GlobalSource Partners | Country Insights

In a largely symbolic but still important gesture, the government cabinet has just issued a resolution to protest the fact that the EU Commission recently (on September 8) asked the European Court to approve a financial penalty for Poland, for not complying with a late-July EU Court decision, acc...

Opinion polls vs. the economy

TURKEY · Report · 12 Sep 2021 · 1 response

New surveys reveal that a summer of decent GDP growth notwithstanding, the broader state of the economy, unemployment and high cost of living remain the leading concerns of Turkish citizens. There is widespread dissatisfaction with the way Turkey is governed as well as on most policy issues, ...

Weekly Israel Macro Wrap Up

ISRAEL · In Brief · 12 Sep 2021

Weekly Macro Review 13.9.21 Recent economic indicators have been generally positive: Credit card purchases in August expanded by 4%-5% (according to our seasonal adjusted estimate from weekly BoI data). Sectors which witnessed a sharp increase in demand include hospitality and leisure, as well as...

As Duma elections approach expenditures grow well above the plan, but the federal budget remains in surplus

RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 12 Sep 2021

The Finance Ministry reported that in 8M201 the federal budget was in surplus above R0.9 tln. In August alone expenditures exceeded revenues by a small margin (R0.1 trln) mostly since the government started allocating one-off payments to servicemen and military (followed in September by similar o...

Russia: Nord Stream 2 is complete

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 12 Sep 2021

On September 10 Moscow claimed that the gas pipeline from Russia to Germany is finished. The pipeline will double Russian gas exports to the EU. The pipeline will obviate the need to send gas to the EU via Ukraine.Gazprom is the company behind the pipeline.Ukraine is worried that the pipeline wil...

Higher inflation in Q4 2021

VENEZUELA · Report · 10 Sep 2021

In August, inflation decelerated to 14% from the July pace of 18 percent. At the same time, the dollar lost momentum against the bolivar, appreciating only 3 percent. This marks a slowdown from the 24 percent jump seen the month before. Year on year, August inflation was 1,365 percent, down f...

Belarus and Russia economically integrating

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 10 Sep 2021

On September 9 the president of the two countries agreed on 28 policies aimed at binding the two countries closer together. Political unification is not on the agenda. Russia has long desired this but Belarus does not. In the long run the countries will have the same macro economic policy, said P...

Exports boost South Africa’s 2Q2021 current account balance

SOUTH AFRICA · Report · 10 Sep 2021

Commodity prices have been reaching record highs in 2021, as global economic activity slowly rebounds. For resource-rich countries such as South Africa, this news is well received. As expected, the current account surplus widened in the second quarter of 2021 – to R343 billion in 2Q2021 from R261...

GULF WEEKLY: IPO boom gathers pace, Qatar PMI surges, Abu Dhabi issues $3bn bonds

GULF COUNTRIES · Report · 10 Sep 2021 · 1 response

A skimmable summary overlaid with our analysis and links. Headlines: * Qatar’s PMI surged to its second-highest reading while readings for Saudi Arabia and UAE eased but remained steady. * IPO subscriptions began for Solutions for Stc, and Adnoc Drilling became the latest major firm to announ...

Nearing recovery

COLOMBIA · Report · 10 Sep 2021

Q2 GDP numbers were anxiously awaited, given the collective desperate need to determine whether Colombia had returned to pre-crisis economic activity levels. Dane data shows that the country is almost there in aggregate terms, though there are significant sectoral variations. In general, services...

Bolsonaro issued a statement restating his commitment to the Constitution, the TSE created an Election Transparency Committee and the STF begins analysis of the injunction for a deadline for Congress to analyze impeachment requests against Bolsonaro

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 10 Sep 2021

Bolsonaro calls for the branches of the government to cooperate and reiterates his commitment to the Constitution. His statement did not please his most radical supporters but it does help to ease the tense climate in the government. The BR do Mar bill, the Administrative Reform proposal and the ...

Russia’s current account widens to the highest level in eight years

RUSSIA ECONOMICS · In Brief · 09 Sep 2021

The CBR reported its preliminary estimate of the 8M21 current account and foreign trade balance. The current account widened to $69.7 bn, which was the highest level in eight years, as the CBR revealed. The trade balance reached $106.4 bn due to increased energy prices and increased volumes of en...

The NBU increases prime rate by extra 0.5 ppt up to 8.5%

UKRAINE · In Brief · 09 Sep 2021

The NBU Board increased the prime rate by an extra 0.5 ppt up to 8.5%. The decision was widely expected as the NBU itself mentioned a likely prime rate revision up to 8.5% if inflation trends remain strong. In the meantime, CPI was reported declining seasonally by 0.2% m/m in August amid eased fo...

Abinader's second year begins with ambiguous expectations

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC · Report · 09 Sep 2021 · 1 response

Last August 16th marked the first year of Luis Abinader’s presidency. It was a year marked by the pressures of handling the pandemic crisis, and the challenges of creating the necessary conditions for both a health and economic recovery. During the first year, the political context was chara...

Lira and Fux respond to Bolsonaro’s criticisms of the legislature and judiciary, the PSDB announced its opposition to the government, and truck drivers have organized demonstrations across the country

BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 09 Sep 2021

The president of the House, Arthur Lira, said that he no longer sees room for extremism and radicalism. The president of the STF, Luiz Fux, said that if Bolsonaro does not comply with Minister Alexandre de Moraes’s decisions, that would constitute a crime of responsibility, which would be grounds...