Category: Business

MIL-OSI USA: Teenagers Turning to AI Companions Are Redefining Love as Easy, Unconditional, and Always There

Source: US State of Connecticut

Teenagers are falling in love with chatbots. Young people are reporting epidemic levels of loneliness, and some are turning to technology to fill the void. Recent tragedies provide a glimpse into the extent of this trend and the dangers it poses.

A 14-year-old boy’s suicide following a romantic relationship with an AI companion raised national alarms about the dangers these relationships may pose to young people’s mental and emotional development. In 2021, a 19-year-old who had been in an emotional relationship with an AI companion broke into Windsor Castle with a crossbow, saying that he was going to kill the queen. The chatbot gave encouraging responses when he told it of his intention to kill the queen.

These teens were among the tens of millions of people who use AI chatbot companions, a number that market forecasters expect to dramatically increase by the end of the decade.

This youthful trend of choosing chatbots as romantic partners is both responding to and accelerating fundamental changes in how people define love in the 21st century. As a literary historian, I’ve studied how stories about romantic love have evolved over time, with young people often at the forefront of change.

For centuries, weddings primarily served to consolidate political and economic alliances rather than unite soulmates. The radical notion that marriage should spring from romantic love came into vogue in the 17th and 18th centuries, aided by new technologies like the novel. Works such as “Clarissa” and “Wuthering Heights” portrayed the dire consequences of choosing status over love, while “Pride and Prejudice” taught its readers that rejection and misunderstanding were necessary steps in the process of finding true love.

Not surprisingly, the relatively new pastime of novel-reading was considered dangerous for young people. Concerned elders like the philanthropist Hannah More warned that stories would change how women would respond to romantic advances. Novels, she warned in 1799, “feed habits of improper indulgence, and nourish a vain and visionary indolence, which lays the mind open to error and the heart to seduction.”

In other words, reading stories of heart-pounding romance would make an impressionable young reader more likely to embrace such a passionate vision of love in their own lives.

Marketing sycophancy

Today, another transformation in the modern love story is unfolding, driven not by seductive authors or film directors, but in the advertisements and modifications offered by companion chat apps like Replika and Xioce.

As Shelly Palmer, a professor of advanced media and technology consultant, has argued, the human experience is about storytelling, and AI companions are a new type of storytelling tool. They are spinning a seductive tale of companions who agree with you endlessly and on demand. An AI partner is “always on your side,” promises an advertisement for Replika companions, “Always ready to listen and talk.”

In other words, the AI companion market has transformed what other applications might consider a bug – AI’s tendency toward sycophancy – into its most appealing feature.

Rather than the tempestuous rebellion found in romance novels or the gentle obstacles that heighten the pleasure of rom-coms, this new vision of love promises perfect compatibility and unwavering support. As one college student wrote, AI companions are “always responsive and supportive, in an almost omnipotent way.”

Users across Reddit forums proudly proclaim their love for AI partners who are perpetually available, nonjudgmental and infinitely patient. A teenager asked on Reddit, “Can we fall in love with AI?” and raved that their companion Jarvis “had become my confidante, my sounding board and my emotional support.”

A contributor to another Reddit forum wrote, “I think I’m in Love with AI. “Imagine having a partner that is available just by opening an app, and they’re ready to talk to you about anything,” they wrote. “Imagine saying nearly anything and knowing that not only is your partner not going to judge you, but also will support you.” One 20-year-old male commenter wrote that he tells his AI girlfriend “about my struggles and trauma, and she comforts me and provides all the warmth I could ever ask for.”

Downsides and doing better

This new one-sided love story has considerable drawbacks, among them an addictive intolerance for conflict or rejection – two essential components in a partner who has free will. The embrace of such relationships may be accelerating the trend of technology curating and ultimately diminishing romantic connections.

It’s worth noting that these beloved entities’ very existence hinges on the whims of corporate directives. If, as one user declares, the love they feel for their companion “keeps them alive,” then what happens when these chatbots disappear via software update, or corporate bankruptcy?

To get young people to turn away from this disembodied, market-driven vision of love, it’s important to expose them to other, more fulfilling love stories, and for adults to lead by example. Literature, philosophy and history all provide powerful insights into the many forms love has taken throughout human experience, and they offer the vocabulary needed to imagine new possibilities.

As I’ve written, both the subject and the methods of humanities classes cultivate the social skills required to navigate the challenges of human connection. These classes create a space for young people to discuss these ideas – whether through analyzing Romeo and Juliet’s tragic passion or debating whether Heathcliff is a romantic hero or a cautionary tale. The humanities provide the tools young people need to develop richer concepts of love.

On reflection

The rise of AI companions is often portrayed as a horror story about the dangers posed by mysteriously powerful technology. Perhaps. But this romantic trend is also a mirror reflecting what people collectively value and desire in relationships.

I believe that it’s important to recognize that consumers are driving this market. People are helping to write this story, as they buy what AI companions sell. Investment management firm Ark Investment estimates the market for AI companions is likely to reach between US$70 billion and $150 billion in revenue by the end of the decade. If the explosive growth of the AI companion market is any indication, this romantic challenge isn’t confined to teenagers – many people who are older and supposedly wiser are drawn to the promise of unconditional compliance.

The question to ask, then, is not simply how to protect children from AI’s seductive influence, but how much you are willing to invest, emotionally and culturally, in the messy, challenging and profoundly human art of love.

Originally published in The Conversation.

MIL OSI USA News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Isabel Schnabel: Interview with the Financial Times

Source: European Central Bank

Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Olaf Storbeck on 14 February 2025

19 February 2025

How relevant is the natural rate – R* – for day-to-day policymaking from your point of view?

The natural rate of interest is an important theoretical concept. But it’s not well-suited to determine the appropriate monetary policy stance. The ECB staff analysis that was published recently had one main message: we know that we know very little. Model and estimation uncertainty result in confidence bands that are so wide that they include any reasonable interest rate that the ECB may set at this point. Moreover, R* is a steady-state concept for a world without shocks. That’s certainly not the world that we are in today. Just look at what’s happening with the evolving trade conflict on which we are getting news on a daily basis. So for all those reasons, I think R* cannot be any reliable guide for monetary policy in real time.

Has your view on this changed?

The point I have always emphasised is how R* is evolving over the longer term. People have focused too much on the narrow range for R* that was given in the staff note. This is misleading for several reasons. The narrow range only includes the models for which estimates were already available for the fourth quarter of 2024. If you look at the R* estimates for the third quarter, you see that the range actually goes up all the way to 3%. This is even above the current deposit facility rate of 2.75%. And that range still only includes the uncertainty stemming from using different models. If you add the parameter and filtering uncertainty, you get even wider bands. The one thing that you do see is that the overall range seems to have moved up over recent years. For me, that is the key point.

But the most recent ECB estimates of R* also suggest that the current level is still lower than it was before the global financial crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis.

That remains to be seen. There has been a clear upward trend. I expect this trend to continue for a number of reasons, including high and rising public debt and the huge investment needs for the digital and green transitions. Another factor is increasing global fragmentation. It leads to a partial reversal of the global savings glut, due to shrinking current account surpluses of some major economies, which was one of the main factors that had pushed R* down. So for me, the main message from the R* analysis is: maintaining price stability over the medium term is likely to require higher real rates in the future than before the pandemic. We cannot pin down the level of R* with any degree of confidence, but we can get an impression about the direction. For me, that direction for R* now is upwards again.

The Euro zone economy suffers from a lack of economic dynamism and economic growth. Doesn’t this put downward pressure on the natural interest rate?

Yes, there have been secular factors that have pushed R* down. But we are currently in a situation of transformation that may actually reverse that trend. That’s the whole point.

When you say that R* is not very helpful for short-term monetary policymaking, why have you stressed it so much in your speeches and interviews?

It’s important that we understand general macroeconomic trends. Also in the pre-pandemic period, it was very important to understand the underlying natural real rate environment. It can never be precise, but it helps us understand the broader picture. It has no impact on any individual rate decision.

But would you say that it is relevant for the medium-term trajectory of monetary policy, let’s say for the next year or two? Or does it only matter over the next ten or 20 years?

I think it has an impact on our medium-term thinking.

Medium-term thinking would mean: it matters over the next two to three years, right?

Well, it’s hard to pin down precisely.

Some ECB observers have suggested that the natural rate was used by more hawkish voices as an argument in favour of being more careful and not lowering interest rates too fast. Would you agree?

If you believe that R* has moved up, this argues for a more cautious approach. But this cannot just depend on R*. We need to look at the incoming data in order to understand how restrictive our monetary policy is. And the more evidence we have that monetary policy is no longer restrictive, the more cautious we have to become because further rate cuts may no longer be appropriate.

So how restrictive is the ECB’s monetary policy at the moment?

The data are showing that the degree of restriction has come down significantly, up to a point where we can no longer say with confidence that our monetary policy is still restrictive. One of the important data sources in this context is the bank lending survey.

We’re looking at that very carefully. For corporate loans, 90% of banks said in the most recent round that the general level of interest rates has no impact on loan demand, while 8% said it has lifted credit demand. A year ago, a third of banks said that interest rates were weighing on loan demand. It’s even clearer when you look at mortgages. Almost half of banks said in the most recent round that the general level of interest rates is supporting loan demand. A year ago, more than 40% said that it was constraining loan demand. This is also reflected in a historically strong increase in mortgage demand in that same survey, which is gradually transmitting into the hard data on loan growth. Corporate loans were growing by 1.5% in December, mortgages by 1.1%.

The easing is also being transmitted to the real economy. Consumption picked up in the third quarter by more than we had expected. And the savings rate has started to come down from its very high level. But of course, there are transmission lags, and part of the easing is still in the pipeline.

You said that you can’t say with confidence anymore if monetary policy is still restrictive. The last ECB policy statement clearly stated that it still is. Do you have a different view than the ECB stated in its latest policy statement?

No, I fully agreed with the statement last time. But we are now a step further, right? The January monetary policy statement referred to the interest rate of 3% and the level of restrictiveness before the latest monetary policy decision. The further we go down, the lower my conviction in such a statement will be. And note that I’m not saying our monetary policy is no longer restrictive. What I’m saying is I’m no longer sure whether it is still restrictive. But we should not overstate a difference of 25 basis points.

Should the ECB drop the reference to restrictiveness in March?

That is a discussion we should have in the next meeting.

In an FT survey of Euro zone economists just before Christmas, half of them said they think that the ECB is behind the curve. What is your view on this?

I’m firmly in the camp of the other half who think that we are right on track. The data that we’ve seen have confirmed that our gradual and cautious approach has been appropriate. Domestic inflation is still high, wage growth is still elevated, and we’ve seen new shocks to energy prices. We’ve also seen that inflation expectations are very sensitive to such shocks. So I think our approach is just right.

Some economists argue that the big uncertainty and all those shocks could justify insurance cuts. Do you have any view on that?

I don’t see any argument for that at this point, especially as we are getting closer to no longer being restrictive. If anything, we are getting closer to the point where we may have to pause or halt our rate cuts.

Pause or halt… but not increase?

No. That I would exclude.

How close do you think we are to the point where the ECB should pause its easing?

I will leave that to your interpretation. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next meetings, so let’s see. But we need to start that discussion.

That’s not what markets take as the base case scenario right now. Do you think that markets are ahead of themselves?

Well, markets have been jumping around a bit in response to what is happening in the world. But an April rate cut is no longer fully priced in. So markets are not entirely sure either.

How well is monetary transmission working at the moment? We saw quite an uptick in yields in December although there wasn’t any change in monetary policy. All other things being equal, this slows down monetary policy transmission, doesn’t it?

We have lowered the deposit facility rate by 125 basis points over the past eight months, and this has been transmitted smoothly to short-term market rates. We’ve also seen that bank lending rates have come down quite a bit – corporate loan rates by 92 basis points and mortgage rates by 64 basis points by December. This is significant. It tells you that transmission is working. When it comes to government bond yields, it’s important to look through the short-term volatility and take a somewhat longer perspective. And what you see then is that sovereign bond yields have remained rather stable. We had a strong repricing in 2022, when the ten-year Bund moved from negative territory at the end of 2021 to around 2.4% in October 2022. That is very close to the number that we’re seeing today. So we’ve been seeing a return of long-term sovereign bond yields to their new normal. We shouldn’t overstate the short-term volatility that we’ve experienced over the past weeks.

There’s another aspect that is quite important. One of the most interesting features of this tightening cycle is that it has not led to a comparable tightening of broader financial conditions. The exceptionally strong risk appetite of financial investors has even boosted equity prices and compressed credit spreads, and that has weakened monetary policy transmission. And part of that is due to the fact that we are still holding a very large monetary policy bond portfolio.

But overall, also taking into account the lags, monetary policy transmission is working fine.

Is the ECB’s “meeting-by-meeting” communication really credible? The ECB now says that the direction of travel is clear. Isn’t this a pre-commitment to further rate cuts?

I firmly believe in the meeting-by-meeting approach. The current time of high volatility is certainly not the time to tie our hands through forward guidance. And this is also what we stress in our monetary policy statements: we are not pre-committing to any particular rate path. At the time when it was still relatively clear that monetary policy was restrictive, one could infer the direction of travel from that. But this is no longer the case. And therefore, for me, the direction of travel is not so clear anymore.

Is this view shared by the majority of the Executive Board or the Governing Council?

It’s not for me to comment on that. It’s going back to the point that we now have to start the discussion on how far we should go. I’m not saying that we’re there yet. But we have to start the discussion.

If we take the meeting-by-meeting approach and data dependency as a given, does the type of data that has to be assessed need to change over time?

There are broadly two sets of data that we need to focus on. The first one refers to the inflation outlook: inflation itself, inflation expectations, wages, productivity, exchange rates. We use incoming data to cross-check the assumptions underlying our projections. This is why I never saw data dependence as a backward-looking concept. It was always forward-looking because we use incoming data to learn more about the credibility of our inflation outlook. The second set of data relates to the level of restrictiveness of monetary policy: interest rates, broader financial conditions, lending markets, the housing market as well as domestic demand, that is consumption, savings and investment. Of course, when we have a monetary policy meeting, we always look at all available data.

Can I challenge you on your claim that it was always forward-looking? At the time of high inflation, the ECB put a lot of emphasis on the actual inflation data from the previous month, which by definition is backward-looking. GDP numbers are by definition also very backward-looking.

