Author: Steven Sahiounie

The Russian Ministry of Economic Development published updated forecasts for the performance of the national economy in 2023, and the representative of the ministry said that the current ruble decline was taken into account in the ministry’s forecast for the current year. “Yes, we have this in mind (the decline in the ruble in forecasts). I can mention the fact that this weakness has not yet been transmitted directly to prices, most likely inflation will accelerate in the second half of the year,” the ministry spokesman said. He added, “Inflation will reach its lowest level in the coming months, given…

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the ministry has plans to reach a balanced budget in 2025. Speaking at a joint meeting of the Russian Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Economic Development, the minister said: “In the medium term, with the adaptation of the economy, a gradual normalization of the budget policy is planned, with access to the basic level of the budget by 2025.” The following are the most prominent statements of the Russian Finance Minister: The Russian financial system is stable. – At the end of the year 2022, the authorities were able to stabilize…

A World Bank official believes that the ruble can become an alternative to the dollar if the fiscal policy is implemented correctly, noting that the ruble settlements will stimulate the development of high-tech exports in Russia. “In my personal opinion, the ruble can become an alternative to the dollar if the fiscal policy is implemented correctly, we have all the ingredients for that,” said Roman Marshavin, a Russian official at the World Bank, in an interview with “Novosti” agency published today, Friday. According to the expert, the basic requirements for this are the presence of the lowest levels of public…

Interest payments and the shift to clean energy will add to government spending, the organization warns US public debt will continue to rise in the coming years amid increased government borrowing, the International Monetary Fund said in its Fiscal Monitor report released on Wednesday. IMF economists believe the rise will come partly because Washington is spending more on healthcare and social security, as well as clean energy projects and other domestic economic policies. The US debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to be 122.2% this year, just slightly above 121.7% in 2022. It is expected to rise further to 136.2% of GDP…

Economic recovery and increased demand for fuel exports are seen as the major consumption drivers China’s crude oil imports surged to their highest levels in almost three years last month as refineries have ramped up production to catch up with growing fuel export demand, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing customs data. Oil imports jumped 22.5% in March to 52.3 million tons, or 12.3 million barrels per day (bpd), representing the largest volumes of crude shipments for any month since June 2020, the figures showed. Industry experts attribute the surge in crude imports to a sharp increase in the country’s exports…

Sanctioned seaborne crude is selling above the price cap set by EU and G7 countries, the agency has revealed Russian oil exports jumped to their highest level in almost three years in March, despite Western sanctions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) revealed in its monthly report on Friday. Russia’s daily seaborne oil supplies surged by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 8.1 million bpd last month, the highest since April 2020, according to the IEA. The Paris-based agency attributed the increase largely to a rise in exports of oil products, which returned to pre-COVID levels. Deliveries of petroleum products rose…

Earnings reports likely showing over $500 billion in outflow from major lenders raise new questions about the health of the sector The largest US banks have likely seen over half a trillion dollars in deposit outflow from a year earlier as customers rushed to withdraw their savings following a banking crisis at several regional lenders, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Concerns are mounting about the health of the banking sector ahead of the deposit data that will be unveiled when major US banks report first-quarter earnings. JPMorgan, Citi, and Wells Fargo are slated to kick off earnings season on Friday. …

Net incomes are expected to rise by the most in five years, according to the Ministry of Economic Development Real earnings in Russia during 2023 will grow more than previously expected, the Ministry of Economic Development stated on Friday, predicting an increase of 5.4%. The figure is a substantial upgrade from the ministry’s earlier projection of 2.6%, and would represent a five-year maximum. “We expect an increase in the income of the population, first of all, wages. This year, in real terms, they will grow by more than 5%,” the head of the ministry, Maksim Reshetnikov, was quoted by Interfax as…

Global venture capital investment in the sector has hit its lowest level since 2020 Private funding in crypto startups has fallen dramatically this year as the industry reels from scandals, bank implosions and regulatory uncertainty, Bloomberg reported this week, citing data from research company PitchBook. Global venture capital (VC) funding for crypto startups totaled $2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2023, its lowest level since 2020, according to PitchBook. The figures represent an 80% slump in private VC investment compared to an all-time high of $12.3 billion recorded in the same period last year, data showed. Crypto…

Overspending and historic drought have sent prices in Argentina surging to highest in two decades Inflation in Argentina saw an enormous year-on-year surge to 104.3% in March, marking the highest annual rate since 1991, according to data released by the National Institute for Statistics and Census (INDEC) on Friday. The inflation-rate reading for the month came in at 7.7%, higher than the median forecast of 7% among analysts polled by Bloomberg. Economists surveyed by Reuters had provided a more pessimistic outlook of 7.1%. The total inflation for the first three months of the year was 21.7%. In February, the inflation…