January, 2023

• 18 January

  Indians view US as biggest threat after China, survey shows

  

    Bloomberg Indians view the US as the biggest military threat after China and place greater blame on Nato and Washington than on Vladimir Putin for his war in Ukraine, according to a new survey. Some 43% of the 1,000 respondents perceived China — with whom India has a long-lingering border dispute and has seen tensions flare again since 2020 ...

  Read More »
• 18 January

  Russia to boost troops in west, expanding army to 1.5 million people

  

  Bloomberg Russia will create new commands near Europe as it expands its military to 1.5 million people amid deepening tensions with the US and its allies over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. New structures in the regions around Moscow, St. Petersburg and Karelia on the border with Finland will be created under the program, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told commanders ...

  Read More »
• 18 January

  Scholz nominates Pistorius as Germany’s next defense minister

  

  Bloomberg Chancellor Olaf Scholz has put forth Boris Pistorius to be Germany’s new defense minister, filling a critical role in his cabinet after Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday following a series of missteps. In a statement, Scholz praised Pistorius’s “strength and calmness,” and singled out his experience with defense policy. The 62-year-old is a veteran Social Democrat who has served ...

  Read More »
• 18 January

  Citi, BofA lead Wall Street banks funding fossil-fuel expansion

  

    Bloomberg Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp (BofA) have done more to support the expansion of fossil-fuel companies than any other lenders claiming to target net-zero financed emissions, according to a new analysis comparing industry pledges to action. The Wall Street firms, which joined the Net Zero Banking Alliance when it was founded in April 2021, have since ...

  Read More »
• 18 January

  Somalia to issue first new banknotes in more than three decades

  

    Bloomberg Somalia’s central bank aims to replace the only high-value currency note still in use by next year to deal with counterfeit bills, excess cash in circulation and inflation. The redesigned 1,000-shilling notes will replace those printed before the civil war broke out in 1991, central bank Deputy Governor Ali Yasin Wardheere said in an interview in Mogadishu, the ...

  Read More »
• 18 January

  China’s PBOC says it will avoid flooding economy with stimulus

  

    Bloomberg China will avoid unleashing massive monetary stimulus into the economy this year as it seeks to strike a balance between boosting growth, creating jobs and maintaining price stability, a central bank deputy governor said. “We will ensure overall social demand gets powerful support. Meanwhile, the magnitude will be reasonable and appropriate and we will avoid flooding the economy ...

  Read More »
• 18 January

  Goldman draws $1.6b to strictest ESG fund class

  

    Bloomberg The asset management unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has drawn in over $1.6 billion in client cash for a fund registered under the European Union’s toughest ESG rules. The fund, Horizon Environment & Climate Solutions I, closed after exceeding its initial target of “close to” $1.6 billion, Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) said. It’s listed as an ...

  Read More »
• 18 January

  RBI may pause rate hikes in February: DSP

    Bloomberg The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may pause its rate hike cycle as early as the next monetary policy decision in February, according to Ankita Pathak, an economist at DSP Investment Managers Pvt. With India’s headline inflation for the October-December period falling below the RBI’s estimate, the central bank could reevaluate its strategy amid an ongoing global growth ...

  Read More »
• 18 January

  Central bank rates seen peaking soon in Southeast Asia

  

    Bloomberg Southeast Asian central banks look like they are close to done fighting inflation using interest rates, with economists seeing the tightening cycle ending after 25- to 50-basis points of moves in the coming months. Policymakers in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand will each raise borrowing costs by a total half-point in the coming months before reaching their peak rates, ...

  Read More »
• 17 January

  ECB rates seen hitting peak of 3.25% before cut in July

    Bloomberg The European Central Bank’s (ECB) battle with inflation may end within half a year as policy makers begin to reverse rate hikes as soon as July. The deposit rate will be raised to a peak of 3.25% — from its current level of 2% in three steps. The survey shows two half-point hikes at the February and March meetings, ...

  Read More »