The largest exchange traded fund (ETF) that tracks South Korean equities, The iShares MSCI South Korea Capped ETF, just saw the largest weekly outflow since its inception back in 2000 as a rout in emerging markets deepens, oil prices continue to fall, concerns about the U.S. Fed hiking interest rates, and as tensions grow in the Korean peninsula between North and South Korea. … Continue reading
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Friday that it has approved a loan of $1 billion for Kazakhstan in an effort to help counter an economic slowdown driven by a tumble in global oil prices that forced the nation to devalue its currency, the tenge. “This loan from ADB’s Countercyclical Support Facility will give the country the fiscal leeway … Continue reading
Karl-Friedrich Israel and Jeff Deist discuss the current situation in Greece from Karl’s perspective as a German. Old hostilities between the north and south in Europe are being inflamed, which calls into question the entire purpose of the Eurozone. Would Greece be better off simply leaving the Euro and resurrecting the drachma? Would the less … Continue reading
“The International Monetary Fund pushed back until Sept. 30, 2016, the date that China’s yuan could be included in its basket of reserve currencies,” Bloomberg reports. The news agency said the following: The executive board, which represents the IMF’s 188 member nations, voted Aug. 11 to extend the composition of the fund’s Special Drawing Rights for … Continue reading
Vladimir Putin met with Governor of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina to discuss the banking sector’s work over the first half of 2015. By The Kremlin Ms Nabiullina also spoke about progress on establishing the national payment system and national rating agency. * * * President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Ms Nabiullina, the Central Bank is doing a lot to strengthen the national currency, or at least, to keep it stable and maintain … Continue reading
“Brazil President Dilma Rousseff is poised to face another key test as allegations of corruption and incompetence swamp her government, and plummeting commodity prices sap the country’s economy,” Seeking Alpha reports. According to Bloomberg: As allegations of corruption and incompetence swamp Brazil’s government, and plummeting commodity prices sap its economy, hundreds of thousands of angry … Continue reading
Moody’s rating agency, yesterday on August 11th, downgraded Brazil’s government bond rating to Baa3 from Baa2 (only one notch above a non-investment / speculative grade). Also the outlook on the rating has been changed from negative to stable. According to Bloomberg: The company’s decision to assign a stable outlook to Brazil’s rating, now at the lowest level … Continue reading
Things are not looking good for Brazil’s Real – news articles flooded with reports of a ten-year low of the Brazilian currency against the US dollar. After a turbulent presidential election and international oil prices hike, those factors finally hit the country’s economic very hard. Having said that, could bitcoin be a good way to … Continue reading
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank recently raised the red flag over debt, stating Kenya must put a tight lid on it to keep its economy on a steady growth path. According to the Business Daily, Kenya’s debt load crossed the 50 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) mark to stand at … Continue reading
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) today (July 31) completed the first review of Ukraine’s Extended Arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The completion of this review enables the disbursement of SDR 1,182.1 million (about US$1.7 billion), which would bring total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 4.72 billion (about US$6.68 … Continue reading