Archives for October 2020

“Recession is observed not only in Russia, but throughout the world, in the entire global economy. As for the Russian economy, the decline is lower than in other economies, including the so-called developed economies,” he said. Next year’s deficit is seen at 4.2 percent, with an economic improvement expected in 2022.

Putin said support of small and medium-sized businesses hurt by the coronavirus crisis is a priority for the Russian government. He pointed to a range of support measures taken by the authorities, such as tax breaks, grants, preferential loans to save jobs, and others.

The president suggested extending the moratorium on scheduled state inspections of small businesses for 2021. “Thus, we reduce both the administrative and tax burden on tens of thousands of companies employing millions of our citizens, and support jobs and people’s incomes,” he said.

Also on rt.com Russia has enough reserves to protect its people amid coronavirus pandemic – Putin

He added that the Russian government will take further steps to support small and medium-sized businesses.

Putin noted that despite all the challenges this year Russia has managed “to maintain the macroeconomic stability, prevent inflation and stabilize the country’s financial markets.”

The crisis hasn’t affected investment in national projects, he said.

The Russian president urged the implementation of a common plan on national targets, saying that he was “rather optimistic about the development of the Russian economy.”

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Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/504906-russian-economy-coronavirus-pandemic/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

Futures for international benchmark Brent were down 3.89 percent, trading at 37.60 a barrel, hitting its lowest level since mid-June. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for December delivery faced similar losses, settling at $35.92 per barrel by noon on Wednesday.

During the previous session, both benchmarks suffered their biggest daily percentage drop since September 8, as each declined over five percent. 

Also on rt.com Oversupply adds to grim oil demand outlook

The energy markets are reacting to the intensifying coronavirus outbreak, which has forced some countries, including Germany and France, to reinforce partial lockdowns.

Fresh supply glut concerns were also driven by the resumption of production and crude exports in Libya, whose production is expected to rebound to 1 million barrels per day (bpd) over the next several weeks.

The build-up of US oil inventories was another negative factor for crude. On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported an increase of 584,000 barrels of crude oil inventories for the previous week.

Also on rt.com Central Bank of Russia does not rule out another pandemic wave $25 oil price

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Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/504903-oil-prices-fall-coronavirus/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

This was indicated by the US Department of Commerce during talks with semiconductor manufacturers, the Financial Times reported, citing people briefed by Washington. According to a semiconductor executive involved in the talks, the agency “has been telling companies in recent conversations that while licenses to supply Huawei are handled with a view to denial, this can be overcome if you can demonstrate that your technology does not support 5G.”

Also on rt.com Huawei’s revenue growth slows sharply as Covid-19 US sanctions bite

After the Trump administration toughened restrictions against the leading Chinese smartphone and telecom equipment maker, which the US deems a security threat, manufacturers were required to obtain licenses for sales to Huawei of products made abroad with US technology or software. The move threatens Huawei’s smartphone business, which relies heavily on chip supplies.

Unwilling to lose a big client, companies rushed to get those permissions. South Korea’s Samsung reportedly won a license from the US government to sell “some of its products” – namely organic light-emitting diodes, or OLED displays – to Huawei earlier this week. Last month, Intel and AMD were also said to have been granted licenses to continue selling some supplies to the Chinese tech company.

Also on rt.com Japan’s Sony chipmaker Kioxia want to resume supplying sanctioned Huawei – report

While many similar applications are still pending approval, executives at two Asian semiconductor companies said they were optimistic about receiving the license, the FT reported. “It has been indicated to us that chips for mobile devices are not a problem,” one of them said as cited by the outlet.

Some analysts say that easing of sanctions could facilitate recovery for the Chinese tech firm’s smartphone businesses, while its fast-developing 5G arm could still be under threat.

“We believe this is a strong indication the US intends to allow Huawei to stay in the handset business, since, as we have argued, it does not present an obvious national security threat to the US,” said Edison Lee, an analyst at Jefferies.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/504870-huawei-chip-sales-us/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The agreements are expected to help boost jobs and investments in both countries while building economic ties.

