Author: Steven Sahiounie

People in Nigeria have taken to sleeping outside banks. They want to be among the first in line to get notes from the cash machine once it is loaded up in the morning. A lack of newly designed naira notes has led to a cash shortage and a growing sense of anxiety among those desperate to get hold of their money in a country where 40% of the population don’t have bank accounts. The Supreme Court has even become involved and has ordered that the deadline to hand in old notes be extended but this has made little difference. People…

India’s markets regulator has confirmed that it is investigating allegations made by Hindenburg Research against companies owned by multi-billionaire Gautam Adani. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) also says it is examining market activity around the report. Mr Adani’s business empire had over $100bn (£82.3bn) wiped off its stock market value after the claims of market manipulation and financial fraud. Adani Group has denied the claims. On Monday, SEBI said in a Supreme Court filing that it was studying the allegations and “the market activity immediately preceding and post the publication of the report”. “SEBI is strongly and…

As Japan’s prime minister names his pick for the new head of the country’s central bank, it is clear that the job comes with some major challenges. The latest figures published by the government show the economy is recovering from the pandemic at a far slower pace than expected. At the same time prices are rising at the fastest rate in more than 40 years. So what can the academic Kazuo Ueda do to fix the world’s third largest economy? If approved by the country’s parliament as the next governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), Mr Ueda has to…

A union representing hundreds of workers at an Amazon warehouse has revealed plans for seven more strike days. The GMB union said its members in Coventry would now take further industrial action on 28 February, 2 March and between 13-17 March. It marked an escalation in their pay fight, which began with a 24-hour strike last month – the first official walkout to hit the US tech firm’s operations in the UK. GMB said more than 350 staff, out of 1,400, would take part in the action – a rise on the 300 or so who were involved last month. The site…

Ford has announced that 1,300 jobs, a fifth of the workforce, is being cut from its UK business as part of a Europe-wide overhaul. The majority of the UK losses will be at the Ford site in Dunton, Essex – its UK headquarters and technical centre. Up to 1,000 jobs are to be axed at the location with the remaining 300 to come from administrative roles spread across the remaining five sites. Production staff at Dagenham, Halewood and Daventry are to be unaffected. Ford has two other sites in the UK: in Stratford, east London – where software is worked on -…

Consumer price inflation accelerated again in Switzerland at the start of the year, largely reflecting higher food and energy prices, figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed on Monday. Inflation rose 3.3% year-on-year in January, driven by surging gas and electricity prices. The rate exceeded economists’ forecasts of 2.9% and was the highest since August 2022. On a monthly basis, consumer prices gained 0.6% in contrast to the 0.2% drop in the previous month. The annual increase in inflation was largely propelled by a 5.6% rise in prices for food and non-alcoholic beverages. Housing and energy prices surged…

Russia intends to shift the exports of its oil and petroleum products to ‘friendly’ countries this year, increasing their share in total supplies shipped abroad to 75-80%, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak has revealed. “As for supplies to states that maintain illegitimate price restrictions, our position here is widely known and remains unchanged: such countries will not receive Russian oil,” Novak wrote in an article for the magazine Energy Policy on Monday. He noted that oil production in Russia amounted to 535.2 million tons in 2022, which is 2% more than in the previous year. Oil exports increased by 7.6%,…

Famed writer and economist Robert Kiyosaki has warned investors that the stock markets are about to crash and the US economy is heading into a “depression.” According to the ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ co-author, this will be fueled by the fact that the US Federal Reserve will print billions in “fake money.” “Giant crash is coming. Depression possible,” Kiyosaki tweeted late Sunday. He also wrote that by 2025, Bitcoin will hit $500,000, followed by $5,000 and $500 price marks for gold and silver respectively. He explained that this will be “because faith in the US dollar, fake money, will be destroyed,” adding that Bitcoin is…

Wheat prices have soared to two-month highs this week amid fears that Russia’s military operation may jeopardize this year’s planting and harvesting season in Ukraine, several media outlets have reported, citing traders. March futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed at over $8.0075 a bushel on Monday, the highest since November 23. Quotes were slightly down on Tuesday but are still up for the year. Wheat prices initially jumped on Friday, with analysts attributing the surge to Russia’s latest missile strikes in Ukraine. Traders warn that infrastructure damage from the missiles or a potential worsening of the conflict would jeopardize…

Wheat prices have soared to two-month highs this week amid fears that Russia’s military operation may jeopardize this year’s planting and harvesting season in Ukraine, several media outlets have reported, citing traders. March futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed at over $8.0075 a bushel on Monday, the highest since November 23. Quotes were slightly down on Tuesday but are still up for the year. Wheat prices initially jumped on Friday, with analysts attributing the surge to Russia’s latest missile strikes in Ukraine. Traders warn that infrastructure damage from the missiles or a potential worsening of the conflict would jeopardize…