AFP

The European Union on Thursday expressed concern about layoffs at Twitter since its takeover by Elon Musk, after the reported closure of the tech firm’s lobbying office in Brussels.

“We have concerns about the decisions to have less and less people working at the company,” EU justice commissioner Didier Reynders told reporters in Dublin, where Twitter and other US tech groups have their European headquarters.

“When we discuss hate speech, I am sure we need human resources,” he added after a meeting with unidentified representatives from Twitter.

A new EU evaluation showed the number of hate speech notifications reviewed by major social media companies within 24 hours has fallen from 90 percent in 2020, to 81 percent in 2021 and 64 percent in 2022.

The numbers showed only YouTube improved its removal rate for offensive content — as defined by an EU code of conduct — while Twitter and other tech companies’ efforts fell.

Concerns at Twitter’s post-takeover direction intensified Thursday with the Financial Times reporting that the company has dismantled its Brussels office, following the departure of executives who were in charge of efforts to comply with the EU’s online rules.

“It’s an additional concern, because to us to have a team dedicated to the relation with the European institutions is very important,” Reynders said reacting to the FT report.

However, the official added he was “optimistic by nature” and had been given commitments that Twitter’s team in Dublin would step into the Brussels role. 

Tech entrepreneur Musk moved to cut around half of Twitter’s 7,500 workforce, including many employees tasked with fighting disinformation, following his acquisition of the firm last month.

While in Dublin, Reynders is due to meet with representatives from Meta, the owner of Facebook, on Friday.

Mark Zuckerberg’s social media behemoth said this month that it plans to lay off more than 11,000 staff amid an advertising slump.

Both Meta and Twitter’s EU operations are based in Ireland, along with those of Google, Apple and Microsoft, making Ireland’s data protection agency the lead regulator responsible for holding them to account in Europe.

EU energy ministers failed Thursday to agree a cap on gas prices to mitigate the energy crunch in Europe, amid deep divisions over an initial proposal slammed by many as a “joke”.

The ministers will now meet in the first half of December to try to bridge differences, said Czech Industry Minister Jozef Sikela, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

During the “heated discussions” ministers did manage to adopt a couple of other “important measures”, including joint gas purchases to avoid intra-EU competition driving up prices, supply solidarity in times of need, and hastening authorisation of renewable energy sources, Sikela said.

Several ministers going into Thursday’s meeting complained that the gas price cap proposal on the table, unveiled by the European Commission just two days earlier, was clearly designed to never be used.

The Polish and Spanish energy ministers called the proposal a “joke”. 

The price cap plan — which the commission was never keen on — sets a maximum threshold of 275 euros per megawatt hour.

But it comes with so many conditions attached that it would not even have been activated back in August, when the gas price briefly soared above 300 euros, alarming Europe used to historic prices around 10 percent of that.

The cap proposal would only be triggered if the 275-euro limit was breached continuously for at least two weeks, and then only if the price for liquified natural gas (LNG) rose above 58 euros for 10 days within that same two-week period.

The price of wholesale gas in Europe on Thursday was around 124 euros, according to the main TTF benchmark.

The commission’s proposed price cap was seen as neutered under pressure from members including Germany and the Netherlands, which feared a cap could divert gas supplies to more lucrative markets, especially Asia.

Yet at least 15 EU countries — more than half the bloc — want some form of workable ceiling on wholesale gas prices to tackle a crunch in supply forced by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

– ‘Not about one number’ –

EU energy minister Kadri Simson said the European Commission was bound by “parameters” it was given by EU capitals in its formulation of a price cap, and that those governments were free to agree on a change to the parameters if they wished.

While the proposed cap “is not about one number,” she stressed the aim was to have a capping mechanism that, once activated, would stay in place for “a longer time period” and not turn on and off according to daily trading.

She also said that it was designed for next year’s gas filling season, when international competition for supplies could skyrocket.

“All signs are hinting that next year that global competition might be even significantly fiercer than it was this summer and autumn,” when European prices soared, she said.

While the European Union hasn’t banned Russian gas, the Kremlin has been turning off the taps in retaliation for sanctions imposed by Brussels in the wake of Moscow’s invasion. 

Before the war, Russian gas supplies accounted for more than 40 percent of all imported gas into the European Union, with export powerhouse Germany particularly needy.

That has now dropped to less than 10 percent. 

But alternative sources — such as LNG shipped from the United States and the Gulf — cannot make up the shortfall, and Europe faces a pricey heating bill for winter.

The price cap plan, if adopted, would start in January. It would run alongside a voluntary initiative for EU member states to cut natural gas use by 15 percent over the northern hemisphere winter.

Stock markets mostly rose Thursday and the dollar largely weakened after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting suggested it could slow the pace of its rate hikes.

The news provided traders with a cushion against concerns about surging Covid-19 cases in China that have fanned speculation authorities will revert to lockdowns and other economically debilitating measures to fight the outbreak.

