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On December 8 Brittney Griner was freed as part of a prisoner exchange. She was arrested in February 2022 for possessing medical cannabis with a prescription. Russia does not recognize the legal validity of such prescriptions and gave her 9 years in jail. There are unconfirmed reports that the US...

CPI-inflation in November: would no negative surprise be a surprise now?

HUNGARY · In Brief · 08 Dec 2022

Monthly CPI-inflation data have kept surprising analysts on the negative side lately. And so it happened in November as well. The yoy headline rate rose to 22.5% from the 21.1% reported in October, whereas analysts expected only 22%. Once again, the main driver was food, where prices rose by an a...

Tax revenues decline in November but fiscal surplus maintained YTD

ISRAEL · In Brief · 08 Dec 2022

November’s fiscal deficit was 1.2bn ILS (compared to 0.5bn in Nov 21), and the fiscal surplus reached 0.4% GDP in the last 12 months. Since the beginning of the year the fiscal surplus reached 28.9bn ILS. Tax revenues are up 14.8% y/y in Jan-Nov while non-Covid expenditure rose a modest 5.6%. Reg...

Secret opinion poll shows Russians support the war

CIS POLITICS · In Brief · 07 Dec 2022

Polls in Russian run by the Levada Center and the state run VTsIOM show that around 75% of people are pro-war. Putin is keen to know the state of public opinion. Crafting it through media control is his obsession. On December 6 the Moscow Times claimed to have gained a copy of unpublished statist...

Inflation jumps in the first days of December due to the rise of regulated tariffs

RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 07 Dec 2022

Rosstat reported that in seven days ending on December 5, inflation w-o-w jumped to 0.58%, an unprecedented level after months of deflation in the summer and slow inflation in October. It is not yet clear what the final inflation print in November will be (to be published on December 9). Though g...

The CCJ approved the report on the Transition PEC, the Senate should vote on the proposal today, and the STF may adjudicate the cases on the rapporteur’s amendments

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 07 Dec 2022

Senator Alexandre Silveira's (PSD-MG) report on the Transition PEC increases the spending ceiling by R$ 145 billion for two years to pay for the Bolsa Família program and removes up to 6.5% of extraordinary revenues from the ceiling. The elected government is hoping to complete the vote in two ro...

Santa Claus brought higher fuel prices to households this year

HUNGARY · In Brief · 07 Dec 2022

In Hungary (and much of Central Europe), it is Little Jesus who takes responsibility for Christmas gifts to children. Santa Claus has a separate day, which is December 6, to deliver his presents. This year, Santa had a special gift for local families. Last night, a press conference was held at 22...

Putin discusses security with team due to renewed attacks on Russia

CIS POLITICS · In Brief · 07 Dec 2022

On December 6 Putin discussed the issue with his Security Council at the Kremlin. More drone attacks hit Russia on December 6, this time in the Kursk Region. This came a day after two attacks deep inside Russia. Putin's spokesman assured the public that the government was doing what was needed to...

After being sentenced, CFK announces that she will not run in 2023

ARGENTINA · In Brief · 06 Dec 2022

Today, the judges of the second federal oral court, found Cristina Fernández de Kirchner guilty of fraudulent administration in determent of the State. After three years of public trials, she received a 6-year prison sentence, in addition to a perpetual disqualification to exercise public office ...

South Africa’s economic growth rebounds at 1.6% in Q3 2022

SOUTH AFRICA · Report · 06 Dec 2022 · 1 response

As expected, the South African economy rebounded from the second quarter’s contraction of -0.7% q/q to record a growth rate of 1.6% q/q during the third quarter of 2022. However, the rate of growth surprised on the upside. The expansion in the country’s real GDP came on the back of a recovery in ...

Hungary vetoed EU borrowing for Ukraine, no decision on Hungarian matters today

HUNGARY · In Brief · 06 Dec 2022

The following screenshot, from a Twitter post by a Green Party member of the European Parliament, one of the leading critics of Hungary's Fidesz government there, shows finance minister Varga who, by saying what he is quoted here to have said, essentially vetoed the EU's common borrowing action f...

The CCJ begins analysis of the Transition PEC, the STF should adjudicate the cases on the rapporteur amendments, and the House Committee on Public Security may vote on a salary raise for police officers

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 06 Dec 2022

The rapporteur of the PEC is Senator Alexandre Silveira (PSD-MG). The two-year period seems to be gathering a consensus in the National Congress, but the value remains undecided. Lula's (PT) allies put together an agreement for the PEC to be enacted by December 16. Tomorrow, the Supreme Federal C...

Latvia shuts Russian TV channel

CIS POLITICS · In Brief · 06 Dec 2022

On December 6 Dozhd was closed down because it was allegedly threatens Latvian national security. The Latvian government cited several violations of the broadcasting rules by the Russian language channel. The last day on air will be December 8. The channel said that Crimea was Russian and the Rus...

Inflation quickened to 8%

PHILIPPINES · In Brief · 06 Dec 2022

The headline inflation rate rose to 8% in November, up from 7.7% in October. Price increases continued to show momentum with the month-on-month rate rising 0.9%, driven by both higher food prices, particularly vegetables, and services like public transport and restaurants. Core inflation similarl...

Russia political/pandemic update: life as an everlasting special operation

RUSSIA ECONOMICS · Report · 05 Dec 2022

Even though the COVID-19 pandemic no longer remains an issue in Russia, it still affects the country’s matters, albeit sometimes in a rather peculiar way, such as what happened recently in China and with the oil price. As the zero tolerance COVID policy in China and expectations of its weaker eco...