NEWS IN BRIEF

Iceland CB cuts policy rate to 9.0%

COPENHAGEN: Iceland’s central bank on Wednesday cut its key policy interest rate by 25 basis points to 9.0 percent and said that inflation had eased. “Although certain one-off items weigh heavily, the scope and frequency of price increases have tapered off,” the Sedlabanki said in a statement. The small Nordic island nation’s central bank, which targets inflation of 2.5 percent, had kept the rate unchanged over the past year, having raised it gradually from a low of 0.75 percent in 2021. It said inflation had eased recently and stood at 5.4 percent year-on-year in September. In addition to battling high prices, the economy is facing uncertainty around ongoing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. -- AFP

VW reaches settlement in Austria

VIENNA: German carmaker Volkswagen has reached a 23-million-euro ($25 million) out-of-court settlement with Austrian customers affected by the “dieselgate” scandal, a consumer protection group said on Wednesday. Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to installing software to rig emissions levels in millions of diesel vehicles worldwide, setting off one of Germany’s biggest post-war industrial scandals. In Austria, the national consumer protection association VKI filed 16 complaints for 10,000 Volkswagen customers in “the largest wave of complaints ever filed” in the Alpine EU country.—AFP

Samsung plans job cuts in Asia

SEOUL: Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it was planning to cut jobs in some of its Asian operations, after a report that one in ten posts in affected markets could be axed. The world’s largest memory chipmaker is modifying staffing levels in Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, a company spokesman told AFP, adding that “the adjustments include job cuts”. The “routine workforce adjustments” are carried out “to improve operational efficiency,” said Samsung Electronics in a statement. “The company has not set a target number for any particular positions,” added the maker of Galaxy smartphones.—AFP

Manila to tax digital service providers

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos on Wednesday signed into law a measure that imposes a 12 percent value-added tax on foreign-based firms providing digital services in the country. The tax applies to a vast range of products and services including search engines, software licensing, mobile apps, online games, webinars, music, advertising, warehousing and cloud services, website hosting, and electronic marketplaces. “Whether you are a small tech start-up or a global tech giant based halfway around the world, if you are making money here in the Philippines, you are part of our community,” Marcos said in a speech at a signing ceremony attended by legislators. —AFP