China's C.bank Warns SVB Failure Shows Impact of Rapid Global Rate Hikes

A security guard stands outside of the entrance of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, US, March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small/File Photo
A security guard stands outside of the entrance of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, US, March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small/File Photo
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China's C.bank Warns SVB Failure Shows Impact of Rapid Global Rate Hikes

A security guard stands outside of the entrance of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, US, March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small/File Photo
A security guard stands outside of the entrance of the Silicon Valley Bank headquarters in Santa Clara, California, US, March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Brittany Hosea-Small/File Photo

A senior official at the People's Bank of China said on Saturday the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) showed how rapid monetary policy shifts were having spillover effects, state-owned newspaper Shanghai Securities News reported.

Xuan Changneng, a deputy governor at the People's Bank of China told the Global Asset Management Forum in Beijing that some financial institutions had grown accustomed to running their balance sheets in an environment of low interest rate volatility and as such lacked sensitivity to short-term and large fluctuations in rates.

Silicon Valley Bank's balance sheet characteristics made it more sensitive to interest rates changes and ultimately led to risk, the newspaper cited him as saying.

"Based on the current situation, there is still uncertainty about whether inflation in the major developed economies will fall significantly in the short term, and continuing to maintain relatively high interest rates may also have an adverse impact on the steady operations of the banking and financial system," he said.

SVB Financial Group on Friday sought protection under Chapter 11 of the US bankruptcy code, days after its former unit Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by US regulators.



Saudi Firm Manara May Invest in Pakistan's Reko Diq Mine

Trucks working in a mineral mine (Saudi Public Investment Fund)
Trucks working in a mineral mine (Saudi Public Investment Fund)
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Saudi Firm Manara May Invest in Pakistan's Reko Diq Mine

Trucks working in a mineral mine (Saudi Public Investment Fund)
Trucks working in a mineral mine (Saudi Public Investment Fund)

Saudi Arabian mining company Manara Minerals could invest in Pakistan's Reko Diq mine in the next two quarters, Pakistani Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik said on Tuesday.

Manara, a joint venture between state-controlled miner Ma'aden and the $925-billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), was set up as part of the Kingdom's efforts to diversify its economy away from oil, including by buying minority stakes in assets overseas.

“I'm very hopeful that in the next quarter or two we will have very big announcements,” Malik said on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh, adding they would be copper-related.

“So we're very hopeful that this year, we will make some big announcements, both in the way of Reko Diq, but hopefully also” in mines around it, he added.

Asked if Manara would be involved, Malik said, “why not, of course.”

Executives from Manara visited Pakistan in May last year for talks about buying a stake in the Reko Diq mine, considered one of the world's largest underdeveloped cooper-gold areas by global mining company Barrick Gold, which owns the project jointly with Pakistan.

Manara's then-acting chief executive Robert Wilt, now CEO of Ma'aden, told Reuters that a stake in Reko Diq was among several opportunities the company was evaluating.