Oil prices rallied slightly later Thursday after earlier extending sharp losses from the previous day fuelled by worries about the impact on demand from China’s Covid outbreaks.

Wednesday’s much-anticipated minutes showed most US central bank chiefs felt smaller increases would “likely soon be appropriate” as the economy shows signs of weakness following almost a year of monetary tightening.

“Equities are revelling in the wake of the… minutes after the Fed telegraphed a downshift from jumbo to extra-large rate hikes,” said SPI Asset Management’s Stephen Innes.

“A commitment to moving toward restrictive monetary policy remains intact, but the (policy board) is ready to slow the path toward that destination.”

He added that a less aggressive Fed “should pave the runway for take-off in Asia, fuelled by expectations of China’s reopening by March next year”.

Bets were growing on officials announcing a 50-basis-point lift at their December gathering, down from four straight 75-point hikes.

The latest indicators showed the manufacturing and services sectors continued to contract last month, while jobless claims picked up.

The developments allowed Wall Street traders to head off to their Thanksgiving break with a spring in their step, the S&P 500 ending at a two-month high as they finally see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel after a painful year.

Asia and Europe mostly followed suit.

Kuala Lumpur surged more than three percent and the ringgit held gains after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was named prime minister, ending a days-long leadership impasse after inconclusive polls that had rattled Malaysia’s markets.

The more risk-on environment was also reflected in a further drop in the dollar against its peers, having surged for much of the year as traders bet on ever-higher US interest rates.

Investors were keeping a close watch also on China after it announced a record number of new Covid cases, as authorities worked to curb the spread with snap lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions.

While officials are trying more targeted measures to contain the disease, concerns remain that they will resort to the painful city-wide shutdowns seen in Shanghai earlier this year as part of the zero-Covid strategy, which hammered the economy.

However, that worry has been tempered somewhat after China signalled fresh support measures aimed at boosting growth, with the State Council saying tools would be used to ensure liquidity in markets.

The comments led to talk of another cut in the amount of cash that banks must keep in reserve, freeing them to lend more.

– Key figures around 1630 GMT –

London – FTSE 100: FLAT at 7,466.60 points (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.4 percent at 6,707.32 (close)

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.8 percent at 14,539.56 (close)

EURO STOXX 50: UP 0.4 percent at 3,961.99

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.0 percent at 28,383.09 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.8 percent at 17,660.90 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,089.31 (close)

New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 34,194.06 (close)

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.411 from $1.0401 on Wednesday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 138.39 yen from 139.52 yen

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.2131 from $1.2064

Euro/pound: DOWN at 85.82 pence from 86.18 pence

West Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $77.91 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $85.10 per barrel

Ghana’s finance minister, Kenneth Ofori-Atta, presented the 2023 budget to parliament on Thursday, hiking tax and planning a debt swap as the country’s negotiates an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.

Ofori-Atta is facing calls for his dismissal as the West African state battles an economic crisis, with inflation at more than 40 percent and the cedi currency falling sharply.

Ghana hopes to secure up to $3 billion in IMF credit this year to shore up public finances after the government initially said it would not need to go to the multilateral lender.

“The challenges we face are daunting,” the minister said in a statement to lawmakers. “I, therefore, ask all of us to play a constructive role in getting our nation back on track.”

To increase revenues, the 2023 budget will raise value-added tax by 2.5 percent to 15 percent. The so-called E-levy on electronic transactions will be reduced from 1.5 percent to 1.0 percent in a bid to encourage more transactions.

The government will also freeze hiring of public workers for next year.

Ghana, a top cocoa and gold producer, also has oil and gas reserves but its debt service payments are high and its revenues low. Like the rest of Africa, it has been hit hard by economic fallout from the global pandemic and the Ukraine war. 

Since the start of the year, the cedi currency has depreciated more than 53 percent. That compared to an average seven percent average annual depreciation between 2017 and 2021, the finance minister said. 

Inflation in October hit 40.2 percent.

The local currency’s depreciation against the dollar has increasing Ghana’s foreign debt stock by 93 billion cedi or $6 billion this year alone, the minister said. 

He said the government would start a debt exchange programme but did not give details of how that would happen.

Earlier this year, President Nana Akufo-Addo reversed his government’s position and said the country would go to the IMF for help.

Critics have questioned what austerity measures may have to accompany any loan deal. Ghanaians already struggling with high costs of living.

Ofori-Atta said the IMF talks had made “substantial progress”, with agreement on “fiscal adjustment path, debt strategy and financing”.

The government is under increasing pressure over the country’s economic woes and Ofori-Atta faced an enquiry from lawmakers last week over his financial management.

Speaking in parliament on Friday, he apologised to Ghanaians for the struggles they faced. 

Earlier this month, Akufo-Addo fired the government’s junior finance minister, Charles Adu Boahen, over graft allegations after he appeared in a documentary on illegal gold mining.