Author: Steven Sahiounie

Russia’s largest lender, Sber, opened its second branch in Crimea on Monday in the port city of Simferopol, the bank has announced. This comes a week after it opened its first location on the peninsula in Yalta. The new branch will serve both individuals and legal entities, and has a 24-hour ATM zone. Another Sevastopol branch servicing legal entities exclusively will open in July. “We felt the demand for Sber services on the peninsula. During the first days of the work of the office in Yalta, despite the holidays, there were more than 1,500 transactions,” Anatoly Pesennikov, the head of…

Türkiye’s markets plunged on Monday as investors braced for a runoff in the presidential election. Neither the country’s long-standing leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, nor his opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, managed to win outright in the first round of voting. The benchmark stock index, the BIST 100, was down by as much as 6.7% during morning trading, triggering a market-wide circuit breaker, before recouping some of the losses later in the day. As of 14:10 GMT, the index was down 4.5%. The country’s main banking index, XBANK, also fell, losing more than 9%. The Turkish lira slumped and was trading near a…

The currency recovers some of its losses but remains at risk of further devaluation after the elections. The Turkish Lira dipped on Sunday to a two-month low as the country’s citizens made their way to voting centers to choose Turkey’s next president. Before rebounding to 19.66 and making up some of the losses, the currency dropped to 19.70 during the day, not far from the post-earthquake rate of 19.80 recorded in early March. After a strong vote count rally that put President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of his main presidential rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the latest updates suggest that the competing…

Debt talks are due to start this week with US President Joe Biden and Republicans. According to a US Treasury Department official, if the US defaults on its debt by June 15, it would face a catastrophic recession that would destroy millions of jobs. The dire warning was made on Sunday by Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, as debt talks are due to start this week. His comments echoed previous warnings issued by US politicians, bankers, and the White House that the country is on the brink of default. According to them, a default would have severe ramifications for the country, including a…

The collapse of the Russia-Ukraine grain deal could trigger food shortages in African countries, Deputy PM Antonio Tajani warned The potential collapse of the UN- and Türkiye-brokered grain deal unblocking Ukrainian agricultural exports via the Black Sea could trigger a new stream of migrants fleeing to Europe, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani warned in an interview published on Monday. Speaking to Italian daily il Messaggero, when asked to give his take on what could happen if the landmark agreement fell apart, Tajani replied that it was “a scenario that we do not want to consider.” “The lives of millions of…

The Belarusian leader noted that the situation around the republic is not critical at this point, but concerning factors do exist Belarusian Air Force and air defense forces have been on high alert for three days after the incidents in the Bryansk Region of Russia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during his visit to the central air force and air defense command post, where he received reports on the air defense situation Monday. “Three days after the events next to us. I mean the events in the Bryansk Region, when four aircraft were downed. We had to react to that,”…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters through Twitter, saying that the biggest winner in the elections was Turkish democracy as he states his confidence in winning the second round on 28 May. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he feels confident in emerging victorious in the next round of presidential elections after falling less than half of a percent short as counting was finalized on Monday. Erdogan said on Twitter, “The 14 May elections, one of the elections with the highest participation in our history, took place in a festive atmosphere befitting our democracy.” Although the President was unable to secure…

Bitcoin’s price has made a significant move by surpassing the crucial mark of $27,200, but the strength of buying support appears to be waning. As Bitcoin continues its volatile journey, investors and analysts are closely watching the market for insights into its future price movements. The recent breakthrough of the $27,200 level has generated both optimism and caution, prompting speculation about the sustainability of this upward momentum. In this BTC price prediction, we will explore the key factors shaping Bitcoin’s current trajectory and examine potential scenarios for its future performance. Michael Saylor Emphasizes Bitcoin’s Importance as a Valuable Asset in…

Questions swirl about the strength of China’s recovery from Covid lockdowns, and there’s talk of recession in the United States. Yet Europe’s economic prospects have brightened in recent months, according to the European Commission. The EU’s executive arm on Monday upgraded its growth outlook for 2023 and 2024. It now expects the EU economy to expand 1% this year, up from an estimate of 0.8% in February. Growth next year is pegged at 1.7%, an upward revision of 0.1 percentage points. The improved forecast for Europe — which narrowly dodged a recession this winter — still represents a marked slowdown on last year, when the bloc’s economy…

Wall Street is eager to see the Federal Reserve wind down its aggressive rate-hiking cycle that’s battered markets and tested investor morale. Although a pause in interest rate hikes appears likely, cuts may be farther off than some believe. The stock market has stayed resilient this year after a brutal 2022 that was roiled by persistent inflation, the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, Covid shutdowns and geopolitical tensions. Still, investors have remained hyper-alert for signs that the central bank could let up its brisk clip of interest rate increases. The Fed issued its tenth consecutive rate hike this May, raising rates by a quarter point.…