Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Bank of England is expected to hike interest rates for the 12th consecutive meeting on Thursday as inflation continues to run hot, but the summit may be drawing near. The U.K. economy has held up better than expected so far this year, though GDP flatlined in February as widespread strikes and the cost-of-living squeeze hampered activity, while the labor market continues to look resilient. Annual headline inflation remained stubbornly above 10% in March, driven by persistently high food and energy bills, while core inflation also remained unchanged, highlighting the risk of entrenchment. The Bank expects it to fall rapidly from the middle of 2023…

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in Egypt announced that the general consumer price index reached 169.6 points for April 2023, recording an increase of 1.8% from March 2023. The rise in inflation was driven by a 54.7% year-on-year increase in food and beverage prices in April. The annual inflation rate in Egypt recorded 31.5% for the month of April 2023, compared to 14.9% for the same month of the previous year. The inflation rate in cities increased on a monthly basis during April by 1.7%, while the monthly inflation rate in cities increased in March by 2.7%.…

An informed source said that no decision has yet been taken regarding the mediation of a Turkish bank in the matter of paying the value of Russian agricultural products, and the matter is subject to the supervision of the official Turkish authorities. Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that the return of the Russian “Ross Silkhoz Bank” to the SWIFT system and the Turkish bank’s mediation is on the agenda, and discussions are ongoing in this regard. The source added: “No, no decisions have been taken. Negotiations are ongoing and the Turkish official authorities at the highest level are…

The British newspaper “Daily Mail” published a report on European countries that could follow the example of the United Kingdom and leave the European bloc, and the newspaper suggested that 5 countries could take this measure. The report provided an analysis of the economic conditions in the countries of the European region, and was based on a survey conducted by “Eurobarometer”. – Greece: Tensions have escalated since the beginning of the debt crisis in the country in 2009, and Athens is studying the demands of the European Union, which it considers insulting, about taking strict economic measures. According to the…

The Financial Times said that the West’s actions directed against Russian diamonds may threaten hundreds of thousands of jobs in India, because Russian diamonds provide about 60% of job opportunities in this sector there. The newspaper added: “For India, banning the circulation of Russian diamonds threatens to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs.” The newspaper quoted Anup Mehta, chairman of the Bharat Diamond Exchange in Mumbai, as saying that a total of one million people work in the diamond trade in India. Currently, India is free to export rough gemstones from Russia to the US and other G7 countries if…

The Saudi Aramco company topped the list of the largest companies in the world in terms of distributing cash dividends, as its dividends exceeded the total of the five major companies that follow it in the ranking. Bloomberg Intelligence stated that the payments Aramco made to the Saudi government and other investors for 2022 amounted to $75.80 billion, and payments could increase by more than $20 billion this year. Yesterday, the oil giant Saudi Aramco announced that its profits in the first quarter of this year amounted to $31.88 billion, compared to $39.47 billion in the same quarter of last…

Consumer prices driven by food, drink and energy costs keep climbing across the single currency area Eurozone inflation surged to 7% in April in the first increase in the last five months, data released by the European Union’s statistics office Eurostat on Tuesday showed. Consumer prices rose from 6.9% in March, driven by food prices that soared 13.6% year-on-year last month. Food, alcohol and tobacco are expected to have the highest annual rate in April, followed by non-energy industrial goods, which picked up 6.2%. Services climbed by 5.2% in April, compared with 5.1% the previous month. Energy prices were up…

A Palestinian farmer was Wednesday killed, while another was injured, in Israeli airstrike on the town of Absan, east of the city of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip. WAFA correspondent said that one Palestinian was killed, and another was reported to have critical wounds, after they were injured with shrapnel from an Israeli missile that targeted them east of Khan Yunis. He confirmed that, according to witnesses, a missile from a drone targeted farmers east of Khan Yunis, as Israeli artillery targeted two locations east of Khan Yunis. Israeli airstrikes killed 15 Palestinians, including four women and four children, yesterday.…

Britain’s shortest-serving PM has taken an increasingly hawkish stance toward Beijing since leaving office Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has announced plans to travel to Taiwan next week, where she will meet with top officials and deliver a speech. The move is likely to trigger the ire of China, which has repeatedly condemned junkets to the island by current and former officials. Truss discussed the upcoming trip in a statement on Tuesday, using the opportunity to take a jab at Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory. “Taiwan is a beacon of freedom and democracy. I’m looking forward to…

The United States would become a “deadbeat nation” if it defaulted on its massive $31-trillion debt, the president said US President Joe Biden has said America’s reputation would be “damaged in the extreme” if the government were unable to pay its bills, insisting a default on the national debt is simply not an option. Addressing reporters after a meeting with congressional leaders on Tuesday, Biden said the sit-down was “productive,” noting that all sides agreed to find a “path forward to make sure America does not default” on its world-historic debt. “Our economy would fall into a significant recession. It would devastate retirement accounts, increase borrowing…