January, 2023

• 3 January

  Venezuela, Colombia open bridge to bolster trade ties

    Bloomberg Venezuela and Colombia officials opened the Atanasio Girardot international bridge, allowing vehicles carrying both passengers and cargo to cross the border between both countries. Completed in 2016 but never used, the bridge also known as Tienditas was inaugurated with a ceremony led by authorities from both countries, including Colombia’s commerce minister German Umana and transportation minister Guillermo Reyes, ...

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• 3 January

  Brazil markets sink as traders mull Lula’s plan to beef up state

  

  Bloomberg Brazilian assets tumbled on the first session of 2023 as traders digested plans by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to use state-owned companies to drive economic growth. Petrobras slumped as much as 6.9% in Sao Paulo, the main drag on the benchmark Ibovespa index, which fell 3.1% as of 11:47 am. Lender Banco do Brasil SA dropped as ...

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• 3 January

  US is in recession ‘by any definition’: Burry

    Bloomberg Scion Asset Management founder Michael Burry said while inflation has peaked, it is likely to pick up again in response to government stimulus. “The US in recession by any definition,” Burry, the investor made famous by Christian Bale in the 2015 movie The Big Short, said on Twitter. “Fed will cut and government will stimulate. And we will ...

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• 3 January

  Germany vows crackdown after brutal New Year’s violence

  

  Bloomberg Germany vowed to crack down on people responsible for violence around the weekend’s New Year celebrations, in which dozens of police, paramedics and firefighters were injured. “The government, and of course the chancellor as well, condemns these at times massive attacks in the strongest possible terms,” Christiane Hoffmann, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said on Monday at the ...

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• 3 January

  European gas falls to lowest level since before war in Ukraine

  

  Bloomberg European natural gas prices started the New Year declining as mild weather curbed demand. Benchmark futures dropped 7.9% to the lowest level since February 21, extending three weeks of net declines. Weather forecasts point to temperatures above seasonal norms for most of the region in next two weeks, which will help Europe avoid depleting its stocks too soon as ...

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• 3 January

  Xi: Tough challenges remain in China’s fight against Covid-19

  

  Bloomberg President Xi Jinping said tough challenges remain in China’s fight against Covid-19 and acknowledged divisions in society that led to rare spontaneous protests, after weeks of silence on a virus policy pivot that’s infected hundreds of millions and delivered a severe blow to economic activity. In a New Year’s address, Xi said the country is in a new phase ...

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• 3 January

  Indonesia’s inflation beats highest forecast

  

    Bloomberg Indonesia’s inflation surprised on the upside in December, challenging the central bank and market’s view that price pressures were well on the wane. Consumer prices rose 5.51% from a year ago, driven by higher costs of gasoline, household fuels, air freight rates and transport fares, the nation’s statistics agency said. That beats even the highest forecast in a ...

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• 3 January

  India’s unemployment rate surges to 16-month high

    Bloomberg India’s unemployment rate rose to a 16-month high in December as job creation in the slowing economy failed to keep pace with the growing workforce. The overall unemployment rate increased to 8.3%, up from 8% in November, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt Ltd. That’s the highest reading since August 2021. The rise ...

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• 3 January

  Modi’s cash ban was legal, India’s top court rules amid faint dissent

  

    Bloomberg India’s Supreme Court upheld Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2016 decision to overnight invalidate high-value currency notes, a decision that could provide firepower to the ruling party ahead of a series of elections in coming months. A five-judge panel in a majority verdict said the government’s move satisfied the test of “proportionality” and the court cannot supplant the wisdom ...

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• 3 January

  HK property market may rebound: Chan

    Bloomberg Hong Kong Financial Secretary Paul Chan said he is optimistic about the city’s economic prospects for this year and expects the local real estate market to rebound after the China border reopens. Hong Kong’s exports, tourism and local service industry are all expected to rebound on China’s border reopening, and consumption in the first quarter is likely to ...

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