Author: Steven Sahiounie

Leading indices have sold off on high inflation, geopolitical tensions, and tightening monetary policy. Major European stock indices struggled in 2022, with most showing their worst performance since before the Covid-19 pandemic, CNBC reported on Friday. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index began the last trading day of the year down more than 12% versus a year ago, its worst yearly drop since a 13.24% plunge in 2018, according to the media outlet.The French CAC 40 is on pace to register a 12% plunge for the year, while the German DAX is on track to lose 18% in 2022, the worst performance in…

The National Wealth Fund, which accumulates revenue from the country’s energy exports, has been growing this year. Russia’s Finance Ministry intends to replenish the National Wealth Fund (NWF) in Chinese yuan starting from next year as part of its budget rule, the head of the ministry, Anton Siluanov, has revealed.The fund, which accumulates revenue from oil exports, was created to support the national pension system, and the funds can also be used to cover budget deficits in times of crisis. The assets of the fund amounted to $186.5 billion as of December 1.In 2020, the ministry proposed diversifying the assets…

Steven Sahiounie, journalist and political commentator This is part two of an examination of the current state of Lebanon. In part one, we looked at the Soldiers of God, an extremist Christian militia that pose a threat to the security of Lebanon and could ignite a new civil war. Lebanon needs up to $15 billion to rise from its present economic collapse which was decades in the making and can be blamed on the corrupt ruling elite who lined their pockets at the expense of the citizens, driving the country into financial ruin and deadly social turmoil. Despite elections in…

It is hard to recall a time when there were as many economic and political ‘crosscurrents’ as there are for South Africa as it enters 2023.SA’s economic prospects in 2023 will be broadly shaped by global developments, Eskom, and policy implementation commitments by government. The interaction between these factors will determine the risks and the opportunities that exist over the next 12 months in a changing socio-economic environment both in SA and elsewhere.The reality nonetheless is that in the meantime business and consumers in SA will face another tough year with strong inflation, rising interest rates, high unemployment, load-shedding and…

KUALA LUMPUR – Like every classic tale, Malaysia’s economic outlook for 2023 is expected to have two halves, with a gloomy outlook predicted in the first half and an improving outlook in the second amid a looming recession.Economists do not expect the nation’s strong economic growth witnessed in 2022 to continue into 2023 as consumer pessimism weighs significantly on growth.Malaysia recorded double-digit economic growth of 14.2 per cent in the third quarter of this year, driven by an encouraging performance in all economic sectors, especially services and manufacturing.However, economists reckon that domestic consumption will slow significantly by end-2023 due to cumulative inflationary…

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said. Dar was addressing investors at an event to commemorate the launch of Pakistan’s first development real estate investment trust scheme on the stock exchange.”We’re in a tight position. We don’t have $24 billion in foreign exchange reserves that our (last) government left in 2016. But that’s not my fault. It’s the system’s fault,” Dar said. At the same time, the Pakistani finance minister noted that there was “no way” that Pakistan was going to default.Despite the fact that the nation had already paid off its $1 billion in Islamic bonds earlier in December, Pakistan…

The Ogun State House of Assembly has passed a total of N472,250,694,447.57 as the year 2023 Appropriation bill.The budget proposal was presented to it by Governor Dapo Abiodun barely a month ago, with adjustments in the recurrent and capital estimates and projected revenue in 31 different areas across 26 agencies.The bill was titled: “H.B. NO. 084/OG/2022-Year 2023 Appropriation Law-A Bill for a Law for the Appropriation of the sum of Four Hundred and Seventy-Two Billion, Two Hundred and Fifty Million, Six Hundred and Ninety Four Thousand, Four Hundred and Forty-Seven Naira, Fifty-Seven Kobo Only from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for…

Here are some of the worst hit by this year’s tech stock downturnElon Musk (left) andd Mark Zuckerberg. AFP file photosThe fortunes of Silicon Valley billionaires took a beating in 2022 as share prices of the world’s tech giants plummeted.Here are some of the worst hit by this year’s tech stock downturn.AFP archive footage of Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos.Elon MuskAfter becoming the world’s richest person in 2021, the Tesla and SpaceX boss saw over half of his net worth evaporate this year, boosting France’s luxury goods mogul Bernard Arnault into the top spot.Musk lost $140 billion in…

Samsung holds a meeting with top officials to discuss the economic downturns next yearThe South Korean parent company Samsung recently held an uncommon meeting with higher authorities of its partners. The meeting was conducted with the CEOs of all affiliates. This business meeting was organized a few days ago. The basic purpose of this gathering was to discuss the economic downturns and the recession afflictions for 2023. Several factors like prices of semiconductors, rate hikes, and downfall in currency rates were considered.In Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, the meeting was organized. The venue of the board meeting was the Samsung Electronics Leadership…

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street higher on Friday following encouraging U.S. employment data but were headed for double-digit losses for the year.Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney advanced. Oil prices edged higher.Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index gained Thursday after the number of people applying for unemployment benefits rose only slightly last week despite repeated interest rate hikes to cool inflation by slowing economic activity.“Considering the market news was sparse, the shift higher has the hallmarks of a dead cat bounce,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management in a report.The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6%…