“The UK’s economic and financial relationship with India has never been more important with the global challenges we face. Today we set out our ambition for even stronger ties with an agreement that will increase investment, and create and secure jobs,” UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak said. “We are also committed to working together to lead the global economic recovery as we build back better after the pandemic.”  

The sides have also agreed to set up new funds to be managed by India’s largest commercial bank, the State Bank of India, in order to route the UK’s future capital investments into India.

Also on rt.com India sees HIGHEST EVER inflow of investments despite COVID-19 pandemic

According to Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, India-UK ties are important as the countries are among the world’s top seven economies with a combined GDP of over $5 trillion. She said India’s $1.4 trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline and the City of London are working together to ensure flows of sustainable finance.

Bilateral trade between India and the UK stood at £24 billion (over $31 billion) in 2019 and India is now the second-largest project investment source for Britain.

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Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/504872-india-uk-broaden-bilateral-investment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

For most of the period through August, Russia was part of the OPEC+ agreement to curtail supply to the market, except in March and early April, when Russia and Saudi Arabia disagreed on how to manage oil supply to the market when demand was crashing due to the pandemic. The current production cuts began in May 2020 and are much deeper than in the previous deal.

Also on rt.com OPEC+ crude production cuts could be extended – Putin

Russia’s crude oil exports also dropped in terms of value due to the slump in oil prices. Between January and August, the value of Russian crude oil exports plunged by 38.9 percent compared to the same period last year, to $48.8 billion, according to data from the Russian federal customs service.

Currently, Russia’s economy is suffering the consequences of the oil price crash that it helped create with the temporary rift with its OPEC+ partner Saudi Arabia. Russia’s oil income shrank as a result of the plunge in oil prices.

Libya’s oil industry lifts force majeure on its biggest oilfield

Due to the restrictions under the OPEC+ deal, Russia plans to export 16.4 percent less crude oil this year compared to 2019, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said at the budget committee at Russia’s Parliament last week.

Crude oil production is expected to drop by 10 percent in 2020 from 2019, Novak said, adding that output could return to the levels before the pandemic by 2023, but this would depend on global oil demand and the OPEC+ agreements.

OPEC+ is set to ease the current cuts by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) as of January, but weak demand and rising supply from exempt OPEC member Libya could derail those plans.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week he is not ruling out OPEC+ delaying the easing of the cuts, or even making further reductions.

“We are of the opinion that nothing needs to change right now. However, we are not ruling out either maintaining existing production limits or not lifting them as soon as we had intended earlier. And if necessary, we will make further reductions. But currently we do not see the need,” Putin said, as carried by the Kremlin.

This article was originally published on Oilprice.com

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/504863-russia-oil-exports-drop/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 800 points, or nearly three percent at the opening on Wall Street. The SP 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite were also trading down almost three percent at the time of this writing.

European equity markets were also under pressure, with Germany’s DAX index and the French CAC 40 nosediving over four percent. The FTSE 100 in London was down over three percent.

“The financial markets are still nervous about rising case numbers and the pandemic,” Paul Donovan, chief economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, said, as quoted by the CNN. “The concern is about the impact this may have on fear levels — either amongst consumers or amongst policymakers.”

Also on rt.com Germany may see 20,000 new daily Covid-19 cases by end of this week, minister warns

Daily US coronavirus cases have risen by a record average of 71,832 over the past week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Coronavirus-related hospitalizations were up at least 10 percent in 36 states.

Rising infection cases across Europe prompted concerns of even more restrictions in the region. French President Emmanuel Macron is set to give a speech in France later on Wednesday and could announce more lockdowns. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering closing all bars and restaurants in the country for one month starting in early November, according to Reuters.

For more stories on economy finance visit RT’s business section

Article source: https://www.rt.com/business/504808-stock-markets-fall-covid/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS