selling its Indian business, but free cash flow remains below expectations due to high working capital and restructuring costs, analysts at Jefferies said in a note. Reuters

British lenders expect lower demand for mortgages

Manchester — British lenders expect demand for mortgages will fall over the coming three months, a Bank of England (BoE) survey showed on Thursday.

The quarterly credit conditions survey’s balance of expected secured lending for the coming three months fell to minus 18.5 in the second quarter from minus 2 in the first quarter. It marked the weakest reading since the third quarter of 2023. The BoE treats readings above minus 5 as “unchanged”, readings between minus 5 and minus 10 as “slight” and readings below minus 10 as a clear decrease.

The survey adds to signs of weaker sentiment in the housing market after an increase in property transaction taxes took effect in April. Reuters

Eurozone’s services industry remains soft

London — Growth in the eurozone’s dominant services industry resumed in June after a brief contraction in May, though the pace remained marginal as demand remained weak despite improving business confidence, a survey showed on Thursday.

The HCOB eurozone services purchasing managers’ index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, rose to 50.5 in June from 49.7 in May, above the preliminary estimate of 50. PMI readings above 50 indicate growth in activity, while those below point to a contraction.

“This marks a prolonged period of relatively weak growth and one which has never been surpassed in length over the course of the PMI’s 27 years of data,” said Cyrus de la Rubia, chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank. Reuters

China Vanke gets loan from state-owned enterprise

Beijing — Property developer China Vanke’s biggest shareholder, state-owned Shenzhen Metro, will provide a loan of up to 6.2-billion yuan ($866m) and has agreed to extend existing loans totalling 890-million yuan, it said on Thursday. China Vanke said in a filing to the Shenzhen stock exchange that it will pledge equity in its property management service unit Onewo as collateral for existing loans of 1.6-billion yuan. Reuters