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UPCOMING WEBINAR - LATIN AMERICA IN 2025: HOW WORRIED SHOULD WE BE?...

Ukrainian grain export deal succeeding
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 07 Aug 2022

On August 5 three ships carrying a total of 80,000 tons of grain sailed out of Odessa. On August 6 a Barbadian ship arrived in Chornomorsk, Ukraine to pick up grain. It will sail to Turkey. Several more ships are due to dock in Ukraine over the next few days.  Chornomorsk can handle 100 ships a m...

Azerbaijan firing on Armenia
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 05 Aug 2022

On August 4 an exchange of fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan led to the death of 3 Armenian soldiers. Azerbaijan has moved forward and gained high ground. Russia reprimanded Azerbaijan for this. Both countries said the other broke the ceasefire. The fighting took place in the part of Nagorno Ka...

Key takeaways from China’s mortgage crisis
CHINA ADVISORY · Report · 05 Aug 2022

China’s economy has done surprisingly well through the Covid period – until now. Throughout the Covid period China has sustained growth through investment and exports. In the midst of a weak global economy, exports rose 14 percent YoY in 1H 2022, and in 2021, China’s total trade was up 30 percent...

Bolsonaro sanctioned the national nursing salary floor, the government’s social aid programs are scheduled to begin, and Tuesday is the deadline for Bolsonaro to sanction the LDO
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 05 Aug 2022

Regarding the national nursing salary floor, Bolsonaro vetoed a measure that provided for an annual update of the floor based on the National Consumer Price Index (INPC). Next week, the payment of social aid programs approved by the National Congress will begin. The government expects the payment...

GULF WEEKLY: OPEC+’s tiny taper, Saudi's large Q2 fiscal surplus, Kuwait heads to elections
GULF COUNTRIES · Report · 05 Aug 2022

A skimmable summary overlaid with our analysis and links. Headlines: * OPEC+ tapered by just 100k b/d but rising US stocks helped knock prices to a six-month low. * Iran nuclear talks are back on in Vienna, in perhaps the final opportunity for a deal. * PMIs remain strong in July in Qatar, S...

Essential CIS Politics: August 2022
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 05 Aug 2022 · 1 response

* Russia took almost the whole of Donbas, but fighting has slowed down. * The grain export deal between Russia and Ukraine proceeds with wariness over its longevity. * EU and UK extended sanctions on Russia and Belarus. * Five Central Asian countries held a presidents’ conf...

July inflation at 6.4%
PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 05 Aug 2022

Despite softening oil prices, the headline inflation climbed to 6.4% in July from 6.1% in June. The persistence of price pressures may be seen in the still high 0.8% month-on-month inflation, which can be traced largely to continuing increases in prices of all food groups (except vegetables) as w...

Bi-Weekly Economic News Summary
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 05 Aug 2022

July 25 NBK: The National Bank of Kazakhstan has decided to hike the base rate from 14 to 14.5% July 26 Ministry of Agriculture: The wheat harvest in Kazakhstan in 2022 may reach 13-13.5 mln tons (+15-20% y-o-y) July 28 Shell: CPC is looking at alternative routes for oil exports from Kazakhstan J...

Former German Chancellor says Putin wants peace talks
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 04 Aug 2022 · 2 responses

On August 3 Gerhard Schroeder said that a visit to Moscow had informed him that Russian President wants a parley. Schroeder said both sides needed to make concessions. Schroeder has long been regarded as a friend of Putin. Schroeder said the grain export deal shows that Moscow is a valid interloc...

After another week of falling CPI deflation in July is almost certain
RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 04 Aug 2022

Rosstat reported that in ten days ending August 1, the consumer price index fell by 0.14% w-o-w. The agency has split this number between the two months, and it appears that 0.13% was allocated to July and 0.01% to one day of August. On August 10, Rosstat will publish the official m-o-m inflation...

Bolsonaro expected to sanction the national nursing salary floor today, polls show an improvement in government ratings, and the STF began judgment of the new administrative improbity law
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 04 Aug 2022

One of the problems of the nursing bill is that it does not mention a source of funding for the expense. One of the ideas under discussion in Congress is the legalization of gambling, which has already been approved by the House and is pending a vote in the Senate. The government's negative ratin...

Peru: Political crisis intensifies
PERU · In Brief · 04 Aug 2022

President Castillo is under strong pressure to resign. Last night his Prime Minister (PM), Mr. Anibal Torres, a well-known lawyer, that has defended him from the opposition and declining popular support, decided to resigned. This anticipates a Cabinet reshuffle and the next PM and his Cabinet wil...

Sergio Massa’s swearing-in and first announcements
ARGENTINA · In Brief · 04 Aug 2022

In a rather brief ceremony, President Alberto Fernández took the oath to Sergio Massa (SM) as Minister of Economy, Production, and Agriculture. The festive atmosphere, accompanied by a large crowd (the press spoke of 500 guests), contrasted with an almost laconic tone of the President and Argenti...

Monetary Policy Without a Fiscal Anchor
BRAZIL ECONOMICS · Report · 03 Aug 2022

The Central Bank’s formal independence was incontestably a great achievement. But this is only a necessary condition to control inflation. The high risk premiums due to the government’s failure to satisfy the intertemporal budget constraint will lead to unsustainable interest rates and high infla...

Bulgarian arms dump supplying Ukraine explodes
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 03 Aug 2022

On July 31 the EMKO defense company's ammunition depot blew up at 4 am. The explosion caused a fire. No one was injured. The area was then sealed off for 72 hours. The owner of EMKO is Emiliyan Gebrev. The dump contained ammunition that Ukraine had ordered. The owner of the warehouse said that th...