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(Adds detail, quotes, discussion about euro strength, vice president's quote) FRANKFURT, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Shifts in the risk profile of euro zone inflation will impact ECB policy decisions and a rise in the chance of undershooting the target would firm the case for a 'slight' reduction in borrowing costs, ECB chief economist Philip Lane said on Monday. The ECB has cut interest rates by 2 full percentage points in the year to June but has been on hold ever since and policymakers are now debating whether to go even lower or level off at the current 2% rate since inflation is now at target. "Shifts in the risk distribution will also matter for our rate decisions: an increase in the likelihood or intensity of downside risk factors would strengthen the case that a slightly-lower policy rate might better protect the medium-term inflation target," Lane said in a speech in Frankfurt. "Alternatively, an increase in the likelihood or intensity of upside risk factors would indicate that maintaining the current policy rate would be appropriate in the near term," he added. Financial markets see almost no chance of another rate cut this year and comments from ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos only firmed those expectations. "We could say that risks for inflation are balanced and that our projections, which showed that the price stability objective can be secured in some way, are being fulfilled to some degree," de Guindos told an event in Madrid. "We consider the current level (of interest rates) to be appropriate based on recent inflation trends," he said. But the jury is still out. Some policymakers fear that the full extent of U.S. tariffs is yet to be felt and a strong euro will hurt exporters while pulling overall inflation below the ECB's 2% target. Lane noted that the stronger euro has a multi-year impact on both activity and inflation, and the underlying reasons for the currency movement impact the extent of the price shock. "These effects will be larger than the average if euro appreciation is more due to external factors, such as weakness in main trading partners or portfolio rebalancing due to an increase in the risk premium in overseas financial markets," he said. The euro is up 13% on the dollar since the start of the year as investors reduced their dollar holdings due to concerns about erratic U.S. economic policy. (Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Alexandra Hudson)

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Oct 6 (Reuters) – France's former finance minister Bruno Le Maire is no longer an advisor at ASML, a spokesperson for the Dutch chip equipment maker told Reuters on Monday. Le Maire, who was poised to be part of the latest French government that collapsed just hours after being appointed on Sunday, had been named as a special advisor to ASML's executive board in 2024. (Reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)

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NAIROBI, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Kenya is setting up a sovereign wealth fund and an infrastructure fund, President William Ruto said, to invest in key sectors without repeating a debt binge that has strained public finances in recent years. The East African nation has one of the highest debt repayments to revenue ratios on the continent, after it ramped up borrowing to construct infrastructure over the past decade. "We are in the process of having two important funds. One, infrastructure fund, and the other, which we are going to roll out, sovereign wealth fund," Ruto said over the weekend. Lawmakers have pushed through a law governing privatisation of state assets, he said, giving the government an opportunity to raise funds to set up the two vehicles. "As responsible citizens of the present, we must think about the generations of tomorrow and we must keep for them something, so that tomorrow, they have a place to start," he said. The privatisation drive will kick off with the sale of shares in Kenya Pipeline Company, a state firm that manages petroleum products' transportation infrastructure in Kenya and into neighbouring states. The share offer is expected to raise as much as 130 billion shillings ($1.01 billion), Ruto said. The infrastructure fund will be used to boost farming – the biggest economic sector in Kenya – especially to improve production of crops so some can be exported, Ruto said. Funds will also be used to increase electricity production, the president said, adding Kenya, which has a generation capacity of 2,300 megawatts of power, requires a minimum of 10,000 megawatts in new production in order to industrialize. "For far too long we have been on an average trajectory and that is why we are not making progress," he said. Ruto did not give details on when the funds would become operational. ($1 = 129.0000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by Duncan Miriri, editing by Karin Strohecker and Alexandra Hudson)

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Oct 6 (Reuters) – ARZAN INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT: * SECURES DEBT FINANCING FROM OAKTREE TO ACCELERATE GROWTH OF ITS HOSPITALITY PLATFORM * AIM- FUNDING WILL ENABLE TO ACCELERATE ITS STRATEGY OF ACQUIRING AND REPOSITIONING VALUE-ADD HOSPITALITY ASSETS ACROSS GCC

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