GlobalSource Partners | Country Insights

Consumer prices rose by 11.1%, m/m, in January, somewhat higher than the consensus forecast, with the 12-month rate rising further to 48.7% from 36.1%. Domestic-PPI rose by 10.4%, m/m, surging to a 12-month rate of 93.5% from 79.9% in December (Graph 1; Table 1).

The US deployed troops to Eastern Europe

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 03 Feb 2022

On February 1 Biden sent 3,000 troops to Romania, Germany and Poland. The US said this is in response to 100,000 Russian troops being on exercises near Ukraine and more Russian troops dispatched to Belarus. There will be major exercises in Belarus on February 10-20, but this is not unusual. The U...

Stronger-than-expected 2021 industrial output growth is a good start for 2022

RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 03 Feb 2022

The Rosstat reported that Russia’s industrial output increased by 5.3% in 2021, i.e., more than was expected earlier. On several occasions, it was mentioned in previous notes of this series that since mid-2020, every month, the Rosstat revises up previously published numbers. Generally, it is har...

Minfin returns to the primary market

RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 02 Feb 2022

Today, the Finance Ministry placed 7-year OFZ worth R74.7 bln at 9.6%. As a reminder, the government cancelled primary auctions during the past two weeks because of the high volatility. The return to the market was successful, and total demand exceeded R100 bln. Moreover, the last time Minfin man...

Congress returns to work, two new presidential polls are scheduled to be published, and the Central Bank to make a decision on the interest rate

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 02 Feb 2022

A statement from the Executive Branch will be read, highlighting its priorities for the year. On Thursday, Rodrigo Pacheco should meet with party leaders to discuss the agenda for next week. The possibility that the government could set the IPI tax rate to zero for all products generated negative...

British Prime Minister in Ukraine

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 02 Feb 2022

On February 1 Boris Johnson visited Ukraine. He is there for talks and to signal support. This is also a welcome distraction from Johnson's domestic scandal and his terrible approval ratings.Johnson vowed to impose severe sanctions on Russia if there is any incursion at all. He suggested that a w...

Boric Completes his Cabinet

CHILE · In Brief · 01 Feb 2022

With the announcement on Tuesday of who the undersecretaries will be, president-elect Gabriel Boric has offered a much more complete picture of the government that’s taking shape, and the message is mixed.Whereas the cabinet announcement was greeted with enthusiasm, thanks in large measure to the...

UAE: The new corporate income tax will have ripple effects across the GCC

GULF COUNTRIES · Report · 01 Feb 2022

* The 9% tax could raise as much as 1.6% of GDP in incremental revenue, similar to the VAT. * A higher rate of up to 15% is expected to be applied to large multinationals, but has not been specified yet. * The change is motivated more by compliance with BEPS than the need for fiscal revenue. *...

Costa Rica: Monetary Policy Report 2022-2023

CENTRAL AMERICA · Report · 01 Feb 2022

On January 28, the Central Bank of Costa Rica released its Monetary Policy Report for 2022-2023 (previously known as the "Macroeconomic Program"). The main indicators can be found in our report. The Central Bank included preliminary estimates for 2021, with better results than expected in some...

Russia's pandemic/political update: war of words in parallel worlds

RUSSIA ECONOMICS · Report · 01 Feb 2022 · 1 response

As the Omicron strain entered Russia, the country’s daily COVID-19 incidence rate soared, having nearly attained 100K cases on January 28, and continued its upward journey quite fast in the days that followed, having reached nearly 126K as of February 1. This was not an unexpected increase as the...

The Supreme Federal Court returns from recess, Bolsonaro addresses the fuel issue, and the presidential candidates continue to make moves

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 01 Feb 2022

The Supreme Federal Court has scheduled a court session to mark the beginning of the year for the Judiciary. The year will begin with a few points of tension. Bolsonaro did not appear for his testimony at the Federal Police last week, disregarding a decision by Minister Alexandre de Moraes. Bolso...

Highlights of the India Budget 2022-23

INDIA · Report · 01 Feb 2022

Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union Budget 2022-23, in which she proposed a big boost to capital expenditure and announced several infrastructure projects to pump-prime private investment and economic recovery. The focus of the policy response to Covid-19 has been on ...

More certainty about the EU's rule-of-law mechanism

HUNGARY · In Brief · 01 Feb 2022

After a long series of various speculations, it has been officially announced that the European Court will declare its ruling on the legality of the EU's new fiscal rule-of-law mechanism on February 16. On the same topic, EU's law enforcement commissioner, Didier Reynders said that the decision i...

The monetary policy rate rises again

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · In Brief · 01 Feb 2022

The Central Bank decided to increase the monetary policy rate for the third time since last November. The increase has been 50 basic points, passing the rate from 4.5% to 5.0% per year. The change implies that the rate of the permanent facility for liquidity expansion (1-day Repos) increases from...

Peru: New political crisis looms

PERU · In Brief · 31 Jan 2022

A few minutes ago, Ms. Mirtha Vasquez, the Prime Minister, resigned. This follows last week resignation of interior Minister, Mr. Avelino Guillen on the back of President Castillo decision to support General Gallardo in the police and failing to back his plan to clean up the police. Although the ...