I don’t agree. What do we learn from the current inflation data? We learn whether the transmission of our policy or of shocks is working as expected. High services inflation tells us something about its stickiness. If we spot deviations, we will eventually adjust our models but we also have to change our view about the medium-term outlook. So, in my view it was never backward-looking.

Data dependence is all the more important in today’s world. Some people say that the projections have become more credible. But who knows what’s going to happen as regards the trade conflict, the war in Ukraine and so on. We are faced with an unusual number of shocks, and that requires us to be always able to react. I don’t have a fixed mindset about what to do. Quite the opposite. I think we need to be able to adjust to whatever data or shock is coming in and what’s happening in the world and in the euro area economy.

What are the current data telling us about the inflation outlook?

Both services inflation and wage growth are still at an uncomfortably high level. Our projections foresee a deceleration of both. But this still needs to materialise. Services inflation has been stuck at around 4% since November 2023, and it still has to come down. For me, this is actually quite important. And therefore, the incoming data will be very relevant because our projections foresee a relatively quick deceleration of services inflation over this year.

How quickly do you want to see service inflation coming down?

It should start to come down in February. That’s what we expect. Over time, it does not necessarily have to come down to 2% but to a level that is consistent with our medium-term 2% target. Wage growth is also still high, but we have many indications that it is going to decelerate. For example, our wage tracker shows that wage growth is expected to drop steeply in the second half of the year. Part of that is due to a base effect from one-off payments. Hence, wage growth is expected to stay relatively elevated over the first half of the year. So we still need to see this deceleration. This is something that I pay a lot of attention to.

How concerned are you about recent swings in energy prices?

Energy and food prices can always offer surprises. We have seen some relatively strong moves in energy prices recently. Gas prices moved up a lot. That was mainly driven by cold temperatures. Very recently, gas prices dropped sharply. This seems to be driven partly by uncertainty about whether countries will fill up their gas storages as quickly as originally intended. A second reason is the debate about a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. This can cause a lot of volatility, which can have a strong impact on headline inflation and also on underlying inflation because energy serves as an input. We have to monitor this carefully.

What are the implications for monetary policy from energy price volatility? Is this deflationary or inflationary?

Recent volatility has been extreme. Before the recent fall in gas prices it was clearly inflationary. But now we have to see how that is going to play out. In general, I see risks to our inflation outlook as somewhat skewed to the upside. So I would not exclude that inflation comes back to 2% later than we had anticipated. But that remains to be seen.

The ECB this year will review its monetary strategy. President Lagarde has excluded the current inflation target from that review. Do you think that’s the right call?

Our symmetric, medium-term inflation target of 2% has served us very well in the high inflation period. So I really don’t see any reason to question it. And I believe there is strong support for this view in the Governing Council. What we have seen, however, is how quickly the inflation environment can change. And we have also learned how much people dislike inflation. But for me, that has implications primarily for the reaction function and not for the target. I think these two should be kept apart.

What are the potential implications for the reaction function?

The reaction function should be part of the debate. Back in 2021 during the previous strategy review, the discussion was very much under the impression of the low-for-long period. The main concern at the time was that our monetary policy was constrained by the effective lower bound on interest rates. When you read the monetary policy strategy statement today, you would think it comes from a different world. It focused on the risk of inflation being too low, and stated that we should be particularly forceful or persistent in such a scenario. But we have shifted to a new world. The past few years have shown that there are also risks of a de-anchoring of inflation expectations to the upside and that upside inflation risks can materialise quickly and become more persistent due to second-round effects. And therefore, I believe that the new reaction function should be symmetric in order to take into account the risks in both directions. This is especially true given that we are likely to face more adverse supply-side shocks going forward.

So effectively you are arguing in favour of a more hawkish reaction function?

I don’t like these notions of hawks and doves, and I don’t think that they are relevant here. My point is that our reaction function should acknowledge the fundamental shift of the macroeconomic environment. Up to 2021, we paid very little attention to upside risks to inflation. There was the perception that central banks would know precisely how to deal with a surge in inflation. But we’ve experienced that it has been quite difficult. Inflation has been above target now for almost four years. Looking forward, we should be putting equal weight on risks in both directions. And I wouldn’t call that a hawkish assertion.

Should the ECB toolkit be changed?

We’ve gained a lot of experience with the different tools. I do believe that all the tools we have should remain in our toolkit. But we’ve learned how important it is to carefully weigh the benefits and costs of our instruments – especially when it comes to asset purchases. They have proven very effective in stabilising markets. But as a monetary policy stance instrument, they have been less beneficial and costlier than we thought. This should be taken into account. The same applies to forward guidance. Many people believe that forward guidance led to a delayed response to the inflation surge. So forward guidance is another tool that we need to look at very carefully.

Are you implicitly saying that ECB should not have done as much quantitative easing as it did in the years up to 2021?

My point is that once we are back to a more normal world – a situation where inflation expectations are well anchored, and services inflation and unit labour cost growth have come down – and we are confident that we are sustainably back at our target, then we could become more tolerant of moderate deviations from our target. We should stop fine-tuning and responding to single data points. We should instead focus on large persistent shocks that give rise to a risk of a de-anchoring of inflation expectations in either direction.

So is your point that the ECB should be more willing to tolerate downward deviations to the 2% target in a steady state?

We should be more willing to tolerate both moderate downward and upward deviations, and act when there is a threat of de-anchoring.

But that’s an implicit change to the inflation target, is it not?

No, not at all. My point is that we should be less activist and rather take the time to assess whether shocks pose a serious risk to inflation expectations. Of course, we should keep in mind that the vulnerability of inflation expectations may have changed after the recent inflation experience. People have learned that inflation can increase sharply and that this is very harmful. Firms have learned that they can reprice relatively quickly, and we have to take this into account.

Finally, we need to think about how to deal with the uncertainty around our economic and inflation outlook. For me, the most useful way to deal with that is to make greater use of scenario analysis – and in a different way than we’ve done over the past years. Back then we were looking at tail risks, which was very useful. But in the future, we should also look at plausible alternative scenarios in order to get away from the illusion of precision that we create by just focusing on the baseline point estimate. We all know there is a lot of uncertainty around it. So I think it would be important to also look at plausible alternative scenarios to illustrate this uncertainty.

MIL OSI Economics –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Euro area monthly balance of payments: December 2024
Source: European Central Bank

19 February 2025
- Current account recorded €38 billion surplus in December 2024, up from €25 billion in previous month
- Current account surplus amounted to €419 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP) in 2024, up from €241 billion (1.6%) in 2023
- In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €664 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €811 billion in 2024
Chart 1

Euro area current account balance

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

Source: ECB.

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €38 billion in December 2024, an increase of €13 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€33 billion), services (€18 billion) and primary income (€4 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€17 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

Source: ECB.

Note: Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the current account of the euro area

In 2024, the current account recorded a surplus of €419 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €241 billion (1.6% of euro area GDP) in 2023. This increase was mainly driven by a larger surplus for goods (up from €256 billion to €390 billion), and, to a lesser extent, by a larger surplus for services (up from €123 billion to €162 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €170 billion to €165 billion). The surplus for primary income remained stable (€32 billion).

Chart 2

Selected items of the euro area financial account

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

Source: ECB.

Notes: For assets, a positive (negative) number indicates net purchases (sales) of non-euro area instruments by euro area investors. For liabilities, a positive (negative) number indicates net sales (purchases) of euro area instruments by non-euro area investors.

In direct investment, euro area residents made net investments of €74 billion in non-euro area assets in 2024, following net disinvestments of €329 billion in 2023 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €102 billion in net terms from euro area assets in 2024, following net disinvestments of €364 billion in 2023.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €145 billion in 2024, up from €89 billion in 2023. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €519 billion, up from €380 billion in 2023. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €350 billion in 2024, up from €158 billion in 2023. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €461 billion, following net purchases of €398 billion in 2023.

Table 2

Financial account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted data)

Source: ECB.

Notes: Decreases in assets and liabilities are shown with a minus sign. Net financial derivatives are reported under assets. “MFIs” stands for monetary financial institutions. Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the financial account of the euro area

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €363 billion in 2024 (following net acquisitions of €205 billion in 2023), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €43 billion (following net disposals of €171 billion in 2023).

Chart 3

Monetary presentation of the balance of payments

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

Source: ECB.

Notes: “MFI net external assets (enhanced)” incorporates an adjustment to the MFI net external assets (as reported in the consolidated MFI balance sheet items statistics) based on information on MFI long-term liabilities held by non-residents, available in b.o.p. statistics. B.o.p. transactions refer only to transactions of non-MFI residents of the euro area. Financial transactions are shown as liabilities net of assets. “Other” includes financial derivatives and statistical discrepancies.

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs increased by €553 billion in 2024. This increase was mainly driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment debt and portfolio investment equity. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment.

In December 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,394.0 billion up from €1,391.7 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was driven by positive exchange rate changes (€4.0 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€2.7 billion) which were partly offset by negative price changes (€4.3 billion).

Table 3

Reserve assets of the euro area

(EUR billions; amounts outstanding at the end of the period, flows during the period; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted data)

Notes: “Other reserve assets” comprises currency and deposits, securities, financial derivatives (net) and other claims. Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the reserve assets of the euro area

Data revisions

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for October and November 2024. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.

Next releases:
- Monthly balance of payments: 21 March 2025 (reference data up to January 2025)
- Quarterly balance of payments: 04 April 2025 (reference data up to the fourth quarter of 2024)
For media queries, please contact Nicos Keranis, tel.: +49 69 1344 5482.

Notes
- Current account data are always seasonally and working day-adjusted, unless otherwise indicated, whereas capital and financial account data are neither seasonally nor working day-adjusted.
- Hyperlinks in this press release lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions.
MIL OSI Economics –
February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: India and Argentina Strengthen Cooperation in Lithium Exploration and Mining with a Landmark MoU

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 5:37PM by PIB Delhi

Union Minister for Coal and Mines, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, along with Secretary, Ministry of Mines, and senior officials of the Ministry of Mines, held a meeting with H.E. Raúl Alejandro Jalil, Governor of Catamarca, Argentina, in New Delhi today. The discussions focused on expanding cooperation in the mining sector, particularly in lithium exploration and investment opportunities. A key highlight of the meeting was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Limited (MECL), a PSU under the Ministry of Mines, and the Provincial Government of Catamarca, Argentina, which will pave the way for deeper collaboration in exploration and resource development of critical minerals.

Argentina, known for its vast lithium reserves as part of the ‘Lithium Triangle,’ is a crucial partner for India in securing essential minerals required for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy storage. The discussions covered ongoing lithium exploration efforts by Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. (KABIL) & Greenko in Catamarca and the possibilities of increasing participation of Indian companies in mining projects of Argentina. Both sides explored avenues for investment, long-term supply agreements, and joint ventures that would help strengthen India’s access to this critical mineral.

Senior officials from both sides engaged in discussions on policy frameworks, regulatory aspects, and sustainable mining practices to ensure a mutually beneficial partnership. Additionally, there was a strong emphasis on knowledge exchange and infrastructure support to enhance India’s engagement in Argentina’s mining sector.

With the signing of the MoU, India and Argentina have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening ties in the critical minerals domain. This collaboration is expected to accelerate lithium exploration projects, enhance resource security, and create new opportunities for Indian companies in the Latin American mining landscape.

India-Argentina Strengthen Lithium Partnership!

Union Minister for Coal & Mines, Shri @kishanreddybjp, met H.E. Raúl Alejandro Jalil, Governor of Catamarca, Argentina, along with senior officials to discuss lithium exploration, mining opportunities & investment prospects. A key… pic.twitter.com/KbyGpoiA7E

— Ministry of Mines (@MinesMinIndia) February 19, 2025

****

Shuhaib T

(Release ID: 2104761) Visitor Counter : 82

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Clarification on New FASTag Rule

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 5:02PM by PIB Delhi

In reference to the news items carried by some publications regarding change of FASTag Rule declining transactions on FASTags which are not active for more than 60 minutes prior to read time and up to 10 minutes after read time, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) clarifies that the Circular No NPCI/2024-25/NETC/004A, dated 28.01.2025 issued by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has no impact on FASTag customer experience.

The Circular has been issued by NPCI to facilitate resolution of disputes between Acquirer Bank and Issuer Bank on FASTag status while vehicle crosses Toll Plazas. The Circular also aims to ensure that the FASTag transactions are created within reasonable time of vehicle passing a Toll Plaza so that customers are not harassed by late transactions.

All National Highway Toll Plazas operate on ICD 2.5 protocol which gives real-time tag status, hence the FASTag customers can recharge any time before crossing the Toll Plaza.

Some Toll plazas on State Highways are still on ICD 2.4 protocol which needs regular updates of Tag status. It is being planned to shift all such Toll plazas to ICD 2.5 protocol, shortly.

The FASTag customers are encouraged to link their FASTag wallet to UPI/Current/Saving Accounts under auto-recharge setting to eliminate the need for manual recharges. Customers can continue to recharge their FASTag any time before reaching the toll, using a variety of payment channels such as UPI, net banking, and more.

***

G.D.Hallikeri / Henry

(Release ID: 2104728) Visitor Counter : 35

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: FEHD raids unlicensed cold store in Yuen Long District (with photos)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

FEHD raids unlicensed cold store in Yuen Long District (with photos)
FEHD raids unlicensed cold store in Yuen Long District (with photos)
********************************************************************

The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) raided an unlicensed cold store last night (February 18) at Tai Shu Ha Road West, Yuen Long. During the operation, the FEHD arrested one person and initiated procedures on prosecution for the suspected operation of an unlicensed cold store. About 6 956 kilograms of chilled poultry with official health certificates were found on the premises, and about 173kg of chilled poultry and offal without official health certificates were seized for disposal. Under the Food Business Regulation, the maximum penalty for operating an unlicensed cold store is a fine of $50,000 and six months’ imprisonment upon conviction. “We will continue our stringent enforcement action against unlicensed food business to safeguard food safety and public health,” a spokesman for the FEHD said. Members of the public can report any suspected illegal food business activities by calling the FEHD hotline at 2868 0000.

