NEWS FLASH

UPCOMING WEBINAR - CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA: ECONOMIC UPSWINGS AND POL...

Spending ceiling under attack and other weekly topics
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 09 May 2022

The Senate will focus on holding confirmation hearings for official appointments. A meeting of the National Congress is planned to analyze presidential vetoes. Four polls on the presidential elections will be published. In terms of the economy, the Central Bank publishes the minutes of the most r...

United Kingdom imposes additional sanctions on Russia
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 09 May 2022

On May 8 London said there will be higher tariffs on GBP 1.4 billion worth of goods from Russia and on exports to Russia worth GBP 250 million.The UK Finance Minister said that the value of the products that will face these tariffs is GBP 4 billion. The UK is raising tariffs on platinum and palla...

Relatively good news today: industry, exports, sanction talks in the EU
HUNGARY · In Brief · 09 May 2022

The first data since the start of the war is coming out. Industrial output fell by a marginal 0.1% mom seasonally and day-adjusted in March, which implies 4.1% yoy growth on the same basis. This is quite good, compared to Germany's -3.9% mom, -3.5% yoy, given significant vertical integration betw...

The rapporteur of the income tax bill will meet with the president of the Senate, Congress reviews sixteen presidential vetoes, and the federal police has scheduled various demonstrations for the coming weeks in favor of salary raises
BRAZIL POLITICS · Report · 09 May 2022

The income tax debate returned to the agenda due to the approval of the national nursing salary floor. The rapporteur of the income tax bill stated that he is in favor of reducing corporate taxes and the taxation of unearned profits and dividends. He would like to “downsize” the text that was app...

Economics: Despite a lower deficit, public spending structure and fiscal rigidity complicate the outlook
MEXICO · Report · 09 May 2022

Last week’s report on public finance for the first quarter of 2022 showed relatively favorable results from some revenue and spending components that allowed the total public deficit to fall a real 25% at the same time as the primary surplus widened a real 61.2%. The report revealed substantial r...

Pandemic statistics update: policy panic
CHINA ADVISORY · Report · 09 May 2022

China is struggling to come up with a reasonable policy to tackle the twin problems of Covid and a slowing economy. Reports suggest there is a serious policy conflict at the upper reaches of the State Council. This is likely to end badly rather than well. However, the PRC Standing Committee conti...

The shekel weakens on market volatility
ISRAEL · Report · 09 May 2022

* The shekel weakened last week on the back of the downward market correction. * We have revised our inflation forecast upwards, as we no longer expect shekel appreciation this year. * Growth indicators remain positive, the labor market continues to tighten and wage growth in the private ...

Russia says 3.9 million went abroad in Q1 2022
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 09 May 2022 · 1 response

The data comes from the Federal Security Service (FSB) and were published on May 6.The other former USSR countries saw an uptick of Russians arriving mostly for extended stays. People have left because they oppose the war, fear conscription, dislike the new atmosphere of stifling conformity and f...

G7 will phase out Russian oil
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 08 May 2022

On May 8 the US announced the move. The G7 includes the US, the UK, France, Germany, Japan and Canada. President Zelensky was allowed to take part in the online G7 conference. The United States said the move is to punish Russia for the Ukraine War and make it harder for Moscow to fund its militar...

All civilians evacuated from Azovstal, Mariupol
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 08 May 2022

On May 8 Ukraine announced that the evacuation from the steel factory had been completed. The Ukrainian soldiers are still in the factory. Russia is eager to capture Mariupol because then it will complete the land corridor from Russia to Crimea.Russia confirmed that the evacuation had been carrie...

The shekel weakens on market volatility
ISRAEL · In Brief · 08 May 2022

We have revised our inflation forecast upwards to 3.3% NTM In the past, we factored in a modest shekel appreciation on the back of the strong CA surplus and net FDI. Currently, we think that equity market volatility is a more dominant factor impacting the shekel and therefore we are pricing sheke...

Livin' La Vida Loca
TURKEY · Forecast · 08 May 2022

We stick to the macro scenarios we’ve introduced in earlier reports but tweak the odds a little – for the worse, on the back of the adverse shock inflicted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. To recall, we surmised that three macroeconomic scenarios could play out between now and the elections, b...

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan face economic disaster
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 08 May 2022 · 1 response

The per capita income of the country is expected to be USD 1,300 per annum. That is the second lowest in the former USSR after Tajikistan. It is lower than war-torn Ukraine.Tajikistan is a mountainous land of 6 million people. It is largely bereft of natural resources. Sanctions on Russia indirec...

Ukrainian forces started counter-offensive amid inflowing modern weapons
UKRAINE · In Brief · 07 May 2022

Two days till the May 9th, Victory Day – a sacred day for USSR-longing inhabitants of Russia. Now we can say it for sure, ‘the big battle for Donbas’ turned out to be one more failure for Russian army. Despite substantial concentration of forces and armors at the East, the Russians managed to get...

EU desperate for Azerbaijan's gas
RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 06 May 2022

The EU is trying to wean itself off Russian oil by the end of 2022. The EU would like to reduce Russian gas imports but cannot see a way to stop them totally. 40% of EU gas comes from Russia. If Azerbaijan sells more gas to the EU, then the EU can decrease purchases of Russian gas very substantia...