Author: Steven Sahiounie

Nigerians head to the polls on Saturday, with an unprecedented youth turnout expected against a backdrop of widespread insecurity and economic hardship. After 24 years of uninterrupted democracy since ending military dictatorship in 1999, Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy is conducting its seventh election. Nigeria is at a pivotal juncture amid record unemployment and inflation, a massive debt burden, fuel shortages, worsening security conditions, endemic corruption and crumbling public services. The record 93.5 million Nigerians registered to vote will choose among 18 candidates to replace President Muhammadu Buhari, who has reached the two-term limit. The aspiring successor chosen by the…

President Joe Biden has a well-documented history of exaggerating his accomplishments while downplaying his failures. But in recent months, the president has taken this dishonest strategy to a whole new level, routinely misleading the American people to score political points, especially on topics related to economic growth. The following are four of Biden’s biggest lies about the economy, as well as the data you need to prove to friends and family that the White House has not been nearly as successful as it has been claiming. Lie 1: America’s inflation problem is improving. When Biden entered the White House in January 2021, inflation…

The growth comes despite increasing US pressure on Abu Dhabi to curb trade with Moscow. Russia’s trade turnover with the United Arab Emirates is expanding rapidly and reached all-time highs last year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who serves as trade and industry minister, announced on Monday. Economic cooperation has grown despite Western sanctions against Moscow, with trade turnover surging by 68% to $9 billion in 2022, the minister told reporters on the sidelines of the international defense exhibition IDEX 2023 in Abu Dhabi. “The partnership between our countries is on the rise, and this positive trend…

French utilities company Engie announced on Tuesday it has initiated an arbitration procedure against Russia’s Gazprom over its non-compliance with gas delivery obligations. The Paris-based firm said it wanted payment of contractual penalties as well as compensation for damages resulting from the supply halt. Gazprom said it stopped natural gas deliveries in August after the French side failed to pay for July deliveries in full. “This arbitration procedure is due to the significant delivery shortages by Gazprom Export LLC to Engie as of mid-June 2022, followed by Gazprom Export LLC’s unilateral decision at the end of summer 2022 to reduce…

US stock markets suffered extended losses on Tuesday, as investors brace for further key interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, following the most recent data on inflation and an unfavorable retail outlook. According to trading data, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed nearly 700 points down at 33,129, dropping 2.06% in its worst downturn since December 15. The S&P 500 fell 2%, also its biggest decline since December 15, to close at 3,997. All indices ended lower, while consumer discretionary stocks suffered the steepest drop, 3.3%. The Nasdaq Composite fell by 2.50% to 11,492. While US stocks initially rallied…

This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you see? You can subscribe here. The Fed wants to bring inflation down to 2%. But the economy may be fine with higher inflation. What you need to know today The bottom line The 2% inflation target has been repeated so often by Fed officials and central bankers worldwide that it seems absolutely crucial to a healthy economy. But “the 2% inflation target, it’s relatively arbitrary,” said…

Today promises another series of upbeat indicators reinforcing the higher-for-longer narrative. EUR rates appear to have only just reached fair value, helping to explain why investors still look at them with suspicion. Geopolitical tensions are rearing their ugly head EUR rates are far from stretched. In fact, they’ve just reached fair value After a slow start this week, markets gear up for the release of important sentiment indicators for the month of February. While the PMI surveys contain specific questions on various aspects of economic activity, they remain essentially sentiment indicators. As such, they are subject to the same biases as…

Stocks fall after surveys show US and eurozone private sector activity more robust than expected Stocks fell and government bond yields rose in the US and Europe on Tuesday after further evidence that some of the world’s biggest economies were more robust than expected, raising concerns that central banks would further increase interest rates to tame inflation. The blue-chip S&P 500 fell 1.2 per cent while the Nasdaq Composite slid 1.5 per cent in New York after a closely watched survey of US business activity was far stronger than expected. The US S&P Global composite purchasing managers’ index reading of…

It is not a crazy idea that the UK could avoid a recession but public finance data may weaken the government’s hand in the ongoing pay negotiations with unions. At any other time, any other the chancellor would be quite delighted by the economic data out this morning. According to a key measure of activity (the purchasing manager’s index), the economy is not contracting, but is expanding, at a decent whack too. It may be too early to conclude that the UK will avoid a recession – but nor is it a crazy idea either. Then there is the public finance…

February 21 (SeeNews) – Romanian automotive battery producer Rombat said on Tuesday that it will invest 10 million euro ($10.6 million) in a new production line, the construction of two photovoltaic (PV) parks, staff trainings and office space improvements this year. This is the company’s largest investment in the last decade, Rombat said in a press release. The semi-automated production line will produce heavy duty automotive batteries for heavy tonnage vehicles. One of the two planned solar parks will have an installed capacity of 4.2 MW and will be co-financed with funds from Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).…