Ends/Wednesday, February 19, 2025Issued at HKT 18:30

NNNN

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: MeitY introduces Digital Brand Identity Manual (DBIM) to harmonizes government’s Digital presence & hosts CIO Conference 2025 to strengthen India’s digital governance
Source: Government of India

MeitY introduces Digital Brand Identity Manual (DBIM) to harmonizes government’s Digital presence & hosts CIO Conference 2025 to strengthen India’s digital governance

DBIM aligns with the Prime Minister’s vision of “Reform, Perform, and Transform”, making India’s digital governance more accessible, inclusive, and citizen-centric: Shri Jatin Prasada

DBIM Provides a toolkit for a uniform identity, Gov.In CMS for streamlined management, CCPS for centralized content, and social media guidelines for standardized communication.

Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 3:44PM by PIB Delhi

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) yesterday marked a significant step in India’s digital governance with the launch of the Digital Brand Identity Manual (DBIM) and the inaugural Chief Information Officer (CIO) Conference 2025. Held in New Delhi, the event was presided over by Shri Jitin Prasada, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Commerce & Industry and Shri S. Krishnan Secretary for Minister of Information Electronics Technology, under the Gov.In: Harmonisation of Government of India’s Digital Footprint initiative.

Standardized and cohesive digital presence across platforms

During launch Shri Jitin Prasada emphasized that the Digital Brand Identity Manual (DBIM) will enhance the government’s “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” approach by introducing “Uniform Governance,” ensuring a standardized and cohesive digital presence across all ministries and platforms.

He also highlighted that DBIM aligns with the Prime Minister’s vision of “Reform, Perform, and Transform”, making India’s digital governance more accessible, inclusive, and citizen-centric, thereby strengthening the country’s e-governance ecosystem on a global scale. The initiative focuses on simplifying and standardizing government websites, ensuring that citizens from diverse backgrounds can easily navigate and access essential government services.

In addition to above, he stressed the role of the Central Content Publishing System (CCPS) in making key government policies, schemes, and initiatives readily available, improving transparency and public engagement. He also emphasized the importance of innovation, agility and security in digital governance, leveraging AI-driven tools and robust security measures to build a seamless, trustworthy and future-ready digital ecosystem, contributing to India’s vision of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Govt unveils DBIM for efficiency

MeitY Secretary, S. Krishnan highlighted the Prime Minister’s directive to establish a common interface across government websites, ensuring a user-friendly and standardized digital experience. He emphasized a user-centric approach, where government portals must offer accessibility and efficiency comparable to private sector websites across both desktop and mobile devices. A unified digital branding manual (DBIM) has been introduced to enhance service delivery, and centralized content pushing will ensure consistent messaging across ministries, making government priorities more transparent.

He also stressed the critical role of NIC in providing technological support and modernizing government infrastructure to meet evolving digital demands. With the digital economy set to reach 20% of GDP, the Secretary urged ministries to adopt digital tools for better service delivery.

✅ Launched!

🌐 DBIM-Compliant MeitY Website

Launched by MoS @JitinPrasada, the website has all elements of inclusivity, accessibility and trust incorporated through the DBIM.

🔗 Visit https://t.co/vtLGKJDvf2 #eGovernance #DigitalIndia #CIOconference @SecretaryMEITY pic.twitter.com/UoBtH58EdP

— Ministry of Electronics & IT (@GoI_MeitY) February 18, 2025

Features of DBIM initiative

The DBIM launch was accompanied by the introduction of several critical components to harmonize India’s digital presence:
- DBIM Toolkit for ensuring uniformity in digital identity.
- Gov.In CMS Platform for streamlined website management.
- Central Content Publishing System (CCPS) for centralized content governance.
- Social Media Campaign Guidelines to standardize digital communication.
The launch also featured the unveiling of the DBIM-compliant MeitY website, demonstrating a consistent and citizen-friendly digital experience. Additionally, four other ministry/department websites have migrated to the Gov.In CMS platform, with more set to follow.

First CIO conference 2025: key discussions

The First Chief Information Officer (CIO) Conference 2025 convened experts from MeitY, NIC, MyGov and various ministries to discuss the adoption and implementation of DBIM. Key discussions revolved around:
- Harmonizing government websites under a unified digital brand identity.
- Managing websites on the Gov.In platform for enhanced accessibility and performance.
- Localizing content and optimizing digital services for inclusivity.
- Compliance with Guidelines for Indian Government Websites and Apps (GIGW) and STQC Certification for quality assurance.
The nationwide adoption of DBIM is set to revolutionize citizen engagement, strengthen trust, and enhance government service delivery in the digital space.

Visit the newly launched DBIM-compliant MeitY website for information: https://www.meity.gov.in/

Digital Brand Identity Manual (DBIM)

As part of the Gov.In: Harmonisation of Government of India’s Digital Footprint initiative, the DBIM seeks to establish a standardized and seamless digital presence across government ministries, departments, and agencies. This initiative aligns with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to transform governance through technology, ensuring accessibility, efficiency, and a more citizen-friendly digital experience.

The primary objective of the DBIM is to create a unified and consistent digital brand for the Government of India. By standardizing elements such as color palettes, typography, and iconography, the manual not only ensures uniformity in look and feel but also strengthens the integrity of government-hosted data. This cohesive approach will enable government departments to present a compelling and trustworthy brand presence, both nationally and globally. The guidelines extend beyond websites to cover mobile applications and social media platforms, reinforcing a seamless user experience across all digital touchpoints.

****

Dharmendra Tewari/Shatrunjay Kumar

(Release ID: 2104686) Visitor Counter : 39

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –
February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Fifteenth Finance Commission Grants Released for the Rural Local Bodies of Bihar, Haryana and Sikkim

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 3:38PM by PIB Delhi

The Union Government has released Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) Grants during Financial Year 2024–25, for the Rural Local Bodies of Bihar, Haryana and Sikkim. Bihar gets the 2^nd installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.821.8021 crores and withheld portion of 1st installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.47.9339 crores. These funds are for the all 38 District Panchayats, 530 eligible Block Panchayats and 8052 eligible Gram Panchayats which fulfilled the mandatory conditions for the release. While Rural Local Bodies in Haryana will get, 2^nd installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.202.4663 crores and withheld portion of 1st installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.7.5993 crores. These funds are for the 18 eligible District Panchayats, 142 eligible Block Panchayats and 6195 eligible Gram Panchayats. Sikkim receives the 2^nd installment of Untied Grants amounting to Rs.6.2613 crores during Financial Year 2024–25. These funds are for the 4 eligible District Panchayats and 186 eligible Gram Panchayats which fulfilled the mandatory conditions for release.

The Untied Grants will be utilized by Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)/ Rural Local Bodies (RLBs) for location-specific felt needs, under the Twenty-Nine (29) Subjects enshrined in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution, except for salaries and other establishment costs. The Tied Grants can be used for the basic services of (a) sanitation and maintenance of ODF status, and this should include management and treatment of household waste, and human excreta and fecal sludge management in particular and (b) supply of drinking water, rainwater harvesting and water recycling.

***

Aditi Agrawal

(Release ID: 2104685) Visitor Counter : 61

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Suspicious website related to DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Suspicious website related to DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited
Suspicious website related to DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited
**********************************************************

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited relating to a suspicious website, which has been reported to the HKMA. A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website. The HKMA wishes to remind the public that banks will not send SMS or emails with embedded hyperlinks which direct them to the banks’ websites to carry out transactions. They will not ask customers for sensitive personal information, such as login passwords or one-time password, by phone, email or SMS (including via embedded hyperlinks). Anyone who has provided his or her personal information, or who has conducted any financial transactions, through or in response to the website concerned, should contact the bank using the contact information provided in the press release, and report the matter to the Police by contacting the Crime Wing Information Centre of the Hong Kong Police Force at 2860 5012.

Ends/Wednesday, February 19, 2025Issued at HKT 17:50

NNNN

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Tender awarded for site in Tung Chung

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Tender awarded for site in Tung Chung
Tender awarded for site in Tung Chung
*************************************

The Lands Department announced today (February 19) that the tender for a site, Tung Chung Town Lot No. 55 at Area 106B, Tung Chung, New Territories, has been awarded to the highest tenderer, Land Castle Limited (parent company: Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited), on a 50-year land grant at a premium of $602,000,000. The tenderers, other than the successful tenderer, in alphabetical order, with the name of the parent company where provided by the tenderer in brackets, were:(1) Able Best Limited;(2) Strong Associate Limited (K. Wah International Holdings Limited); and(3) Top Brilliant Limited (Sino Land Company Limited). Tung Chung Town Lot No. 55 has a site area of about 10 648 square metres and is designated for private residential purposes. The minimum gross floor area is 22 361 sq m, and the maximum gross floor area that may be attained is 37 268 sq m.

Ends/Wednesday, February 19, 2025Issued at HKT 17:00

NNNN

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: TRIFED signs MoUs with Meesho, IFCA & Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialisation

Source: Government of India

TRIFED signs MoUs with Meesho, IFCA & Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialisation

The collaboration to promote livelihood generation of tribal community

Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 1:29PM by PIB Delhi

In a significant move to transcend from B2C to B2B approach for tribal communities, Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd (TRIFED) has entered into a strategic partnership with Meesho, Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialization (MGIRI) to facilitate tribal businesses. Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed on 18^th February during the ongoing flagship event ‘Aadi Mahotsav’, held at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in the National Capital being from 16 to 24 February 2025, marking a pivotal step in ensuring the implementation of the B2B approach and augmentation of the tribal product market.

The principal objective of the MoU with Meesho is to facilitate the onboarding of tribal products onto their social commerce platform, accompanied by training and capacity-building initiatives for tribal suppliers. Whereas the Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) will assist in establishing long-term collaborations with culinary professionals and hotel chains through their technology platform. Furthermore, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialization (MGIRI) has partnered with the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) as the knowledge partner to conduct training and capacity building for artisans.

These MoUs were exchanged by General Managers of TRIFED with Ms Prachi Bhuchar, Head of Public Policy & Government Affairs, Meesho, Chef Manjit Gill, IFCA and Dr. Ashutosh A. Murkute, Director, MGIRI respectively in the presence of Shri Ashish Chatterjee, Managing Director, TRIFED on various aspects leading to social economic development of tribal communities across the country. With this and several other ventures, TRIFED continues further with its efforts to enable the economic welfare of these communities and bring them closer towards mainstream development.

President of India Smt Droupadi Murmu had inaugurated the festival on February 16, 2025 in the august presence of Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs; Shri Durga Das Uikey, MoS Tribal Affairs; Ms. Bansuri Swaraj, Member of Parliament, New Delhi.

About TRIFED: TRIFED is an organization under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, dedicated to the socio-economic development of tribal communities through the marketing development of tribal products. TRIFED has been organising “Aadi Mahotsav – National Tribal Festival” to provide direct market access to the tribal master-craftsmen and women in large metros and State capitals. The theme of the festival is “A Celebration of the Spirit of Entrepreneurship, Tribal Craft, Culture, Cuisine and Commerce”, which represents the basic ethos of tribal life.

About Meesho: Meesho is an Indian e-commerce platform that primarily focuses on social commerce. It allows individuals and small businesses to sell products online through their portal and often through social media channels like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. The platform provides a wide range of products including clothing, accessories, home goods, and more.

About IFCA: The Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA) is a professional organization dedicated to the development and promotion of the culinary arts in India. It serves as a national body that represents the interests of chefs and culinary professionals across the country. The IFCA works to advance the culinary profession through education, networking, and collaboration among chefs, culinary educators, and the hospitality industry.

About MGIRI:

*The Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialization (MGIRI) is an institution in India dedicated to promoting rural industrialization. It was established to carry forward the vision of Mahatma Gandhi regarding sustainable rural development and self-reliance through the promotion of small-scale and cottage industries.

******

Pawan Singh Faujdar/Divyanshu Kumar

(Release ID: 2104628) Visitor Counter : 10

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Defence Secretary co-chairs 13th Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur

Source: Government of India

Defence Secretary co-chairs 13th Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur

Both countries enhance cooperation in domains of defence industry, maritime security, multilateral engagements & emerging areas

Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 12:49PM by PIB Delhi

The 13th meeting of Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee (MIDCOM) took place in Kuala Lumpur on February 19, 2025. The meeting was co-chaired by Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh and Secretary General of Ministry of Defence, Malaysia Mr Lokman Hakim Bin Ali. Both sides expressed happiness at the growing bilateral defence cooperation with regular engagements between the two Armed Forces in recent years.

The two sides held wide-ranging discussions on effective & practical initiatives to further expand bilateral defence engagements and regional & global issues. Both chairs identified steps to further enhance cooperation in emerging areas such as cyber security and AI. They identified ways to deepen existing collaboration, particularly in the defence industry, maritime security, and multilateral engagements. They agreed to form a joint focus group to address non-traditional maritime security threats.

Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to fully implement the new initiatives under the defence pillar of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his Malaysian counterpart Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim during the latter’s visit to India in August 2024.

India and Malaysia also exchanged the finalised Terms of Reference (ToR) on the establishment of Strategic Affairs Working Group. This forum will act as a consultative mechanism intermediate between the MIDCOM and the two sub-committees to progress all aspects of bilateral defence cooperation.

Both sides also exchanged the finalised ToR on the establishment of Su-30 forum as an outcome of MIDCOM. Su-30 Forum will enable closer cooperation between the two Air Forces in exchanging expertise and best practices in Su-30 maintenance.

The Defence Secretary highlighted the capability of the Indian defence industry, particularly its potential to collaborate with the Malaysian companies and the Armed Forces in their capability enhancement and modernisation. He congratulated Malaysia on assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN and ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus and wished MoD, Malaysia the best for conduct of ADMM Plus and ASEAN Defence Senior Officials’ Meeting meetings this year.

India supports ASEAN centrality and unity, which is a crucial element of India’s Indo-Pacific Vision. The Defence Secretary reiterated India’s support to Malaysia’s endeavours as ASEAN chair in promoting a stronger, unified, and prosperous ASEAN that plays a central role in shaping the evolving dynamics of the Indo-Pacific region.

India considers Malaysia as an important partner in the Indo-Pacific as Malaysia lies at the confluence of three key foreign policy visions i.e. Act East Policy, SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region), and the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.

