Business

FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday kept its massive pandemic-fighting stimulus package in place, in a bid to help Europe's ailing economies overcome the devastating impact of the coronavirus crisis.

After calming jittery markets last month by promising to "significantly" step up the pace of its pandemic emergency bond purchases, the ECB's governing council said such buys will keep going at the same accelerated rate.

ECB President Christine Lagarde, is likely to use her press conference to reiterate the message that there will be no premature end to "favourable financing conditions" until the crisis is deemed over and the rebound is firmly on track.

The Frankfurt institution on Thursday held interest rates at historic lows, including a deposit rate of -0.5 per cent -- meaning banks pay to store excess cash with the ECB.

The ECB's 1.85 trillion euro ($2.2 trillion) pandemic emergency bond purchasing programme (PEPP), set to run until March 2022, was also kept intact, although the council stressed it stood ready to "adjust all of its instruments, as appropriate", should it become necessary.

The goal of the ECB's measures, which also include super cheap loans for banks, is to keep borrowing costs low to encourage spending and investment in the 19-nation currency club in order to drive up growth and inflation.

Lagarde may also repeat her plea for eurozone governments to share the load through fiscal stimulus.

Those efforts were given a boost when a top German court on Wednesday threw out a legal challenge against the European Union's 750-billion-euro recovery fund, paving the way for its ratification.

Lagarde has frequently called for the landmark fund to be implemented, saying it has a "key role" to play in nursing the region back to health.

Looking past inflation 

The former French finance minister and ex-head of the International Monetary Fund can also expect to be quizzed about the future pace of asset purchases.

Following last month's pledge to accelerate debt purchases in response to rising bond yields, the ECB's weekly PEPP purchases have averaged 17 billion euros, compared to around 12 billion in January and February.

While investors are keen for any insight into the future rhythm of the purchases and how the ECB plans to eventually wind down the scheme, observers believe Lagarde will keep her cards close to her chest.

"Silence is golden," said ING bank economist Carsten Brzeski, adding that the next meeting on June 10 should bring more clarity, when the ECB unveils new growth and inflation forecasts.

In quarterly projections published in March, the ECB surprised observers by slightly raising its 2021 growth forecast from 3.9 to 4.0 per cent, fuelled by optimism about Europe's Covid-19 vaccine rollout and the global economic rebound.

While the speed of inoculations has picked up across the bloc in recent weeks after a bumpy start, many countries are battling the spread of more contagious virus variants, including strains first detected in Britain and South Africa.

Top eurozone economies Germany, France and Spain are among those that have extended or reimposed shutdowns and travel curbs to rein in Covid cases, weighing on second-quarter growth prospects.

"In June, the ECB and markets will have a much better idea about the severity of the current wave of infections and restrictions as well as the progress of the vaccination campaign and its impact on the economic outlook," said Schmieding.

Eurozone inflation, meanwhile, continued its upward trend and climbed to 1.3 per cent in March, powered in part by higher energy prices.

Economists see inflation bounding even higher in the months ahead, possibly exceeding the ECB's long-out-of-reach inflation target of "close to, but below" 2.0 per cent.

Lagarde, however, stressed in March that price growth is being driven by "temporary factors" linked to the pandemic, such as pent-up consumer demand as virus curbs are relaxed.

The ECB "will see through that", she said, and stick with its ultra-loose monetary policy so long as underlying inflation remains weak.

NEW YORK — Chevron and Toyota announced on Wednesday a first step towards a strategic alliance to commercialise hydrogen, which is seen as an environmentally-friendly transportation fuel option.

The alliance, which is centered on the United States, is expected to focus on three areas: collaborating on public policy to promote hydrogen infrastructure, assessing the market for fuel cell electric vehicles and the hydrogen supply that will be needed, and exploring opportunities to jointly research and develop hydrogen powered transportation and storage.

The venture aims "to advance a functional, thriving global hydrogen economy," the companies said in a joint press release.

The memorandum of understanding announced Wednesday is non-binding, but "lays out the path to a formalised strategic alliance by early third quarter 2021," a Chevron spokesman said in an email.

At this week's Shanghai motor show, Toyota unveiled plans for its first global line-up of battery electric vehicles, including an SUV expected to reach consumers in just over a year.

Chevron has faced pressure from environmentalists to match commitments by European oil giants like Royal Dutch Shell and Total, which have set targets to reach net-zero carbon emissions.

Chevron said it has no plans to shutter its gas stations.

"Fuels have and will continue to change over time and offering hydrogen at retail sites is a continuation of that change," a Chevron spokesman said.

"Ultimately, consumer preferences help drive the offerings at Chevron-branded retail fuel stations; however, we anticipate that gasoline and diesel will continue to be important offerings that consumers will require. We are committed to the Chevron and Texaco brands, and reliably supplying gasoline and other fuels to our loyal customer base."

