Spicy Joe Vibes Blog

On August 17 bank customers criticised a new attempt of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stabilize the naira. Trader Sunday John said that the policy would cripple business activities, especially during weekends, adding that the new directive contradicts its cashless policy and should be reversed. “This is because most banks customers, who have become used to going to ATM’s to withdraw whenever they have need of cash, are now constrained to make maximum withdrawals,” he said. Another customer, Emeka Chika, describes the policy as not business-friendly saying that as a businessman, the policy would affect his capacity, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. Emmanuel Chukwu complained that the policy had delayed him from finishing a project at the weekend due to insufficient funds. ATM’s withdrawal limit is N60,000 per day, while foreign currency is about $300 per day. Before the measure adoption, domestic withdrawal limit was N150,000 per day. A CBN’s statement says...

Berlin -Bastian Schweinsteiger is "surprised" at the warmth of the welcome from Manchester United fans since the World Cup winner's move from Bayern Munich to Old Trafford. The 30-year-old Germany midfield general completed a 14m (19.47m euros, $21.72m) switch to United last month after agreeing a three-year deal with Louis van Gaal's Premier League side. And he told Tuesday's edition of Bild he was enjoying life in his new surroundings."For me, it was a big surprise to see how many supporters welcomed me with warmth and enthusiasm at the opening league game against Tottenham at Old Trafford," he said. "It gave me goose bumps," he added, declaring that it was "an honour" to be the first German to sign for United. "I can promise I'll do everything I can using all my experience to try and help the club to reach the same international level as Real Madrid, Barcelo...

What can we do when we have a friend who is truly unhappy with their life? Do we sit back and watch them self-destruct in their own situations in their lives where they seem to be oblivious to what is actually going on? Is it our position to even say anything in the first place? If we elect to say something, how receptive will they be to even hear about it? Should we be considered a true friend if we just let this all continue to happen and do nothing about it? These may be some of the questions that arise when we see a friend who we feel is utterly unhappy with the situations and with their own lives. To change this would bring a smile to our own faces as happiness would surely set in for loved one. How do we do this without causing some sort of conflict with them and/or lose the friendshipthat we have worked so hard to keep. Changing one’s own happinessis something that has to come from within. There are many reasons why someone may be unhappy with their own situations, but we cannot...

Japanese telecoms group SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T), the majority owner of U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp (S.N), said it bought an additional 22.9 million shares in Sprint at a weighted average price of $3.80. Sprint's shares were up 8.2 percent at $4.20 in extended trading on Wednesday. SoftBank, which owns about 80 percent of Sprint, said the share purchases totaling about $87 million were made through subsidiary Galaxy Investment Holdings Inc. The company said it does not expect that its ownership in Sprint would increase to 85 percent or more as a result of the purchase. SoftBank had lost confidence in Sprint and was considering selling it as Sprint had been burning through cash because of monthly leasing plans that require U.S. wireless carriers to pay vendors for devices up front. . However, after Sprint last week reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, as it added a...

China's central bank said on Thursday that there was no basis for further depreciation in the yuan given strong economic fundamentals, in a bid to reassure jittery global markets after it devalued the currency earlier in the week. As the yuan fell for the third straight day, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said the country's strong economic environment, sustained trade surplus, sound fiscal position and deep foreign exchange reserves provided "strong support" to the exchange rate. China's decision to devalue the currency on Tuesday by pushing its official guidance rate down 2 percent sparked fears of a "currency war" and roiled global financial markets, dragging other Asian currencies to multi-year lows. It also drew accusations from U.S. politicians that Beijing was unfairly supporting its exporters. The PBOC said at the time that the move was a one-off depreciation, but sources involved in the Chinese policy-making process told Reuters that pow...

Indian authorities have forced Nestle to burn 29,000 tonnes worth of food after Maggi health scare, Chairman Peter Brabeck told a newspaper, dismissing the allegations as unfounded. "Laboratories in the United States, Britain, Australia and Singapore did not find anything harmful in the noodles. Our products are safe for consumers," he was quoted as saying by Swiss paper Handelszeitung in an advance summary of a story. He said the Indian case was "not harmless and not to be underestimated.". . The government has filed a lawsuit against Nestle's Indian unit, seeking 6.4 billion rupees in damages on behalf of consumers after the country's worst packaged food scare in a decade.

India's retail inflation cooled to a record low in July and annual growth in industrial production hit a four-month high in June, bringing cheer to investors fretting that gridlock in parliament is stalling reforms. Consumer prices rose 3.78 percent year-on-year in July, their slowest pace on record, compared with a 4.42 percent rise predicted by analysts. The sharp cooling, however, was in large measure due to a favourable base effect. Output at factories, utilities and mines expanded an annual 3.8 percent in June, helped by a sharp rebound in demand for consumer goods. Wednesday's economic data comes as a political logjam in parliament has stalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reform agenda, putting in doubt the fate of a major tax overhaul that will create one of the world's largest single markets. A crash in global commodity prices has helped inflation slip below the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) medium-term target of 6 percent, giving it room to cut interest ...