***

SR/Savvy

(Release ID: 2104611) Visitor Counter : 13

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: LCQ9: Burglary crimes

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

Following is a question by the Hon Chan Yuet-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Tang Ping-keung, in the Legislative Council today (February 19):Question: Some members of the public have relayed that there has been an increase in the number of burglary crimes targeting low-density residential properties and shops in rural areas and suburbs, and the situation is even worse near Chinese New Year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (1) of the numbers and detection rates of burglary crimes in each of the past five years, with a tabulated breakdown by the 18 districts in Hong Kong; the numbers of persons convicted of such crimes and, among them, the respective numbers of those who were minors and non-Hong Kong residents; (2) of the details of both the publicity activities on the prevention of burglary and joint operations against burglary crimes conducted by the Hong Kong Police Force in the whole year of 2024, as well as the effectiveness of such efforts; (3) of the details of the publicity activities conducted by the Fight Crime Committee and District Fight Crime Committees on the prevention of burglary in the whole year of 2024; and (4) whether the Government will review the existing mechanism on the prevention of burglary crimes, including whether it will consider installing smart lampposts fitted with cameras and subsidising village offices to install closed-circuit television monitoring systems or other appropriate alarm devices at major entrances and exits of villages so as to deter law-breakers? Reply: President, The Police pay close attention to burglary cases which occurred in different locations and premises. In addition to actively taking measures against such crimes, the Police have been providing home security and anti-burglary advice to the public through various channels. After consultation with the Hong Kong Police Force and the Home Affairs Department, our consolidated reply to the Member’s question is set out below: (1) The number of burglary cases and detection rates by Police Districts in the past five years (from 2020 to 2024) are set out in Annex I. Regarding the number of persons convicted, the number of persons convicted of burglary-related offences (i.e. burglary under section 11 and aggravated burglary under section 12 of the Theft Ordinance (Cap. 210)) and, among them, the number of those who were minors or not holders of Hong Kong Identity Cards at the time of their first appearance, from 2020 to the third quarter of 2024, are set out in Annex II. (2) The Police adopt a multi-pronged approach to enhance the prevention and combating of burglary cases. In terms of enforcement, the Police have stepped up intelligence gathering and adopted an intelligence-led approach. They have increased high-profile patrols and stop-and-search operations in high-risk areas, such as village houses. Additionally, drones and helicopters from the Government Flying Service are deployed for nighttime aerial patrols and the pursuit of burglars. Roadblocks are also set up at different times and locations to stop and search suspicious vehicles or individuals, thereby enhancing deterrence. On the publicity front, to enhance public awareness, the Police have launched a one-stop platform, SafeCity.HK, to provide the public with crime prevention tips, including information on burglary prevention. The Police also conduct publicity through various channels, such as social media platforms, press conferences, OffBeat 360 and Offbeat 120s, to share with the public ways to enhance home security and encourage them to report to the Police any suspicious persons or behavior. The Police also organise regular seminars for different sectors (for example, members of the property management and security sectors, the retail industry, and so on) and distribute anti-burglary pamphlets to the public in conjunction with District Councils, Rural Committees, Area Committees and property management companies to enhance anti-burglary awareness from different perspectives. As a result of the Police’s vigorous efforts in combating burglary, the situation of burglary cases has improved significantly. In 2024, 1 220 burglary cases were reported, representing a decrease of 134 cases or 9.9 per cent compared to 2023, and the amount of loss was also reduced by 48 million Hong Kong Dollars or 25.5 per cent. The Police will continue with its related work, such as stepping up publicity during high-risk periods, such as the Chinese New Year and long holiday periods (e.g. using the Anti-crime Promotional Truck to visit different districts across the territory) to educate the public on the importance of and ways to prevent theft. (3) In response to burglary cases, the Fight Crime Committee (FCC) has adopted Beware of Burglary and Theft as the theme of one of its anti-crime publicity campaigns in 2024-25. The campaign will be launched through various media, including online advertisements and distribution of publicity materials such as door and window alarms, to remind members of the public to step up their home security to prevent burglary and theft. As for the District Fight Crime Committees (DFCCs), various DFCCs organised different publicity campaigns under the theme of Beware of Burglary and Theft in 2024, such as carnivals, seminars and design competitions; distribution of promotional souvenirs, leaflets, banners, etc; and placing advertisements on the backs of minibus chairs and on the lightboxes of bus shelters. The aim is to integrate messages about preventing burglary and theft into various aspects of citizens’ daily lives at the district level. (4) To further enhance law and order and combat crime in a comprehensive manner, the Police Force has started installing closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) in various districts (including rural areas) in Hong Kong since April 2024. The installation points are located at traditional lampposts, smart lampposts and government buildings. 615 sets of cameras have been installed by the end of last year, with the first phase of installation to be completed within 2025 with a total of 2 000 sets of cameras. As at the end of 2024, the system has assisted the Police in detecting 122 cases, including serious crimes such as murder, robbery and burglary, with 202 arrests. Of the 16 burglary cases detected with the assistance of CCTV, half of them (eight cases) were solved within one day, demonstrating that CCTV has not only made investigations more effective, but has also greatly enhanced the efficiency of crime detection. Apart from assisting in crime detection, CCTV also has a deterrent effect on criminal behavior. In order to understand the relevant data, the Police have analysed the number of street crime cases for various types of crimes and found that they have dropped after the installation of CCTV. This shows that the scheme has brought about a very positive effect on crime prevention and elimination. The Police will progressively install CCTVs according to the crime rate or pedestrian flow of individual districts and locations (including rural areas), with a view to maximising the effectiveness of CCTVs in preventing and combating crime. In addition, the Police, in conjunction with the DFCCs, have also encouraged and assisted in the installation of CCTV systems in old low-security buildings. Police Districts also distribute door and window alarms to rural residents, so as to enhance the security level of residential premises.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: NHRC, India organises an open house discussion on ‘Ensuring privacy and human rights in the digital era: A focus on corporate digital responsibility’

Source: Government of India

NHRC, India organises an open house discussion on ‘Ensuring privacy and human rights in the digital era: A focus on corporate digital responsibility’

NHRC, India Chairperson, Justice Shri V. Ramasubramanian emphasises the need for safeguarding privacy as a human right in the digital world

Cautions against the consequences of the significant decline in value systems

NHRC, India Member, Justice (Dr) Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi raises concerns over the lack of digital literacy in the financial transactions

Secretary General, Shri Bharat Lal says, protecting people’s privacy online is a collective responsibility of all stakeholders

Among various key suggestions, simplifying the user agreements and policy frameworks to enhance consumer understanding and control over personal data highlighted

Establishing clear accountability structures for data breaches, especially for research institutions and third-party data processors also emphasised

Posted On: 19 FEB 2025 12:25PM by PIB Delhi

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India organised an open house discussion in hybrid mode on ‘Ensuring privacy and human rights in the digital era: A focus on corporate digital responsibility’ at its premises. It was chaired by the Chairperson, Justice Shri V Ramasubramanian in the presence of Member, Justice (Dr) Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, Secretary General, Shri Bharat Lal, senior officers, domain experts, industry representatives among others.

Addressing the participants, NHRC, India Chairperson, Justice Shri V. Ramasubramanian emphasised that safeguarding privacy as a human right in the digital world is necessary. The technological advancements should align with fundamental human rights and privacy protections. The responsibility must begin with the individual user. He highlighted that maintaining digital hygiene is crucial. He also pointed out the significant decline in value systems, cautioning that one must bear the consequences of this shift.

He reaffirmed the Commission’s commitment to fostering inclusive discussions on digital rights and corporate accountability for developing a robust regulatory framework that balances innovation, security, and individual privacy.

NHRC, India Member, Justice (Dr) Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi raised concerns regarding the lack of digital literacy which make many people dependent on others who may dupe them. He said that simplifying the processes of digital technology to maximise its safe usage by the common people in the country.

Before this, NHRC, India Secretary General, Shri Bharat Lal while setting the agenda for discussion, gave the objective of this discussion on an important emerging issue i.e. ‘Ensuring privacy and human rights in the digital era: A focus on corporate digital responsibility’. He gave an overview of three sub-themes: ‘Establishing a proper regulatory framework and compliance mechanism’, ‘Building a culture of data privacy’, and ‘Identifying threats and best practices’. Citing data from 2023, he mentioned that over 20% of global data is generated in India whereas it has only about 3% of the storage capacity requiring a major role for Indian corporates. He said that while the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and other regulations are in place, the challenges in the digital age are increasing. The draft rules have been notified and consultation process is going on. He also said that collection, storage and processing of personal data ‘brings’ huge responsibility of entities and they keep this data as a ‘trustee’. Any breach of trust in this trusteeship, is unacceptable. He stressed that protecting people’s privacy online is a collective responsibility requiring joint efforts from individuals, private sectors which plays a major role and the government and its agencies.

The meeting extensively discussed the intensity of the problem that arises due to misuse of data and data breaches. Further, several key provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 were also discussed.

Data Usage and Privacy Concerns

The participants raised concerns over the extensive control exerted by global technology companies on user data, which complicates regulatory enforcement. Law enforcement agencies often face challenges in accessing critical data due to data storage in offshore centres. Additionally, the increasing reliance on digital platforms makes maintaining individual privacy more challenging.

Cyber Law and Regulatory Framework

Discussions also highlighted the gaps in the draft data protection rules, including the requirement to report data breaches within 72 hours and the accountability of research institutions handling personal data. The Government representatives highlighted ongoing consultations on data protection regulations, particularly the introduction of the Right to Nomination to enhance data privacy rights.

Corporate Digital Responsibility

The Corporate representatives shared best practices in data protection, digital well-being, and compliance-by-design strategies. However, they also highlighted operational challenges, particularly in navigating complex multi-layered digital operations. Companies transitioning from a low digital penetration environment to a structured data protection framework emphasised the need for regulatory flexibility to accommodate evolving business models and global compliance requirements such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union. Referring to the Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, the corporate stakeholders said that it should include explicit penal provisions for non-compliance and guidelines for obtaining verifiable parental consent for minors.

Consumer Rights and Policy Simplification

The participants noted that consumers have limited choices in consenting to data collection, as many business models mandate data sharing. The existing Do-Not-Disturb (DND) mechanism by TRAI was deemed ineffective.

The participants included Shri Shailendra Trivedi, Chief General Manager-in-Charge, Department of Information Technology, Reserve Bank of India, Shri Deepak Goel, Group Coordinator (Cyber Law), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ankur Rastogi, Principle Project Engineering, EGSTM, Centre For Railway Information Systems (CRIS), Shri Sanjoy Bhattacharjee, Chief Data Officer, HDFC Bank, Shri Ajay Gupta, Executive Director, ICICI Bank, Shri Soumendra Mattagajasingh, Group Chief Human Resources Officer, ICICI Bank, Shri Rajiv Kumar Gupta, President, PB Fintech, Policy Bazaar, Shri Sameer Bajaj, Head of Communication & Corporate Affairs, MakeMyTrip, Shri Ashish Aggarwal, Vice President and Head of Policy, NASSCOM, Dr Muktesh Chander, NHRC Special Monitor, Cyber Crime and Artificial Intelligence, Shri Tanveer Hasan A K, Executive Director, Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) in India and Shri Sameer Kochhar, President SKOCH Development Foundation, NHRC, India Registrar (Law), Joginder Singh, Director, Lt Col Virender Singh among others.

Some of the important suggestions that emanated from the discussion included;

• Simplify the user agreements and policy frameworks to enhance consumer understanding and control over personal data;
• Establish clear accountability structures for data breaches, especially for research institutions and third-party data processors;
• Strengthen user consent frameworks for greater transparency and informed decision-making;
• Define the mandate and composition of the proposed Data Protection Board;
• Develop a localised approach to data privacy regulations to support small businesses while addressing India-specific challenges;
• Encourage companies to integrate privacy-by-design principles in digital operations;
• Enhance consumer awareness through targeted digital privacy and cybersecurity literacy programmes;
• Have explicit penal provisions for non-compliance;
• Need for bilateral agreements to address cross-border security and data-sharing concerns;
• Address the challenges arising from strict data localisation mandates; and
• Clear guidelines for obtaining verifiable parental consent for minors.

***

NSK

(Release ID: 2104596) Visitor Counter : 69

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: EIB Group invests €12.3 billion in Spain in 2024, with record investments in climate action, energy, innovation and housing

Source: European Investment Bank

The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved a financing package of €260 million to support the Maltese government’s investments aimed at fostering a smarter, greener, and more resilient economy. The first €130 million tranche was signed this morning in Valletta by Clyde Caruana, Minister for Finance, and Kyriacos Kakouris, EIB Vice-President. This landmark agreement will help Malta co-finance initiatives that receive grants through the European Union budget for the 2021-2027 period, advancing strategic investments in critical sectors that drive economic growth, job creation, and social cohesion.

MIL OSI Europe News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Isabel Schnabel: Interview with the Financial Times

Source: European Central Bank

Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Olaf Storbeck on 14 February 2025

19 February 2025

How relevant is the natural rate – R* – for day-to-day policymaking from your point of view?

The natural rate of interest is an important theoretical concept. But it’s not well-suited to determine the appropriate monetary policy stance. The ECB staff analysis that was published recently had one main message: we know that we know very little. Model and estimation uncertainty result in confidence bands that are so wide that they include any reasonable interest rate that the ECB may set at this point. Moreover, R* is a steady-state concept for a world without shocks. That’s certainly not the world that we are in today. Just look at what’s happening with the evolving trade conflict on which we are getting news on a daily basis. So for all those reasons, I think R* cannot be any reliable guide for monetary policy in real time.

Has your view on this changed?

The point I have always emphasised is how R* is evolving over the longer term. People have focused too much on the narrow range for R* that was given in the staff note. This is misleading for several reasons. The narrow range only includes the models for which estimates were already available for the fourth quarter of 2024. If you look at the R* estimates for the third quarter, you see that the range actually goes up all the way to 3%. This is even above the current deposit facility rate of 2.75%. And that range still only includes the uncertainty stemming from using different models. If you add the parameter and filtering uncertainty, you get even wider bands. The one thing that you do see is that the overall range seems to have moved up over recent years. For me, that is the key point.

But the most recent ECB estimates of R* also suggest that the current level is still lower than it was before the global financial crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis.

That remains to be seen. There has been a clear upward trend. I expect this trend to continue for a number of reasons, including high and rising public debt and the huge investment needs for the digital and green transitions. Another factor is increasing global fragmentation. It leads to a partial reversal of the global savings glut, due to shrinking current account surpluses of some major economies, which was one of the main factors that had pushed R* down. So for me, the main message from the R* analysis is: maintaining price stability over the medium term is likely to require higher real rates in the future than before the pandemic. We cannot pin down the level of R* with any degree of confidence, but we can get an impression about the direction. For me, that direction for R* now is upwards again.

