financial Archives

Can we hold ‘Free and Fair Elections’ without ‘System Changes’? – By Bernard Fernando Recently, one of the rare ‘Country –first’ Political Professionals in the current Parliament had suggested to hold both Parliamentary and LG Elections on the same day. May be as an economist he wanted to make the budgetary provision of Rs.10 Bln. more meaningful, productive and cost-effective in the face of the dire human and Financial/economic catastrophe that the country is facing as a ‘Bankrupt Nation’. Further, it may to some extent, justify the estimated Rs.72Bln. earmarked to be spent by contesting political parties for Election campaigning and also save millions of man hours when conducting a laborious country –wide, complex and unrefined Election process that we are saddled with, for the last several decades. However, we as Sovereign voters facing a dire human, financial and economic crisis exhort that it is more fundamental to make critical ...

Macquarie’s profit could test record as it gains from energy volatility – By Clancy Yeates Source : smh Macquarie Group has signalled it is likely to at least get close to another record profit this year, and it may consider using some of its $12.5 billion in excess capital for acquisitions, after energy market volatility gave it a boost in late 2022. In a trading update on Tuesday, Macquarie said volatile energy and commodity markets had beefed up profits for the nine months to December, offsetting the weaker earnings in the investment heavyweight’s flagship asset management arm. Macquarie, which uses a March financial year, did not disclose its actual profits for the quarter, but it said commodities and global markets business had enjoyed a bumper December quarter, prompting analysts to lift earnings forecasts for the group. “Varied market conditions have resulted in a good quarter for the group reflecting the diversity ...