At its annual meeting in May, Chevron is expected to battle against a number of shareholder proposals that require specific actions on climate change as well as a measure requiring more disclosure about the company's lobbying activities.

BEIJING — Handlebars tight in snaking rows of colour, thousands of abandoned bicycles line an open field outside the city of Shenyang, relics of a shared bike mania that has overwhelmed China's cities.

The turquoise, blue and yellow bicycles, arranged in long lines, some piled on top of each other, bear the logos of the companies that dominate China's bike-sharing sector — Hellobike, Didi and Meituan.

Low cost-shared bikes, which users can unlock using apps and park virtually anywhere, burst onto Chinese streets in the middle of the last decade with investors rushing to fund bike startups like the now-defunct Ofo and Mobike.

But the two-wheelers soon took over pavements and spilled over into bike lanes and streets, parked haphazardly by users who sometimes simply tossed the bikes into shrubbery, creating a headache for urban authorities and pedestrians.

Many bikes suffered damage or were stolen, while some were even repurposed into makeshift barricades when COVID-19 broke out last year.

The problem is a familiar one to cities around the world battling to round up stray bikes, from metro stations in Washington DC to the bottom of Melbourne's river.

Aerial photographs from the suburbs of Shenyang, Liaoning province, show a bicycle graveyard, one of many which began appearing as early as 2018 as tech start-up darling Ofo imploded, defaulting on debts as its users claimed back rental deposits.

Mountains of damaged bikes belonging to other companies have also been discarded rather than repaired, in contrast to the "green" image usually associated with urban cycling.

The bikes now jostle for space on Chinese streets with hordes of shared electronic scooters, which have also made their appearance elsewhere in the world including Paris and California.

Chinese cities have vowed to curb the chaotic fleets of bikes, with Beijing saying it will remove 44,000 bikes from the city centre this year in order to cap bike numbers at under 800,000, according to state media.

PARIS — US aircraft manufacturer Boeing said on Tuesday that it had sold 15 of its 737 MAX jets to Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, a leasing company, for an undisclosed amount.

Worth around $1.8 billion at list prices, it was "the first direct 737 MAX purchase from Boeing" by DAE, which had until now been "buying jets from existing customers and leasing them back", the manufacturer said.

The top-selling 737 MAX only returned to the skies late last year after being grounded for 20 months following two fatal crashes.

But carriers this month pulled a number of individual aircraft from service over potential electrical faults, including 30 at Southwest Airlines, 16 at United and 17 at American Airlines.

All three US carriers still have MAX planes in their fleet not affected by the issue.

DAE Chief Executive Firoz Tarapore said in the Boeing statement that his firm is "confident in the success of these aircraft".

"An increasing number of global aviation regulators are returning the MAX to the skies," Tarapore added.

DAE's fleet numbers around 425 planes, of which 162 are from Boeing including the latest order.

Last year it bought up 23 737 MAX from American Airlines and Brazilian carrier GOL under deals to lease them back to the carriers.

Sold as offering more range, reliability and fuel efficiency than earlier aircraft, the 737 MAX has also seen recent orders from Southwest, Ryanair and others.

WASHINGTON — The organisers of a failed unionisation drive at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama said on Monday it petitioned for a new vote, claiming the tech and e-commerce giant improperly interfered with the election.

The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union said it filed objections on Friday with the National Labour Relations Board, claiming that Amazon "created an atmosphere of confusion, coercion and/or fear of reprisals and thus interfered with the employees' freedom of choice," a union statement said. 

The bitterly contested mail-in vote to unionise was rejected by a two-to-one margin according to the tally earlier this month, a stinging defeat in the push to create the first labor union at a US-based Amazon facility.

The results capped a bruising months-long battle that has sparked intense debate over workplace conditions at Amazon, which has more than 800,000 US employees.

The RWDSU said it filed 23 objections ranging from the placement of a collection box outside the facility which could allow the company to monitor voting, threatening lay-offs or loss of benefits, intimidation and other improper actions.

Amazon, which has repeatedly denied any impropriety, disputed the union's claims at the facility known as BHM1.

"The fact is that less than 16 per cent of employees at BHM1 voted to join a union," the company said.

"Rather than accepting these employees' choice, the union seems determined to continue misrepresenting the facts in order to drive its own agenda. We look forward to the next steps in the legal process."

The company has argued that most of its workers don't want or need a union and that it already provides more than most other employers, with a minimum $15 hourly wage and other benefits.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said last week that despite the vote, Amazon needs to do more for its employees.

"While the voting results were lopsided and our direct relationship with employees is strong, it's clear to me that we need a better vision for how we create value for employees — a vision for their success," he said in his annual letter to shareholders.