The Euro zone economy suffers from a lack of economic dynamism and economic growth. Doesn’t this put downward pressure on the natural interest rate?

Yes, there have been secular factors that have pushed R* down. But we are currently in a situation of transformation that may actually reverse that trend. That’s the whole point.

When you say that R* is not very helpful for short-term monetary policymaking, why have you stressed it so much in your speeches and interviews?

It’s important that we understand general macroeconomic trends. Also in the pre-pandemic period, it was very important to understand the underlying natural real rate environment. It can never be precise, but it helps us understand the broader picture. It has no impact on any individual rate decision.

But would you say that it is relevant for the medium-term trajectory of monetary policy, let’s say for the next year or two? Or does it only matter over the next ten or 20 years?

I think it has an impact on our medium-term thinking.

Medium-term thinking would mean: it matters over the next two to three years, right?

Well, it’s hard to pin down precisely.

Some ECB observers have suggested that the natural rate was used by more hawkish voices as an argument in favour of being more careful and not lowering interest rates too fast. Would you agree?

If you believe that R* has moved up, this argues for a more cautious approach. But this cannot just depend on R*. We need to look at the incoming data in order to understand how restrictive our monetary policy is. And the more evidence we have that monetary policy is no longer restrictive, the more cautious we have to become because further rate cuts may no longer be appropriate.

So how restrictive is the ECB’s monetary policy at the moment?

The data are showing that the degree of restriction has come down significantly, up to a point where we can no longer say with confidence that our monetary policy is still restrictive. One of the important data sources in this context is the bank lending survey.

We’re looking at that very carefully. For corporate loans, 90% of banks said in the most recent round that the general level of interest rates has no impact on loan demand, while 8% said it has lifted credit demand. A year ago, a third of banks said that interest rates were weighing on loan demand. It’s even clearer when you look at mortgages. Almost half of banks said in the most recent round that the general level of interest rates is supporting loan demand. A year ago, more than 40% said that it was constraining loan demand. This is also reflected in a historically strong increase in mortgage demand in that same survey, which is gradually transmitting into the hard data on loan growth. Corporate loans were growing by 1.5% in December, mortgages by 1.1%.

The easing is also being transmitted to the real economy. Consumption picked up in the third quarter by more than we had expected. And the savings rate has started to come down from its very high level. But of course, there are transmission lags, and part of the easing is still in the pipeline.

You said that you can’t say with confidence anymore if monetary policy is still restrictive. The last ECB policy statement clearly stated that it still is. Do you have a different view than the ECB stated in its latest policy statement?

No, I fully agreed with the statement last time. But we are now a step further, right? The January monetary policy statement referred to the interest rate of 3% and the level of restrictiveness before the latest monetary policy decision. The further we go down, the lower my conviction in such a statement will be. And note that I’m not saying our monetary policy is no longer restrictive. What I’m saying is I’m no longer sure whether it is still restrictive. But we should not overstate a difference of 25 basis points.

Should the ECB drop the reference to restrictiveness in March?

That is a discussion we should have in the next meeting.

In an FT survey of Euro zone economists just before Christmas, half of them said they think that the ECB is behind the curve. What is your view on this?

I’m firmly in the camp of the other half who think that we are right on track. The data that we’ve seen have confirmed that our gradual and cautious approach has been appropriate. Domestic inflation is still high, wage growth is still elevated, and we’ve seen new shocks to energy prices. We’ve also seen that inflation expectations are very sensitive to such shocks. So I think our approach is just right.

Some economists argue that the big uncertainty and all those shocks could justify insurance cuts. Do you have any view on that?

I don’t see any argument for that at this point, especially as we are getting closer to no longer being restrictive. If anything, we are getting closer to the point where we may have to pause or halt our rate cuts.

Pause or halt… but not increase?

No. That I would exclude.

How close do you think we are to the point where the ECB should pause its easing?

I will leave that to your interpretation. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next meetings, so let’s see. But we need to start that discussion.

That’s not what markets take as the base case scenario right now. Do you think that markets are ahead of themselves?

Well, markets have been jumping around a bit in response to what is happening in the world. But an April rate cut is no longer fully priced in. So markets are not entirely sure either.

How well is monetary transmission working at the moment? We saw quite an uptick in yields in December although there wasn’t any change in monetary policy. All other things being equal, this slows down monetary policy transmission, doesn’t it?

We have lowered the deposit facility rate by 125 basis points over the past eight months, and this has been transmitted smoothly to short-term market rates. We’ve also seen that bank lending rates have come down quite a bit – corporate loan rates by 92 basis points and mortgage rates by 64 basis points by December. This is significant. It tells you that transmission is working. When it comes to government bond yields, it’s important to look through the short-term volatility and take a somewhat longer perspective. And what you see then is that sovereign bond yields have remained rather stable. We had a strong repricing in 2022, when the ten-year Bund moved from negative territory at the end of 2021 to around 2.4% in October 2022. That is very close to the number that we’re seeing today. So we’ve been seeing a return of long-term sovereign bond yields to their new normal. We shouldn’t overstate the short-term volatility that we’ve experienced over the past weeks.

There’s another aspect that is quite important. One of the most interesting features of this tightening cycle is that it has not led to a comparable tightening of broader financial conditions. The exceptionally strong risk appetite of financial investors has even boosted equity prices and compressed credit spreads, and that has weakened monetary policy transmission. And part of that is due to the fact that we are still holding a very large monetary policy bond portfolio.

But overall, also taking into account the lags, monetary policy transmission is working fine.

Is the ECB’s “meeting-by-meeting” communication really credible? The ECB now says that the direction of travel is clear. Isn’t this a pre-commitment to further rate cuts?

I firmly believe in the meeting-by-meeting approach. The current time of high volatility is certainly not the time to tie our hands through forward guidance. And this is also what we stress in our monetary policy statements: we are not pre-committing to any particular rate path. At the time when it was still relatively clear that monetary policy was restrictive, one could infer the direction of travel from that. But this is no longer the case. And therefore, for me, the direction of travel is not so clear anymore.

Is this view shared by the majority of the Executive Board or the Governing Council?

It’s not for me to comment on that. It’s going back to the point that we now have to start the discussion on how far we should go. I’m not saying that we’re there yet. But we have to start the discussion.

If we take the meeting-by-meeting approach and data dependency as a given, does the type of data that has to be assessed need to change over time?

There are broadly two sets of data that we need to focus on. The first one refers to the inflation outlook: inflation itself, inflation expectations, wages, productivity, exchange rates. We use incoming data to cross-check the assumptions underlying our projections. This is why I never saw data dependence as a backward-looking concept. It was always forward-looking because we use incoming data to learn more about the credibility of our inflation outlook. The second set of data relates to the level of restrictiveness of monetary policy: interest rates, broader financial conditions, lending markets, the housing market as well as domestic demand, that is consumption, savings and investment. Of course, when we have a monetary policy meeting, we always look at all available data.

Can I challenge you on your claim that it was always forward-looking? At the time of high inflation, the ECB put a lot of emphasis on the actual inflation data from the previous month, which by definition is backward-looking. GDP numbers are by definition also very backward-looking.

I don’t agree. What do we learn from the current inflation data? We learn whether the transmission of our policy or of shocks is working as expected. High services inflation tells us something about its stickiness. If we spot deviations, we will eventually adjust our models but we also have to change our view about the medium-term outlook. So, in my view it was never backward-looking.

Data dependence is all the more important in today’s world. Some people say that the projections have become more credible. But who knows what’s going to happen as regards the trade conflict, the war in Ukraine and so on. We are faced with an unusual number of shocks, and that requires us to be always able to react. I don’t have a fixed mindset about what to do. Quite the opposite. I think we need to be able to adjust to whatever data or shock is coming in and what’s happening in the world and in the euro area economy.

What are the current data telling us about the inflation outlook?

Both services inflation and wage growth are still at an uncomfortably high level. Our projections foresee a deceleration of both. But this still needs to materialise. Services inflation has been stuck at around 4% since November 2023, and it still has to come down. For me, this is actually quite important. And therefore, the incoming data will be very relevant because our projections foresee a relatively quick deceleration of services inflation over this year.

How quickly do you want to see service inflation coming down?

It should start to come down in February. That’s what we expect. Over time, it does not necessarily have to come down to 2% but to a level that is consistent with our medium-term 2% target. Wage growth is also still high, but we have many indications that it is going to decelerate. For example, our wage tracker shows that wage growth is expected to drop steeply in the second half of the year. Part of that is due to a base effect from one-off payments. Hence, wage growth is expected to stay relatively elevated over the first half of the year. So we still need to see this deceleration. This is something that I pay a lot of attention to.

How concerned are you about recent swings in energy prices?

Energy and food prices can always offer surprises. We have seen some relatively strong moves in energy prices recently. Gas prices moved up a lot. That was mainly driven by cold temperatures. Very recently, gas prices dropped sharply. This seems to be driven partly by uncertainty about whether countries will fill up their gas storages as quickly as originally intended. A second reason is the debate about a potential ceasefire in Ukraine. This can cause a lot of volatility, which can have a strong impact on headline inflation and also on underlying inflation because energy serves as an input. We have to monitor this carefully.

What are the implications for monetary policy from energy price volatility? Is this deflationary or inflationary?

Recent volatility has been extreme. Before the recent fall in gas prices it was clearly inflationary. But now we have to see how that is going to play out. In general, I see risks to our inflation outlook as somewhat skewed to the upside. So I would not exclude that inflation comes back to 2% later than we had anticipated. But that remains to be seen.

The ECB this year will review its monetary strategy. President Lagarde has excluded the current inflation target from that review. Do you think that’s the right call?

Our symmetric, medium-term inflation target of 2% has served us very well in the high inflation period. So I really don’t see any reason to question it. And I believe there is strong support for this view in the Governing Council. What we have seen, however, is how quickly the inflation environment can change. And we have also learned how much people dislike inflation. But for me, that has implications primarily for the reaction function and not for the target. I think these two should be kept apart.

What are the potential implications for the reaction function?

The reaction function should be part of the debate. Back in 2021 during the previous strategy review, the discussion was very much under the impression of the low-for-long period. The main concern at the time was that our monetary policy was constrained by the effective lower bound on interest rates. When you read the monetary policy strategy statement today, you would think it comes from a different world. It focused on the risk of inflation being too low, and stated that we should be particularly forceful or persistent in such a scenario. But we have shifted to a new world. The past few years have shown that there are also risks of a de-anchoring of inflation expectations to the upside and that upside inflation risks can materialise quickly and become more persistent due to second-round effects. And therefore, I believe that the new reaction function should be symmetric in order to take into account the risks in both directions. This is especially true given that we are likely to face more adverse supply-side shocks going forward.

So effectively you are arguing in favour of a more hawkish reaction function?

I don’t like these notions of hawks and doves, and I don’t think that they are relevant here. My point is that our reaction function should acknowledge the fundamental shift of the macroeconomic environment. Up to 2021, we paid very little attention to upside risks to inflation. There was the perception that central banks would know precisely how to deal with a surge in inflation. But we’ve experienced that it has been quite difficult. Inflation has been above target now for almost four years. Looking forward, we should be putting equal weight on risks in both directions. And I wouldn’t call that a hawkish assertion.

Should the ECB toolkit be changed?

We’ve gained a lot of experience with the different tools. I do believe that all the tools we have should remain in our toolkit. But we’ve learned how important it is to carefully weigh the benefits and costs of our instruments – especially when it comes to asset purchases. They have proven very effective in stabilising markets. But as a monetary policy stance instrument, they have been less beneficial and costlier than we thought. This should be taken into account. The same applies to forward guidance. Many people believe that forward guidance led to a delayed response to the inflation surge. So forward guidance is another tool that we need to look at very carefully.

Are you implicitly saying that ECB should not have done as much quantitative easing as it did in the years up to 2021?

My point is that once we are back to a more normal world – a situation where inflation expectations are well anchored, and services inflation and unit labour cost growth have come down – and we are confident that we are sustainably back at our target, then we could become more tolerant of moderate deviations from our target. We should stop fine-tuning and responding to single data points. We should instead focus on large persistent shocks that give rise to a risk of a de-anchoring of inflation expectations in either direction.

So is your point that the ECB should be more willing to tolerate downward deviations to the 2% target in a steady state?

We should be more willing to tolerate both moderate downward and upward deviations, and act when there is a threat of de-anchoring.

But that’s an implicit change to the inflation target, is it not?

No, not at all. My point is that we should be less activist and rather take the time to assess whether shocks pose a serious risk to inflation expectations. Of course, we should keep in mind that the vulnerability of inflation expectations may have changed after the recent inflation experience. People have learned that inflation can increase sharply and that this is very harmful. Firms have learned that they can reprice relatively quickly, and we have to take this into account.

Finally, we need to think about how to deal with the uncertainty around our economic and inflation outlook. For me, the most useful way to deal with that is to make greater use of scenario analysis – and in a different way than we’ve done over the past years. Back then we were looking at tail risks, which was very useful. But in the future, we should also look at plausible alternative scenarios in order to get away from the illusion of precision that we create by just focusing on the baseline point estimate. We all know there is a lot of uncertainty around it. So I think it would be important to also look at plausible alternative scenarios to illustrate this uncertainty.

MIL OSI Europe News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Euro area monthly balance of payments: December 2024
Source: European Central Bank

19 February 2025
- Current account recorded €38 billion surplus in December 2024, up from €25 billion in previous month
- Current account surplus amounted to €419 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP) in 2024, up from €241 billion (1.6%) in 2023
- In financial account, euro area residents’ net acquisitions of non-euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €664 billion and non-residents’ net acquisitions of euro area portfolio investment securities totalled €811 billion in 2024
Chart 1

Euro area current account balance

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

Source: ECB.

The current account of the euro area recorded a surplus of €38 billion in December 2024, an increase of €13 billion from the previous month (Chart 1 and Table 1). Surpluses were recorded for goods (€33 billion), services (€18 billion) and primary income (€4 billion). These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income (€17 billion).

Table 1

Current account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; working day and seasonally adjusted data)

Source: ECB.

