Author: Steven Sahiounie

Fitch Ratings lowered Morocco’s economic growth forecast for the current year from 3.4% previously to 1.8%, due to the acceleration of inflation, the tightening of monetary policy, and the damage to the agricultural sector. The agency said, in a report, that agricultural production will weigh more on economic growth than was previously expected, as happened in the fourth quarter of last year, when agricultural production contracted by 15.1 percent due to drought, while the non-agricultural sector slowed down to 2.4 percent. . The agency’s figures indicate that the weakness in the non-farm sector was mainly driven by a combination of…

World’s biggest economy will continue to grow, despite heightened recession concerns following recent turmoil in the banking sector, says US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The World Bank’s ongoing reform could result in a $50 billion lending boost over the next decade, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has told the AFP news agency ahead of stakeholders’ meetings next week where key changes are expected to be announced. Central bankers, finance ministers and participants from more than 180 member countries are expected to gather in the US capital for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s spring meetings in the coming week. A…

Challenging the US-dominated world order, China strives to increase its global influence, with the yuan emerging as the main contender to replace the dollar as world’s reserve currency. The world’s second largest economy with a gross domestic product of $17.7 trillion, second only to the United States with $23.3 trillion, China has been reinforcing the prevalence of its national currency in the international monetary system against US dollar hegemony. According to recent data from the International Monetary Fund, the yuan – or renminbi (RMB) – now ranks as the world’s fifth-largest reserve currency, with 2.69 percent of foreign exchange reserves…

The most well-known cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum, are ending the week on a bearish note, with both coins continuing to lose value. Bitcoin recently fell below $28,000, while Ethereum has fallen to $1,800.  Although Bitcoin reached $28,500 earlier this week, the rally was short-lived, as the price quickly fell. Similarly, Ethereum failed to reach $1,800 on Sunday morning, causing investors to be concerned. However, the reason for the latest decline can be traced back to the news that Binance, a leading crypto exchange, is facing crypto regulations in the US and Dubai. The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai has told Binance,…

A recent survey by Avgi shows that income inequality is growing increasingly sharp putting many at risk of poverty. Citing the national central bank’s annual report, the relative poverty index was assessed to be 19.6% which is higher than the EU average (amounts to 16.8%). The report also projects that 28.3% of the Greek population faces the risk of poverty and social exclusion: specifying that the most vulnerable groups are the unemployed people, pensioners, and households with dependent children. The Gini index for inequality was reported to have increased to reach 32.4% back in 2019. Back in March, The Pharmaceutical Association of…

Iran and Russia can become the export center of some food items in the region with joint production and investment, Iran’s first vice president Mohammad Mokhber said on Saturday during a meeting with Russian President’s Special Aide Igor Levitin in the Iranian capital. During Levitin’s two-day visit to Tehran, both sides reviewed the latest joint projects and cooperation between Iran and Russia in the framework of the North-South corridor, cooperation in the field of energy, transportation, and expansion of the two countries’ trade relations. “Fortunately, the implementation of the joint plans and projects between the two countries is in good progress and the…

Lebanon, Argentina, and Zimbabwe were the countries with the highest annual inflation rates in February 2023, according to calculations made by Russian news agency Sputnik and based on data from national statistics.  Inflation in Lebanon was at a whopping 190% in February, putting it in first place by far, while Argentina ranked second with an annual inflation rate of 102.5%. The country with the highest inflation rate in January, Zimbabwe, saw its inflation cooling down to 92.3% after it was at 230%. Joanna Wronecka, the UN’s Special Coordinator for Lebanon, warned in a tweet that the Lebanese people are severely harmed by currency…

There’s been a seismic shift in investor perspective: Bad news is no longer good news. For the past year, Wall Street has hoped for cool monthly economic data that would encourage the Federal Reserve to halt its aggressive pace of interest rate hikes to tame inflation. But at its March meeting — just days after a series of bank failures raised concerns about the economy’s stability — the central bank signaled that it plans to pause raising rates sometime this year. With an end to interest rate hikes in sight, investors have stopped attempting to guess the Fed’s next move and have turned instead to…

The funds are enough to cover the nation’s imports for more than five months, presidential adviser Oleg Ustenko said The gold and foreign currency reserves of Ukraine have reached an all-time high of $30 billion, presidential adviser Oleg Ustenko said on Sunday, adding that the funds are enough to pay for Ukrainian imports for at least five months. “Our foreign reserves have reached a decade all-time high of over $30 billion,” Ustenko told Rada TV channel. “The amount would be enough to cover more than five months’ worth of Ukrainian imports.” According to Ustenko, the economic situation is considered to be stable…

The fossil fuel will be essential in shifting to clean energy, the global forum’s CEO says Natural gas will be a critical component in the world’s transition to new energy sources, the secretary general and CEO of the World Energy Council, Angela Wilkinson, has argued. “We want it to be more renewable-powered electrification,” Wilkinson stated during a panel discussion moderated by CNBC, noting that significant effort will be required to achieve that goal. “We can’t let perfection be the enemy of the good in this, right? The reality is, to get renewables to scale we’re going to have other clean energy…