Infrastructure

China has a template to remake its Belt and Road

25 July 2019

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has financed over $8 bln of projects while promoting high standards and responsible lending. It’s a sharp contrast to the amorphous, opaque Belt and Road. Officials looking to retool that initiative should learn from their own successes.

China’s hardline premier set peak for gigantomania

24 July 2019

Former premier Li Peng died on Monday. Infamous for crushing protesters in 1989, he was also known for championing the giant, controversial Three Gorges Dam. China still likes mega-projects, but officials can’t flout financial and environmental concerns so easily these days.

Grand bargain can end Italian toll-road standoff

4 July 2019

The government in Rome reckons it can pull a lucrative motorway licence from Atlantia without paying compensation after last year’s fatal bridge collapse. The $21 billion infrastructure group would respond with a lengthy lawsuit. A better option for both sides is to reduce tolls.

DP World nets decent deal due to tricky IPO waters

1 July 2019

The $13 bln Dubai-listed port operator bought energy shipping company Topaz for $1 bln including debt. The buyer has avoided overpaying by sticking to its guns on the price. And Renaissance Services, the majority owner of the target, avoids a risky shot at a public listing.

Washington could set the pace for Chinese property

27 June 2019

Home prices are notching up annual increases of nearly 11%, in spite of restrictions and a cooling economy. Real estate, which drives as much as a fifth of GDP, is one of Beijing’s most powerful levers to crank up growth. The trade war will determine how forcefully it is used.

China infrastructure bump comes at steeper cost

18 June 2019

Beijing is tweaking rules to allow local authorities to step up spending on public projects, which might add 4 percentage points to infrastructure growth this year. Rule changes should let officials borrow more, but they will face a harder time generating returns.

Pulled IPO sets grim tone for Hong Kong markets

13 June 2019

Warehouse operator ESR shelved plans for a $1.2 bln float, a day after police and demonstrators clashed violently in the Asian financial centre. A high price was one issue, but unrest plus economic headwinds formed a perfect storm. It’s a bad sign for others in the queue.

Water can flow around U.S. infrastructure blockage

24 May 2019

The $1 trln needed to fix the nation’s aging pipes and other H2O infrastructure isn’t coming any time soon – as a new delay to a U.S. funding plan makes clear. The industry still has room for improvement, though, starting with better use of technology, data and capital.

Brooklyn rebuild embodies U.S. infrastructure woes

14 May 2019

The New York City borough’s iconic promenade needs repair. The metropolis’s belated plan to fix it is costly, myopic and far from transparent. With Infrastructure Week under way, it’s a timely tale showing why the nation’s waterways, roads and the like are in such a mess.

Worst U.S. infrastructure shortage: political will

10 May 2019

A golden spike completed the Transcontinental Railroad 150 years ago. Long-distance power lines transporting renewable energy are arguably today’s equivalent. A decade-long project nearby shows today’s problems aren’t mountains, tech or economics, but red tape and nimbyism.

Italian Silk Road gambit is a double-edged sword

15 March 2019

Marco Polo’s daring travels turned Venice into a wealthy gateway to China; 750 years on, Rome wants to rebuild that special bond through infrastructure deals. Improving ties with a key trading partner makes sense. The risk of leaning East is that Italy loses clout in the West.

The Exchange: Flint Mayor Karen Weaver

18 January 2019

Before its tainted-water scandal hit in 2014, the Michigan city was already infamous for high crime and poverty rates after a prolonged economic slump. Weaver discusses the fallout from the water crisis – and explains how the birthplace of General Motors is undergoing a revival.

Gatwick’s new French pilot has tougher flight path

27 December 2018

Construction group Vinci is paying $3.7 bln for a majority stake, days after the London airport grounded flights due to stray drones. The price looks toppy given Gatwick’s already-slick operation and Brexit uncertainties. Seller GIP and its co-investors had a better landing.

Viewsroom: Democrats will rattle Wall Street cage

8 November 2018

The U.S. House of Representatives will soon be controlled by lawmakers opposing President Trump. That gives them more scope to push their agenda on trade, infrastructure and a perennial bogeyman, the banks. But as Republicans still run the Senate, policy changes will be minimal.

Breakdown: China’s stimulus 2.0 is a trickier trade

5 November 2018

Beijing is trying to warm a cooling economy with easier money, lower taxes and some $200 bln of infrastructure bonds. A bad debt hangover from the last building spree dilutes the impact of spending, however. This time around, there may be less for investors to get excited about.

Macquarie widens gap at home and abroad

2 November 2018

The $28 bln Aussie bank is set for a record year, thanks to a first-half lift from commodities. Return on equity stands apart and local lenders are under intense scrutiny. New boss Shemara Wikramanayake will need to keep up the impressive resilience in far choppier markets.

China’s Mr Fix It banks have a property problem

1 November 2018

Beijing wants lenders to do everything. That means supporting infrastructure spending, propping up stocks and rescuing state zombies – all while cutting bad debt. It’s a tough juggling act. Now, though, there are worrying signs in property: if that ball drops, others may follow.

Budget tests mettle of Malaysia’s mavericks

1 November 2018

Mahathir Mohamad's government is set to present the $300 bln economy's most significant blueprint in decades. It needs to burnish reform credentials and soothe rating agencies. Outlining a credible tax plan will be a start; a plan to reduce the state's role is the bigger prize.

India’s financial turmoil augurs a reckoning

25 September 2018

Infrastructure lender IL&FS has helped trigger market mayhem, prompting regulators to step in to try to calm investors. The boss of India’s largest bank says this isn’t a “Lehman moment”. Maybe, but the amount of bad debt and short-term funding are worrisome.

New York’s trouble: a total lack of tunnel vision

12 September 2018

The city’s commuters already know that its transport system is hanging by a thread. A halted project to build new tunnels underneath the Hudson river shows there are ways to make things better, but maybe not the will. Political squabbling is an obstacle, but not the only one.