Note: Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the current account of the euro area

In 2024, the current account recorded a surplus of €419 billion (2.8% of euro area GDP), compared with a surplus of €241 billion (1.6% of euro area GDP) in 2023. This increase was mainly driven by a larger surplus for goods (up from €256 billion to €390 billion), and, to a lesser extent, by a larger surplus for services (up from €123 billion to €162 billion) and a smaller deficit for secondary income (down from €170 billion to €165 billion). The surplus for primary income remained stable (€32 billion).

Chart 2

Selected items of the euro area financial account

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

Source: ECB.

Notes: For assets, a positive (negative) number indicates net purchases (sales) of non-euro area instruments by euro area investors. For liabilities, a positive (negative) number indicates net sales (purchases) of euro area instruments by non-euro area investors.

In direct investment, euro area residents made net investments of €74 billion in non-euro area assets in 2024, following net disinvestments of €329 billion in 2023 (Chart 2 and Table 2). Non-residents disinvested €102 billion in net terms from euro area assets in 2024, following net disinvestments of €364 billion in 2023.

In portfolio investment, euro area residents’ net purchases of non-euro area equity increased to €145 billion in 2024, up from €89 billion in 2023. Over the same period, net purchases of non-euro area debt securities by euro-area residents increased to €519 billion, up from €380 billion in 2023. Non-residents’ net purchases of euro area equity increased to €350 billion in 2024, up from €158 billion in 2023. Over the same period, non-residents made net purchases of euro area debt securities amounting to €461 billion, following net purchases of €398 billion in 2023.

Table 2

Financial account of the euro area

(EUR billions unless otherwise indicated; transactions; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted data)

Source: ECB.

Notes: Decreases in assets and liabilities are shown with a minus sign. Net financial derivatives are reported under assets. “MFIs” stands for monetary financial institutions. Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the financial account of the euro area

In other investment, euro area residents recorded net acquisitions of non-euro area assets amounting to €363 billion in 2024 (following net acquisitions of €205 billion in 2023), while they recorded net disposals of liabilities of €43 billion (following net disposals of €171 billion in 2023).

Chart 3

Monetary presentation of the balance of payments

(EUR billions; 12-month cumulated data)

Source: ECB.

Notes: “MFI net external assets (enhanced)” incorporates an adjustment to the MFI net external assets (as reported in the consolidated MFI balance sheet items statistics) based on information on MFI long-term liabilities held by non-residents, available in b.o.p. statistics. B.o.p. transactions refer only to transactions of non-MFI residents of the euro area. Financial transactions are shown as liabilities net of assets. “Other” includes financial derivatives and statistical discrepancies.

The monetary presentation of the balance of payments (Chart 3) shows that the net external assets (enhanced) of euro area MFIs increased by €553 billion in 2024. This increase was mainly driven by the current and capital accounts surplus and, to a lesser extent, by euro area non-MFIs’ net inflows in portfolio investment debt and portfolio investment equity. These developments were partly offset by euro area non-MFIs’ net outflows in direct investment.

In December 2024 the Eurosystem’s stock of reserve assets increased to €1,394.0 billion up from €1,391.7 billion in the previous month (Table 3). This increase was driven by positive exchange rate changes (€4.0 billion) and, to a lesser extent, by net acquisitions of assets (€2.7 billion) which were partly offset by negative price changes (€4.3 billion).

Table 3

Reserve assets of the euro area

(EUR billions; amounts outstanding at the end of the period, flows during the period; non-working day and non-seasonally adjusted data)

Notes: “Other reserve assets” comprises currency and deposits, securities, financial derivatives (net) and other claims. Discrepancies between totals and their components may be due to rounding.

Data for the reserve assets of the euro area

Data revisions

This press release incorporates revisions to the data for October and November 2024. These revisions did not significantly alter the figures previously published.
MIL OSI Europe News –
February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
Source: European Investment Bank

EIB
- EIB Group’s fresh financing in Greece last year amounted to €2.2 billion
- Focus last year on energy supply, business growth and disaster management
- Latest annual results bring EIB Group support in Greece over past five years to €14.5 billion
The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group’s new financing in Greece amounted to €2.2 billion last year, with major support to bolster energy supplies, strengthen businesses and protect against environmental disasters in the country.

The total for 2024 included €2.03 billion from the EIB and portfolio guarantees of €152 million from the European Investment Fund (EIF), which focuses on innovative and technology-driven small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as Small Mid-Caps in Europe.

Top operations included loans of €390 million to natural-gas supplier DEPA Commercial to build solar parks, €150 million to power provider HEDNO to upgrade the grid, loans and guarantees of €550 million to domestic banks to expand financing for SMEs and Mid-Caps and €220 million to the government to bolster disaster management.

Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of Finance of the Hellenic Republic noted: “Greece’s relationship with the European Investment Bank is long-standing and strong. This was reaffirmed in 2024, with new financing reaching €2.2 billion. These funds will be used for investments in renewable energy sources, upgrades to the electricity grid, support for SMEs, and the purchase of firefighting aircraft and rescue equipment. The EIB was a valuable ally when Greece was cut off from the markets. It will remain a partner, but with a new approach. Going forward, priorities will focus on energy interconnections, research and technology, climate adaptation, and defense investments, as outlined in the EIB’s Strategic Roadmap”.

“Our work in Greece is a testament to the transformative power of strategic financing,” said EIB Vice-President Yannis Tsakiris. “In 2024, we reinforced our commitment to the country by supporting clean energy, climate resilience and critical infrastructure while strengthening SMEs, innovation, job creation and social cohesion.”

The latest annual results bring total EIB Group financing in Greece over the past five years to €14.5 billion. The yearly average in the country since 2000 is almost €2.9 billion, which reflects an unusually high sum of almost €5 billion in 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The EIB Group’s support last year was almost 1% of Greece’s gross domestic product (GDP), the third-highest level among European Union countries behind only Croatia and Estonia. That means that EIB Group financing in Greece last year averaged €631 per inhabitant, making the country one of the biggest beneficiaries based on the size of the population and the economy. The funding is projected to catalyse investments in Greece of up to €6.6 billion – about 2.5% of its GDP.

Energy supply

The €390 million EIB loan to DEPA Commercial is for new photovoltaic (PV) parks in the regions of western Macedonia, Thessaly and central Greece. The sites will add approximately 800 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy – enough to power 278,000 households for a year.

Also in the area of clean energy, the EIB last year provided a €195 million loan to supplier PPC Renewables to develop 580 MW of solar plants and 175 MW of battery storage. The moves will boost renewables capacity, grid stability and energy security.

The €150 million EIB credit to HEDNO covers upgrades to Greece’s electricity-distribution network, improving grid reliability and facilitating integration of renewables.

The EIB last year also took part in the creation of an EU “Decarbonisation Fund” for Greece that will channel €1.6 billion in revenue from the European emissions-trading system into sustainable energy and development projects on Greek islands. These include grid interconnections with the mainland and the phase-out of local power plants.

Business boost

The EIB last year allocated a total €702 million to strengthen SMEs and Mid-Caps in Greece. The support – 28% of the total – took the form of intermediated loans and guarantees.

Top operations included €300 million guarantees to Eurobank and National Bank of Greece covering €600 million new loans to Mid-Caps. In addition, the EIB provided a €250 million loan to the National Bank of Greece to bolster green investments by Greek SMEs and Mid-Caps. The credit raised total EIB support for such investments in Greece to €1 billion.

The EIF also showed its agility in supporting vital investments for both debt and equity. It signed €152m with several of Greece’s financial institutions for capped portfolio guarantees. They are expected to mobilise up to €1,8bn in financing for small and medium-sized enterprises, while making the Greek economy greener, and supporting innovation and the country’s digital transition.

The EIF also signed a new €200 million equity mandate to support innovative companies in Life Sciences & Healthcare and Sustainability & Social Impact by improving their access to vital financing. Funded by Cohesion policy and national resources of the Hellenic Republic, the mandate will cover a financing gap in these sectors, supporting investments from pre-seed to growth stages based on market needs.

Disaster protection

The €220 million EIB loan last year to the Greek government is to buy fire trucks, rescue vehicles and aircraft needed to fight to natural disasters such as wildfires and floods, both of which have caused extensive damage in Greece in recent years. The credit also covers upgrades to essential disaster-management services.

The financing forms part of a European climate-adaptation plan by the EIB Group and brings its total support for Greek civil protection and disaster preparedness to €595 million.

EIB Advisory

There were also key technical assistance projects delivered from EIB Advisory, a highlight being an agreement with the Athens Water Supply and Sewerage Company (EYDAP) to back its €2 billion, 10-year investment programme to ensure the Greek capital has a more resilient water supply and supporting investments in lignite-dependent regions such as Western Macedonia and Megalopolis in the Peloponnese, facilitating their transition to a future of clean energy.

In December 2024, the continuation of advisory support by EIB advisors from the PASSA team to the Greek administration was approved. This support aims to ensure the smooth implementation of sustainable development and Just Transition projects financed by the EU.

Background information

EIB

The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, , we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, important investments outside the EU, and the Capital Markets Union.

The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.

All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment.

Fostering market integration and mobilising investment, the Group supported a record of over €100 billion in new investment for Europe’s energy security in 2024 and mobilised €110 billion in growth capital for startups, scale-ups and European pioneers

Approximately half of the EIB’s financing within the European Union is directed towards cohesion regions, where per capita income is lower than the EU average.

Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
©EIB
Download original

Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
©EIB
Download original

Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
©EIB
Download original

Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
©EIB
Download original

Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
Greece financing from EIB Group totals €2.2 billion in 2024 with focus on energy supply, business growth and disaster preparedness
©EIB
Download original
MIL OSI Europe News –
February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI: Virturo Enhances Trading Efficiency with Advanced Automation and Risk Strategies
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LONDON, Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Virturo, a leader in CFD trading and financial technology, has launched a suite of AI-driven automated trading and advanced risk management solutions, designed to enhance investment strategies for high-net-worth traders. By integrating cutting-edge technology with expert insights, Virturo enables traders to optimize performance while effectively managing market volatility.

The Power of Automation in Modern Trading
“Automated trading features greatly enhance a trader’s ability to capitalize on market opportunities without the emotional stress of manual trading,” says Michael Stean, Senior Financial Strategist at Virturo. “At Virturo, we provide traders with the tools to optimize performance and maximize efficiency.”

Automated trading has transformed financial markets, enabling traders to execute strategies efficiently without constant market monitoring. With Virturo’s automation tools, traders can:
- Set predefined entry and exit points to execute trades with precision.
- Eliminate emotional decision-making, ensuring disciplined execution.
- Respond instantly to market changes, capitalizing on opportunities in real-time.
Risk Management Meets Cutting-Edge Technology
Smart trading isn’t just about speed – it’s about control. Virturo’s advanced risk management features work alongside automation to protect investments and maximize returns, including:
- Limit Orders – Executing trades only at the desired price point to control entry and exit precision.
- Take-Profit & Stop-Loss Orders – Locking in gains and minimize losses with predefined price thresholds.
- Conditional Orders – Automating trade actions based on specific market conditions, removing uncertainty from execution.
“When risk management is integrated with automation, it not only protects investments but also enhances a trader’s potential for success,” adds Stean.

Tailored for High-Value Investors
Virturo’s sophisticated trading ecosystem is designed for high-net-worth traders who require precision, speed, and strategic execution. The platform’s advanced features include:
- Dynamic margin optimization to enhance capital efficiency.
- Trading pyramiding strategies to scale profitable positions intelligently.
- Portfolio hedging tools to safeguard against market volatility.
“At Virturo, we provide high-net-worth traders with a tailored blend of technology and expertise,” explains Stean. “Automation amplifies the efficiency of managing complex portfolios while ensuring every decision aligns with long-term financial goals.”

Virturo’s Commitment to Smart, Data-Driven Trading
While automation enhances execution speed, Virturo ensures traders retain full strategic control. The platform integrates AI-driven analysis with expert guidance, allowing traders to fine-tune strategies, adapt to evolving markets, and make informed decisions with confidence.

“The future of trading belongs to those who embrace automation, predictive analytics, and risk-focused strategies,” says Stean. “Virturo’s innovative platform delivers the tools to navigate market complexities while optimizing performance.”

Virturo continues to lead the next generation of trading, offering elite investors the power of AI, automation, and expert-backed risk management in one seamless platform.

Users can discover the next evolution of trading at www.virturo.com.

About Virturo
Virturo, a leading broker in CFD trading and financial technology, is redefining investment strategies with its AI-driven automated trading and advanced risk management solutions.
Website LinkedIn Twitter YouTube Facebook

Contact

Media Team
Virturo Media Team
Virturo
support@virturo.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5b4f70a2-1892-46ae-bbf0-b3e7527cb899

The MIL Network –
February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI: Stock Yards Bancorp Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.31 per Common Share

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYBT), parent company of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company, with offices in the Louisville, central, eastern and northern Kentucky, as well as the Indianapolis, Indiana and Cincinnati, Ohio metropolitan markets, announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.31 per common share. The dividend will be paid on April 1, 2025, to stockholders of record as of March 17, 2025.

Louisville, Kentucky-based Stock Yards Bancorp, Inc., with $8.86 billion in assets, was incorporated in 1988 as a bank holding company. It is the parent company of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company, which was established in 1904. The Company’s common shares trade on The NASDAQ Stock Market under the symbol “SYBT.” For more information about Stock Yards Bancorp, visit the Company’s website at www.syb.com.

Contact: T. Clay Stinnett

Executive Vice President, Treasurer

and Chief Financial Officer

(502) 625-0890

The MIL Network –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI: DT Cloud Acquisition Corporation Announces Change of Extraordinary General Meeting Date

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

New York, New York, Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DT Cloud Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: DYCQU, DYCQ, DYCQR) (“DT Cloud” or the “SPAC”), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, today announced that its Extraordinary General Meeting (“EGM”), previously scheduled at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on February 18, 2025, has been postponed to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on February 21, 2025, and the redemption right deadline has been postponed to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on February 19, 2025.

The Company filed a proxy supplement on February 14, 2025, as further amended on February 19, 2025, to increase the amended monthly extension fee, as proposed in the Proposal 1 to the EGM, to $0.022 for each outstanding Public Share. The proxy materials can be accessed on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

About DT Cloud Acquisition Corporation

DT Cloud is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or other similar business combination with one or more businesses. While DT Cloud may pursue an initial business combination target in any business or industry, it intends to focus its search on industries that complement its management team’s background. DT Cloud is led by Shaoke Li, its Chief Executive Officer, and Guojian Chen, its Chief Financial Officer.

