August, 2022

• 16 August

  China holds fresh patrols around Taiwan to protest senator’s visit

  

  Bloomberg China’s military said it held fresh patrols around Taiwan to “fight back” against another US congressional visit less than two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled to Taipei. The patrols and exercises conducted in the “sea and air space around Taiwan” on Monday provided a “resolute response and stern deterrence to US-Taiwan collusion,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Senior ...

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• 16 August

  Putin vows to expand partnership with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

  

  Bloomberg Russian President Vladimir Putin offered to expand relations with North Korea, reaching out to his neighbor as the Kremlin scours the globe for weapons for its war in Ukraine. Putin sent a congratulatory message to North Korea for its Liberation Day holiday on Monday marking the end of Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula. Although Putin regularly ...

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• 16 August

  Myanmar’s Suu Kyi gets six more years in prison

  

    Bloomberg Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to six more years in prison on Monday in a judgment that could further anger supporters of the 77-year-old Nobel peace prize laureate. A special court inside a prison compound in the capital Naypyidaw found her guilty of four corruption charges related to a charity named after her late ...

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• 16 August

  Australia PM orders review into Morrison’s ‘shadow government’

    Bloomberg Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ordered a review into claims his predecessor secretly took charge of multiple ministries during the pandemic, describing it as a “shadow government.” Former leader Scott Morrison allegedly swore himself in as health minister, finance minister and resources minister between 2020 and 2021, sometimes without the knowledge of the incumbent, according to a ...

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• 16 August

  UK’s debt, welfare costs set to surge by $60.7 billion, says FT

  

    Bloomberg Inflation and higher interest rates will push up the UK’s debt serving costs and social welfare spending by more than £50 billion ($60.7 billion) in next fiscal year, according to Financial Times (FT) calculations. The bill for servicing government debt will almost double, to £95 billion ($115.35 billion) from £50 billion ($60.71 billion), given that about £500 billion ...

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• 16 August

  US to limit exports of some chip tech to cut ‘nefarious’ use

  

    Bloomberg The US is imposing export controls on technologies that support the production of advanced semiconductors and turbines, protecting against their “nefarious” military and commercial use. The innovations “are essential to the national security” of the US and meet the criteria for the protection, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security said in a statement. The agency ...

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• 16 August

  Irish house prices rise

    Bloomberg Irish house prices rise to the highest since 2007 in June, matching the peak seen before the country suffered one of the worst property crashes in Western Europe. It’s taken over 15 years for prices to recover from the property crash that almost bankrupted the country, forcing it to seek an international bailout in November 2010. The national ...

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• 15 August

  Argentina asks crop exporters to make $1b in sales next week

  

    Bloomberg Argentina’s government has asked the country’s crop export and processing companies to make sales equivalent to $1 billion over the next week as it seeks to bolster reserves. The government discussed with Ciara-Cec, a group that represents more than 40% of Argentina’s exports, a mechanism implemented this week that aims to encourage the sale of crops and bring ...

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• 15 August

  S&P cuts Hungary’s outlook to negative

  Bloomberg Hungary’s outlook was revised to negative from stable by Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings as the nation tackles the fallout from war in neighbouring Ukraine and government wrangles with the European Union over billions of euros in funding. The country’s credit grade was maintained at BBB, the second-lowest investment grade, S&P said in a statement. That matches the level ...

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• 15 August

  Chinese bonds rally as rate cut reinforces split with Treasuries

  

  Bloomberg China’s sovereign bonds are back on the menu for foreign investors. The nation’s debt rallied on Monday after the central bank unexpectedly cut interest rates, with the 10-year yield dropping to the lowest level in more than two years. The surprise easing move underscores how the nation’s bond market offers investors an asset class that’s uncorrelated to Treasuries and ...

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