Author: Steven Sahiounie

India and Sri Lanka are discussing shifting away from the US dollar to settlements using the Indian rupee, as the two countries look to strengthen their partnership through trade and investments. Rupee settlements are expected to derive benefits like shorter timelines, lower exchange costs and easier availability of trade credits for participating financial institutions. The initiative may also have a beneficial impact on the nations’ respective tourism and hospitality industries. A discussion of the issue, arranged by the High Commission of India, was held in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo last week. “Representatives from the Bank of Ceylon, State Bank…

The rate of price growth in the country is higher than the central bank is prepared to tolerate, the regulator says Inflation in Switzerland unexpectedly accelerated in February largely due to soaring airfares, rent and energy costs, figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed on Monday. Consumer prices surged 3.4% last month year-on-year and were higher than the median estimate by Bloomberg, which predicted a slower rate of 3.1%. The February jump reflected rising prices for air transport, package holidays, rents and gasoline, indicating that the country’s central bank will have to tighten its monetary policy, the media outlet said.…

Denouncing the schoolgirl poisoning incidents across Iran as a “crime and an inhumane act” committed by the enemies, President Ebrahim Raisi called for accurate and timely information on the incidents In comments at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Raisi referred to the report from the Minister of Intelligence on the investigation into the issue of poisoning of a number of schools across the country, saying, “The new conspiracy of the enemy to create fear in the hearts of students, our dear children and their parents is a crime and it is an anti-human act.” He also emphasized the need to…

While bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) remain the top coins, altcoins are still drawing significant interest from institutional investors, argued David Duong, Head of Institutional Research at major crypto exchange Coinbase. Duong participated in a discussion with popular crypto analyst Scott Melker on March 2, as part of an interview panel that also featured the Founder of crypto options trading platform Hxro Dan Gunsberg and the Founder of investment adviser Morgan Creek Capital Mark Yusko.  Discussing the crypto market performance over the past year, Duong noted that what he is currently seeing in terms of flows on the exchange from Coinbase’s institutional clients is that, “55% of this is still on bitcoin and…

Almost half of South Korean crypto holders think Bitcoin (BTC) prices will rise this week, a survey has found. The survey was conducted by the researcher Pharos Labs (Kratos) and the crypto market information provider Coinness – and reported by the media outlet CoinReaders. The firms said they spoke to 2,000 people last week to gauge their opinions on the crypto market – with 45% predicting a BTC price rise. While almost 7% predicted a “sudden jump” in prices, not all were optimistic: 2% thought a “sudden sharp drop” was in the cards. And almost 14% said they were either “fearful” or “extremely fearful” about…

Bitcoin’s recent price movement has caught the attention of crypto investors and enthusiasts as a massive transfer of $230 million worth of BTC was made to an unknown wallet by a whale investor. This event has fueled speculation about what the transfer could mean for Bitcoin’s price in the near future.  The crypto market has been experiencing significant volatility in recent weeks, and this latest development has added to the uncertainty surrounding BTC’s trajectory. In this article, we will examine the potential factors that could impact Bitcoin’s price and make a prediction about where it could be headed next. Silvergate…

Israeli settlers this evening stormed the outskirts of at-Tira neighborhood in Ramallah and performed religious rituals in the area, according to security sources. Settlers, backed by military forces, stormed the outskirts of at-Tira neighborhood and performed Talmudic rituals there, provoking Palestinians and leading to confrontations between them and the military forces who provided protection to settlers. Israeli settlers’ vandalism in the occupied West Bank is routine and is done with full backing by the Israeli authorities, said the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem. “Settler violence and vandalism take place with full backing by the Israeli authorities. Sometimes soldiers take part…

The two nations under restrictions are aiming to protect bilateral trade, an envoy has said Moscow and Havana have been implementing financial mechanisms to shield their economic cooperation from US sanctions, Russian Ambassador to Cuba Andrey Guskov revealed last week. “The introduction of independent settlement mechanisms is being successfully carried out, which will help protect cooperation with Cuba from the negative impact of the US trade, economic and financial blockade, as well as establish ties bypassing the financial organizations of unfriendly states,” the Russian diplomat said. In January, the chairman of the Russia-Cuba Business Council, Boris Titov, said that in order…

The Chinese currency has outperformed the greenback by volume of trading on the Moscow Exchange for the first time on record The Chinese yuan has overtaken the US dollar as the most traded currency on the Russian stock market for the first time ever, business daily Kommersant reported on Monday. According to the outlet’s estimates, based on data from the Moscow Exchange (MOEX), the yuan was the most traded currency in February, displacing the US dollar from the top spot. Statistics showed that, over the month, the volume of Chinese currency trading exceeded 1.48 trillion rubles ($19.6 billion), which is…

Commander Zaluzhny called for a withdrawal from a key city, but the president has refused, the newspaper reported An internal conflict is underway between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and General Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, according to government sources cited by Bild on Monday. Kiev insiders told the German tabloid that the military commander called for a withdrawal from a key Donbass city weeks ago. Zaluzhny advised the president to abandon Artyomovsk, known as Bakhmut in Ukraine, rather than keep defending it as Russian troops threatened to take control of the city, the newspaper reported. However the Ukrainian leader…