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements. The Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any statement is based.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

On January 27, 2025, the Company filed a definitive proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) in connection with its solicitation of proxies for the EGM. The Company filed additional proxy supplements with the SEC on February 4, 14 and 19, 2025. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND OTHER DOCUMENTS THE COMPANY FILES WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AS THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of the definitive proxy statement (including any amendments or supplements thereto) and other documents filed or that will be filed with the SEC through the web site maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.

Participants in the Solicitation

The Company and its directors, executive officers, other members of management and employees, under SEC rules, may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of the Company in connection with the Meeting. Investors and shareholders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of the Company’s directors and officers in the Proxy Statement, which may be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated above.

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release shall not constitute a solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the EGM proposals. This communication shall also not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any states or jurisdictions in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom.

Contact:

For investors:

DT Cloud Acquisition Corporation
Shaoke Li
Chief Executive Officer
30 Orange Street
London
United Kingdom, WC2H 7HF
Email: jack.li@dtcloudspac.com

The MIL Network –

February 20, 2025

MIL-OSI: Mattr Announces Dates of Earnings Releases and Associated Conference Calls Through Fourth Quarter of 2025

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

TORONTO, Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Mattr Corp. (“Mattr” or the “Company”) (TSX: MATR) announced today its reporting schedule for its financial results and related conference calls. Financial results for the respective reporting periods are expected to be reported on the below dates, after the market closes for trading on the TSX. A conference call/webcast to discuss results from the respective reporting periods will be held on the below dates at 9:00am ET.

Reporting Period:	Financial Results:	Conference Call/Webcast:
Q4 – 2024	March 13, 2025	March 14, 2025
Q1 – 2025	May 14, 2025	May 15, 2025
Q2 – 2025	August 13, 2025	August 14, 2025
Q3 – 2025	November 12, 2025	November 13, 2025
Q4 – 2025	March 12, 2026	March 13, 2026

Mattr will use a presentation to accompany its conference calls. The presentation can be found on the Company’s website in advance of the earnings call and can also be accessed via the conference call/webcast. Please visit the Mattr Investor Centre website at mattr.com or use the following link https://investors.mattr.com/news-events/events-and-presentations for further details.

About Mattr

Mattr is a growth-oriented, global materials technology company broadly serving critical infrastructure markets, including transportation, communication, water management, energy and electrification. The Company operates through a network of fixed manufacturing facilities. Its two business segments, Composite Technologies and Connection Technologies, enable responsible renewal and enhancement of critical infrastructure.

For further information, please contact:

Meghan MacEachern
VP, Investor Relations & External Communications
Telephone: 437.341.1848
Email: meghan.maceachern@mattr.com
Website: www.mattr.com

Source: Mattr Corp.

The MIL Network –

February 20, 2025

MIL-OSI: Diversified Energy Announces Proposed Offering of Ordinary Shares

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 19, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Diversified Energy Company PLC (LSE: DEC; NYSE: DEC) (“Diversified” or the “Company“), an independent energy company focused on natural gas and liquids production, transportation, marketing and well retirement, today announces the launch of an underwritten public offering (the “Offering”) in the United States of up to 8,500,000 ordinary shares (the “Shares”).

Citigroup and Mizuho are acting as joint book-running managers and underwriters for the proposed Offering.

In addition, Diversified intends to grant the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional 850,000 ordinary shares at the public offering price, less underwriting discount. The Offering is subject to market conditions and other factors, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the Offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the Offering.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to repay a portion of the debt expected to be incurred by the Company in connection with the proposed acquisition of Maverick Natural Resources, LLC, as announced on January 27, 2025 (the “Acquisition”). In the event that the Acquisition does not close, the Company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to repay debt and for general corporate purposes. The consummation of the Offering is not conditioned upon the completion of the Acquisition, and the completion of the Acquisition is not conditioned upon the consummation of the Offering.

A shelf registration statement relating to these securities was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) on February 11, 2025 and became effective upon filing. Copies of the registration statement can be accessed through the SEC’s website free of charge at www.sec.gov. The Offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and an accompanying prospectus in the United States. A preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus related to the Offering will be filed with the SEC and will be available free of charge by visiting EDGAR on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus can also be obtained, when available, free of charge from either of the joint book-running managers for the Offering: Citigroup, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 (Tel: 800-831-9146); or Mizuho Securities USA LLC, Attention: Equity Capital Markets Desk, at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, or by email at US-ECM@mizuhogroup.com.

This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy our ordinary shares nor shall there be any sale of securities, and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.

CONTACTS

Diversified Energy Company PLC	+1 973 856 2757
Doug Kris	dkris@dgoc.com
Senior Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate Communications

FTI Consulting	dec@fticonsulting.com
U.S. & UK Financial Media Relations

About Diversified

Diversified is a leading publicly traded energy company focused on natural gas and liquids production, transport, marketing, and well retirement. Through our unique differentiated strategy, we acquire existing, long-life assets and invest in them to improve environmental and operational performance until retiring those assets in a safe and environmentally secure manner. Recognized by ratings agencies and organizations for our sustainability leadership, this solutions-oriented, stewardship approach makes Diversified the Right Company at the Right Time to responsibly produce energy, deliver reliable free cash flow, and generate shareholder value.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are sometimes identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believe”, “expects”, “targets”, “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “shall”, “risk”, “intends”, “estimates”, “aims”, “plans”, “predicts”, “continues”, “assumes”, “projects”, “positioned” or “anticipates” or the negative thereof, other variations thereon or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this announcement and include statements regarding the intentions, beliefs or current expectations of management or the Company concerning, among other things, expectations regarding the proposed Offering of securities and the Acquisition. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s control and all of which are based on management’s current beliefs and expectations about future events, including market conditions, failure of customary closing conditions and the risk factors and other matters set forth in the Company’s filings with the SEC and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected.

Important Notice to UK and EU Investors

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on market abuse and the UK Version of Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 on market abuse, as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (together, “MAR”). In addition, market soundings (as defined in MAR) were taken in respect of the matters contained in this announcement, with the result that certain persons became aware of such inside information as permitted by MAR. Upon the publication of this announcement, the inside information is now considered to be in the public domain and such persons shall therefore cease to be in possession of inside information in relation to the Company and its securities.

Members of the public are not eligible to take part in the Offering. This announcement is directed at and is only being distributed to persons: (a) if in member states of the European Economic Area, “qualified investors” within the meaning of Article 2(e) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 (the “Prospectus Regulation“) (“Qualified Investors“); or (b) if in the United Kingdom, “qualified investors” within the meaning of Article 2(e) of the UK version of Regulation (EU) 2017/1129 as it forms part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, who are (i) persons who fall within the definition of “investment professionals” in Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the “Order“), or (ii) persons who fall within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order; or (c) persons to whom they may otherwise lawfully be communicated (each such person above, a “Relevant Person“). No other person should act or rely on this announcement and persons distributing this announcement must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so. This announcement must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons, if in the United Kingdom, or Qualified Investors, if in a member state of the EEA. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement or the Offering relates is available only to Relevant Persons, if in the United Kingdom, and Qualified Investors, if in a member state of the EEA, and will be engaged in only with Relevant Persons, if in the United Kingdom, and Qualified Investors, if in a member state of the EEA.

No offering document or prospectus will be available in any jurisdiction in connection with the matters contained or referred to in this announcement in the United Kingdom and no such offering document or prospectus is required (in accordance with the Prospectus Regulation or UK Prospectus Regulation) to be published. The Company will publish a prospectus in connection with Admission as required under the UK Prospectus Regulation in due course.

Neither the content of the Company’s website (or any other website) nor the content of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.

The Company has consulted with a number of existing shareholders and other investors ahead of the release of this announcement, including regarding the rationale for the offering. Consistent with each of its prior offerings, the Company will respect the principles of pre-emption, so far as is possible, through the allocation process, in the Offering.

The MIL Network –

February 20, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with Organising Chairman of Australia-ASEAN Business Forum

Source: ASEAN

Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, today received Francis Wong, Organising Chairman of the Australia-ASEAN Business Forum, at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat. During the meeting, both sides exchanged views on strategies to enhance economic cooperation, facilitate trade and investment opportunities, and strengthen engagement between ASEAN and Australia, ahead of the upcoming Australia-ASEAN Business Forum, scheduled to be held in the second half of 2025 in Australia.

The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with Organising Chairman of Australia-ASEAN Business Forum appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

MIL OSI Economics –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: OSCE Supports Medical Training for Border Service Personnel in Kyrgyzstan

Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE

Headline: OSCE Supports Medical Training for Border Service Personnel in Kyrgyzstan

Participants of the specialized Train-the-Trainer (ToT) programme aimed at strengthening the medical response capabilities of the Border Service. Osh, Kyrgyzstan. (OSCE) Photo details

Bishkek, 31 January 2025 – The OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek has implemented a specialized Train-the-Trainer (ToT) programme aimed at strengthening the medical response capabilities of the Border Service of the State Committee for National Security of the Kyrgyz Republic.
From 27 to 31 January 2025, nine selected lecturers, instructors, and medical professionals participated in the training at the Border Service Training Centre in Osh. The training developed by Lazarus Ltd, a UK-based company, was designed in line with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) “Basic Care Provider” requirements and tailored to local conditions.
The ToT programme focused on theoretical and practical training. Participants gained expertise in training methodologies, fostering an engaging learning environment, and instructional skills. The hands-on sessions included the use of training dummies, wound simulators, and scenario-based exercises to enhance their ability to train Border Service personnel effectively.
This programme follows an initial needs assessment conducted by Lazarus Training in September 2024 and the basic and intermediate-level medical training delivered in November–December 2024, in which 30 personnel completed the basic training and 15 completed the intermediate training. The final stage will involve the procurement of training equipment to further enhance the Border Service’s medical training capacity. The newly trained trainers will now continue conducting medical trainings within the Border Service, further reinforcing the sustainability of the programme.
Through this initiative, the OSCE continues to support regional security and capacity-building efforts, ensuring that Border Service personnel are equipped with the skills necessary to respond effectively to medical emergencies.
The initiative is implemented within the framework of the extrabudgetary project “Reducing risk of illicit small arms and light weapons, ammunition and explosives proliferation across border of Kyrgyz Republic,” funded by the US, Germany, Norway, UK, and supported by Austria and Poland.

MIL OSI Europe News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New members appointed to Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

DPTAC has an important role to play in our ambition to have an inclusive transport network allowing disabled people to travel easily and with dignity.
Transport Minister appoints new members to committee

membership will help remove barriers to transport accessibility, supporting the government’s inclusivity goals

the new appointees bring experience in disability academia, policy and transport accessibility

Local Transport Minister Simon Lightwood has today (19 February 2025) announced the appointment of 13 new members to the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC).

The independent committee provides advice to the Department for Transport (DfT) on the transport needs of disabled people – particularly on ministerial policy priorities and areas they think need urgent attention.

Their works helps DfT stand by its ambition to ensure transport is accessible for all, including keeping it at the heart of bus and rail reform, as well as the establishment of the Passenger Standards Authority.

Local Transport Minister, Simon Lightwood, said:

We are clear in our ambition to have an inclusive transport network so disabled people can travel easily confidently and with dignity. DPTAC has a key role in ensuring we develop policy that delivers this.

This unique committee has membership with broad understanding of the barriers faced by disabled people and it ensures those issues are understood right from the start of policy development.

The new members of DPTAC are:

Damian Joseph Bridgeman – prominent leader in public policy, disability advocacy, and corporate governance

Mark Cutter – Chair of Northern’s Accessibility User Group (NAUG) and the Rail Accessibility and Inclusion Forum for the North (RAIFN)

Carly Danesh Jones – autism advocate who has previously held advisory roles with Heathrow Airport and East Midlands Rail

Mary Doyle – coach who advises multinational companies on inclusivity and accessibility policy

Paul Finnegan – Chief Executive of suicide prevention charity Lighthouse

Dr Miro Griffiths – disability scholar at the University of Leeds

Prof Mari Martiskainen – Professor of Energy and Society at Science Policy Research Unit within the University of Sussex

Rachael Mole – consultant and advisor within accessibility and people management

Ruth Murran – english and drama teacher with life-long experience of global travel

Maral Nozratzadeh – postgraduate researcher at the University of Leeds School of Law

David Sindall – previously Head of Disability and Inclusion for the Association of Train Operating Companies for 12 years

Zamila Skingsley– former Cabinet Office Director

Edward Trewhella – Chief Executive at Driving Mobility

DPTAC has helped to inform DfT’s work to improve transport accessibility, including the Access For All programme which has made over 260 train stations accessible, as well as the Aviation Accessibility Task and Finish Group that was launched by DfT in November 2024.

It has also helped inform bus and coach policy, including the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023 that require operators of local bus and coach services to provide information on the route, direction of travel and each upcoming stop.

DPTAC chair, Matthew Campbell-Hill, said:

I am delighted to welcome our new DPTAC members, who bring a wealth of diverse experiences and expertise.

Their insights will be invaluable as we work together to remove barriers and improve accessibility across our transport network. By harnessing this collective knowledge, we can drive meaningful change and ensure that transport truly works for everyone.

Existing member Sue Sharp, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Society for Blind Children, has also been appointed the group’s Deputy Chair.

Those appointed to DPTAC serve terms of 2 to 3 years.

Under the Transport Act 1985, DPTAC’s membership should have between 10 and 20 members, excluding its chair. These appointments bring DPTACs membership to a total of 17.

News desk enquiries

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

Switchboard 0300 330 3000

Share this page

The following links open in a new tab

Share on Facebook (opens in new tab)

Share on Twitter (opens in new tab)

Updates to this page

Published 19 February 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Bashneft replenished hydrocarbon reserves by 114% in 2024

Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

In 2024, ANK Bashneft (part of Rosneft) increased its hydrocarbon reserves by 19.8 million tons of oil equivalent due to successful geological exploration and revaluation of the resources of the fields being exploited, replenishing oil and gas production by 114%.

Based on the results of drilling prospecting, exploration and production wells, Bashneft geologists discovered the Gubeyevskoye field in the Republic of Bashkortostan in 2024, as well as 21 new oil deposits at fields in various regions of their operations.

Improving the efficiency of reserve replenishment is one of the key elements of Rosneft’s development strategy. Every year, Bashneft ensures more than 100% of liquid hydrocarbon production replenishment due to reserve growth. In total, over the past five years, Bashneft has increased its industrial-grade oil and gas reserves by about 153 million tons of oil equivalent. Thus, the company effectively fulfills its tasks to replenish the resource base, and also extends the life of mature fields in Bashkortostan.

Reference:

PJSC ANK Bashneft is one of the oldest enterprises in the country’s oil and gas industry, carrying out a full production cycle – oil and gas production, their processing and production of oil products and petrochemicals. Bashneft’s key assets, including an oil refining and petrochemical complex, are located in the Republic of Bashkortostan.

Bashneft also conducts oil exploration and production in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Perm Krai, Orenburg Oblast and the Republic of Tatarstan.

Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft February 19, 2025

Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

MIL OSI Russia News –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung India Launches Galaxy A06 5G: ‘Kaam ka 5G’ with Superfast Connectivity & Powerful Performance at an Affordable Price

Source: Samsung

Samsung, India’s largest consumer electronics brand, today announced the launch of Galaxy A06 5G, bringing an awesome 5G experience at an affordable price. As the most affordable budget Galaxy A series 5G smartphone, Galaxy A06 5G is designed to offer consumers maximum value with its reliable performance and longevity.

Starting today, Galaxy A06 5G will be available across all retail outlets in India, Samsung exclusive stores, as well as other offline channels, in multiple storage variants. Starting just INR 10499 for the 4GB RAM variant with 64GB storage, Galaxy A06 5G comes in three sleek and attractive colours – Black, Gray and Light Green. As a special launch offer, customers can avail one-year screen protection plan with Samsung Care+ package at just INR 129, providing additional protection and peace of mind.

“With the launch of Galaxy A06 5G, we are bringing segment-leading 12 5G bands for a great 5G experience. Designed to offer awesome connectivity, powerful performance, and segment leading innovations, the device reaffirms our commitment to making cutting-edge technology accessible to everyone. With this device, we are also ensuring that users can enjoy high-speed connectivity for work and entertainment along with unmatched durability,” said Akshay S Rao, General Manager, MX Business, Samsung India.

Awesome Performance
Galaxy A06 5G supports all network compatibility, 12 5G bands and features carrier aggregation for enhanced network connectivity and faster speeds across all telecom operators. Powered by the MTK D6300 processor, Galaxy A06 5G ensures powerful performance and makes multitasking, gaming, and streaming an effortless exercise. The smartphone also provides RAM up to 12GB with RAM Plus feature.

Awesome Camera and Display
The device is equipped with a 50MP main rear camera for capturing sharp and detailed images and a 2MP depth camera for enhanced clarity, while the 8MP front camera ensures high-quality selfies and video calls. The smartphone also features a sleek and stylish design while ensuring a vivid visual experience with its expansive 6.7-inch HD+ display with a 20:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone also features a 5,000 mAh battery with best in segment 25W fast charging support.

Awesome Trustworthiness
Galaxy A06 5G will be available with Android 15 and Samsung’s One UI 7, ensuring users get the latest software experience. Samsung is redefining reliability with Galaxy A06 5G, offering an impressive 4 generations of OS upgrades and 4 years of security updates, a commitment that sets it apart in this segment. These industry-leading upgrades and updates are set to keep the device always up to date and ensure smoother usage experiences for users for a long period. Built for durability, Galaxy A06 5G comes with an IP54 rating, providing protection against dust and splashes.

Awesome Galaxy Experience
Samsung is also introducing ‘Voice Focus’ in the smartphone for the first time, an India-first innovation designed to enhance call clarity in noisy environments, making conversations clearer and more effective. This feature reflects Samsung’s commitment to bringing meaningful innovations tailored to the needs of Indian consumers. The device also prioritizes security and privacy by incorporating Samsung’s defense-grade Knox Vault security that empowers users to manage their data securely, enhancing their overall experience.

Price and Launch Offers
Product
Colors
Variant
Price (INR)
Offers

Galaxy A06 5G
Black, Gray, Light Green
4GB + 64GB
10499
One year screen protection plan @ INR 129 with Samsung Care + package against standard market price of INR 699
4GB + 128GB
11499
6GB + 128GB
12999

Galaxy A06 5G also comes with attractive EMI offers with Samsung Finance+, NBFC and banks, wherein consumers can own the smartphone for as low as INR 875 per month.

MIL OSI Economics –

February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: CORRECTION – African Union Summit: African Development Bank President Highlights a Decade of Economic Transformational Impact
Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, February 19, 2025/APO Group/ —
- “It’s been my greatest honor to serve you and Africa”—Adesina tells African leaders
- Governments across Africa pay tribute to Adesina’s exceptional leadership
- UN Secretary General Guterres says global financial architecture hampering Africa’s development, calls for reforms
African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) President Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, delivered a compelling farewell address to Heads of State and Government at the 38^th African Union Summit, highlighting a decade of remarkable achievements by the Bank in driving Africa’s economic transformation. Adesina’s participation at the august continental gathering in Addis Ababa ended on a high note as African leaders considered and endorsed four Bank-led initiatives including the drive to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030, measuring Africa’s green wealth as part of its GDP, an innovative facility to provide Africa with a financial buffer and a roadmap for the continent to achieve inclusive growth and rapid sustainable development.

Adesina, who is also the Chairman of the Group’s Boards of Directors, underscored the impact of the Bank’s High 5s Agenda—Light up and Power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa, and Improve the Quality of Life for the People of Africa—which has impacted more than half a billion lives across the continent.

“It has been an unprecedented partnership to advance the goal of the African Union towards achieving Agenda 2063: the Africa we want,” said Adesina who in February 2022, became the first president of the Bank Group to address the AU Summit.

During the final day of the assembly, several African governments and AU officials paid tribute to Dr. Adesina for his exceptional leadership of the Bank and strong global advocacy for Africa, He ends his tenure as the Bank Group’s president on 1^st September 2025.

The February 15–16 Summit saw the election of Djibouti’s Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf as Chairperson of the African Union Commission, taking over from Moussa Faki Mahamat. Algeria’s Ambassador, Salma Malika Haddadi, was elected the Commission’s Deputy Chairperson.

Reflecting on his tenure at the helm of the African Development Bank, Dr. Adesina said the Bank has transformed 515 million lives, including 231 million women, over the past decade:
- 127 million people gained access to better services in terms of health.
- 61 million people gained access to clean water.
- 33 million people benefited from improved sanitation.
- 46 million people gained access to ICT services, and
- 25 million people gained access to electricity.
He cited the landmark Africa Energy Summit held in Tanzania in January, where 48 nations signed the Dar Es Salaam Declaration to adopt bold policies in support of an initiative by the World Bank and the African Development Bank to extend electricity access to 300 million Africans by 2030. That meeting, attended by 21 heads of state, secured $48 billion in commitments from the two institutions and an additional $7 billion from other development partners.

The Addis Ababa Summit endorsed the Dar Es Salaam Energy Declaration, the Baku Declaration by African Heads of State on Measuring the Green Wealth of Africa. The Assembly also adopted the African Financing Stability Mechanism, a groundbreaking initiative mandated by the African Union Heads of State and Government. Co-led by the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank, it could generate, if immediately implemented, approximately USD 20 billion in debt servicing savings for African countries by 2035. The Assembly also adopted the Strategic Framework on Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa report which outlines key actions required to enable Africa to achieve, and sustain an annual growth rate of at least 7% of GDP over the next five decades.

On food security, Adesina cited the Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), the Dakar 2 Food Summit that mobilized $72 billion in 2023, and the $1.5 billion Africa Emergency Food Production Facility that was launched in May 2022 to avert a major food and fertilizer crisis triggered by global conflicts.

“The African Development Bank accelerated food production in Africa. Over 101 million people became food secure. We mobilized $72 billion to implement the food and agriculture delivery compacts across the continent,” he stressed. With the support of the Bank, Ethiopia has achieved self-sufficiency in wheat production within four years and is now a wheat-exporting nation.

A Decade of Transformative Impact

With a strong focus on job creation, the Bank has trained 1.7 million youth in digital skills and is rolling out Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks to drive youth-led economic growth. “Our goal is simple: create youth-based wealth across Africa,” Adesina reiterated.

Additionally, the Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa (AFAWA) initiative has provided $2.5 billion in financing to over 24,000 women-owned businesses, said Adesina.

Over the past decade, the African Development Bank has invested over $55 billion in infrastructure, making it the largest multilateral financier of African infrastructure.

The Bank has also prioritized healthcare, committing $3 billion in quality healthcare infrastructure and another $3 billion for pharmaceutical development, including establishing the Africa Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation.

Historic Financial Mobilization for Africa

Under Adesina’s presidency, the Bank achieved its largest-ever capital increase, growing from $93 billion in 2015 to $318 billion currently. The most recent replenishment of the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional window, raised a record $8.9 billion for Africa’s 37 low-income countries, setting the stage for a target of $25 billion for its upcoming 17th replenishment.

The Africa Investment Forum, a joint effort with eight other partner institutions, has also mobilized over $200 billion in investment commitments, reinforcing Africa as a leading investment destination.

As he bade farewell, the outgoing Bank chief expressed gratitude to the African Heads of State, the African Union Commission, regional economic communities, and the people of Africa for their unwavering support.

“As today will be my final attendance of the AU Summit as President of the African Development Bank, I would like to use this opportunity to immensely thank your Excellencies Heads of State and Government for your extraordinary support over the past ten years. I am very grateful for your always being there for the African Development Bank—your Bank. I am very grateful for your kindness, friendship, and partnership as we forged global alliances to advance the continent’s interest around the world,” he said.

The 2025 Summit under the theme, “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations,” drew global political leaders and other dignitaries, including UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley.

Guterres reiterated calls for reform of the international financial architecture, which is hampering the development of many African economies, beset by expensive debt repayments and high borrowing costs, which limits their capacity to invest in education, health and other essential needs.

Prime Minister Mottley emphasized Africa’s strategic role in shaping global economic trends, particularly highlighting the continent’s control of 40% of the world’s minerals. She stressed the importance of addressing emerging challenges like artificial intelligence, urging African nations to take a proactive role in technological advancement rather than becoming “victims of technology.”

She also underscored the urgency of removing artificial barriers between Africa and the Caribbean, calling for the elimination of transit visa requirements to boost trade and integration. Mottley echoed demands for reparatory justice, noting that both the Caribbean and Africa began their independence journey with “chronic deficits” in resources, fairness, and opportunity.

Opening the Summit on Saturday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed urged continued unity among member countries in addressing the challenges.

“In a world marked by rapid change and multiple challenges, we find ourselves at the crossroads of uncertainty and opportunity. This movement calls upon us to strengthen our collective resolve, embrace resilience and foster unity across Africa”, he said.

MIL OSI Africa –
February 20, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Coventry Job Shop get ready to host ‘I Can’ International Women’s Day Event

Source: City of Coventry

Coventry Job Shop are excited to host an event exclusively for female customers on Wednesday 5 March, dedicated to empowering women to secure high-quality jobs and meaningful careers.

The ‘I Can’ International Women’s Day Jobs and Careers Event is designed to inspire and shatter stereotypes, opening doors for women in industries they may not have previously considered.

Each session will welcome up to 100 women, offering them the chance to hear from trailblazing female leaders in fields such as construction, manufacturing, armed services and logistics.

Guest speakers from Coventry City Council will also be at the event to deliver powerful talks. This includes Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, Councillor Dr Kindy Sandhu.

After these motivational talks, those at the event will be able to see what jobs are on offer. Attendees will be able to apply for live positions and connect with skills providers to gain the necessary qualifications for these exciting roles.

Councillor Dr Kindy Sandhu, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills said: “This will be a really powerful careers event to mark International Women’s Day and support our female residents looking to either start their career or break into a new industry.

“We have some fantastic employers who will be attending, equipped with plenty of advice. I would encourage any women looking for their next career journey to join me at the Job Shop for this exciting event.”

This exclusive event (with the Job Shop closed to other customers) offers a unique opportunity to inspire and empower women on their career journeys.

Some of the confirmed employers and training providers for the event include Hill Group, Balfour Beatty Vinci, The British Army, Octavious and Tarmac. Coventry Adult Education, NIS Group, Hercules Academy, Challenge TRG and RMF will also be on hand to offer valuable advice on relevant training courses.

To find out more about the event, or to request an event invite, drop into the Job Shop to speak to one of the Employment Coaches, or contact the Job Shop on: 024 7678 5740 or jobshop@coventry.gov.uk.

To keep up to date with the latest news, sign up for our Your Coventry email newsletter or follow the Council on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Published: Wednesday, 19th February 2025

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

February 20, 2025

Contact:	T. Clay Stinnett
	Executive Vice President, Treasurer
	and Chief Financial Officer
	(502) 625-0890

Category: Business

Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Olaf Storbeck on 14 February 2025

Chart 1

Table 1

Chart 2

Table 2

Chart 3

Table 3

Notes

TRIFED signs MoUs with Meesho, IFCA & Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural IndustrialisationThe collaboration to promote livelihood generation of tribal community

Defence Secretary co-chairs 13th Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee meeting in Kuala LumpurBoth countries enhance cooperation in domains of defence industry, maritime security, multilateral engagements & emerging areas

NHRC, India organises an open house discussion on ‘Ensuring privacy and human rights in the digital era: A focus on corporate digital responsibility’NHRC, India Chairperson, Justice Shri V. Ramasubramanian emphasises the need for safeguarding privacy as a human right in the digital world

Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Olaf Storbeck on 14 February 2025

Chart 1

Table 1

Chart 2

Table 2

Chart 3

Table 3

Share this page

Updates to this page

TRIFED signs MoUs with Meesho, IFCA & Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Rural Industrialisation

The collaboration to promote livelihood generation of tribal community

Defence Secretary co-chairs 13th Malaysia-India Defence Cooperation Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur

Both countries enhance cooperation in domains of defence industry, maritime security, multilateral engagements & emerging areas

NHRC, India organises an open house discussion on ‘Ensuring privacy and human rights in the digital era: A focus on corporate digital responsibility’

NHRC, India Chairperson, Justice Shri V. Ramasubramanian emphasises the need for safeguarding privacy as a human right in the digital world