Iraq is building a new oil pier off its southern coast, financed by Japan, that’s expected to boost exports and imports of crude-derived products and increase revenue, officials said Friday. The construction within the port of Khor al-Zubair — Iraq’s main fuel export and import facility — is over 70% …
Read More »Oil revenues exceed 5.5m dollars in April 2021, Iraqi authorities reveal
The Iraqi Ministry of Oil disclosed the final statistics of the exported quantities of crude oil and the revenues of April 2021. The ministry said in a statement that last April’s revenues amounted to 5,549,517,000 dollars, while crude oil exports amounted to 88,398,319 barrels. The average price per barrel amounted …
Read More »Nigeria’s economy grows in first quarter on oil price rise
Nigeria’s economy grew 0.5% in the first quarter, lifted by higher crude production and oil prices, the country’s statistics office said on Sunday, as activities slowly gain momentum after the gradual easing of coronavirus lockdowns. Africa’s largest economy, exited its second recession since 2016 in the fourth quarter, despite a …
Read More »New Zealand’s Ardern delivers welfare boost in annual budget as economy rebounds
New Zealand on Thursday lifted welfare benefit rates and promised billions of dollars more towards addressing rising inequality in its annual budget, as it predicted smaller deficits and faster economic recovery from COVID-19. The budget for the 2021 fiscal year allocated funds towards housing, healthcare, education, and infrastructure, while also …
Read More »EU freezes China investment deal ratification until Beijing lifts sanctions
The European Parliament halted on Thursday ratification of a new investment pact with China until Beijing lifts sanctions on EU politicians, deepening a dispute in Sino-European relations and denying EU companies greater access to China. The resolution to freeze ratification passed with 599 votes in favor, 30 votes against, and …
Read More »Iraq GDP per capita in 2020 dropped 30% to touch 4 thousand dollars
Iraq’s Ministry of Planning revealed, on Wednesday, that in 2020, the GDP per capita in Iraq has trended to nearly five million dinars. “According to the report of the Central Bureau of Statistics, the Iraq GDP per capita was projected to 4.950 million dinars (about 4.2 thousand dollars) in 2020, …
Read More »Bank of America to raise US minimum hourly wage to $25 by 2025
Bank of America plans to raise its minimum wage for U.S. workers to $25 an hour by 2025, the latest among major firms promising to pay employees more after a year of pandemic risks and government subsidies that fueled conversations on whether companies pay their workers enough. Bank of America’s …
Read More »Wall Street drops on inflation jitters, led by tech stocks
Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Tuesday, led by tech-related stocks, as investors feared that rising inflation could push the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy faster than expected. The outperformers of 2020, Apple, Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp, Google-parent Alphabet Inc, and Tesla Inc fell between 0.8% and 2.4%, weighed …
Read More »Japan’s record economic plunge wipes out Abe era gains
Japan was hit by its biggest economic slump on record in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic emptied shopping malls and crushed demand for cars and other exports, bolstering the case for bolder policy action to prevent a deeper recession. The third straight quarter of declines knocked the size …
Read More »Oil slips below $45 on-demand doubts, rising supply
Oil slipped further below $45 a barrel on Friday, giving up this week’s gains, under pressure from doubts about demand recovery due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and rising supply. Two prominent forecasters, the International Energy Agency and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries trimmed their 2020 oil demand …
Read More »In China, fears of financial Iron Curtain as U.S. tensions rise
A sharp escalation in tensions with the United States has stoked fears in China of a deepening financial war that could result in it being shut out of the global dollar system – a devastating prospect once considered far-fetched but now not impossible. Chinese officials and economists have in recent …
Read More »Dollar weakens as US stimulus impasse undermines
The dollar fell from a one-week high on Wednesday, as political squabbling over a stimulus package for the U.S. economy halted its recent rebound. The greenback, however, rose to a three-week peak against the yen, climbing for a fourth straight session. The dollar/yen pair typically moves in tandem with U.S. …
Read More »Senators urge U.S. to remove tariffs on EU foods, beverages
A bipartisan group of 13 U.S. senators has asked the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office (USTR) to remove 25% tariffs imposed in October 2019 on European Union food, wine, and spirits, according to a letter seen by Reuters. The tariffs, in retaliation for EU subsidies on large aircraft, hit French wine, …
Read More »Turkish annual July inflation dips below 12%, lira firms
Turkey’s consumer price inflation fell to a lower-than-expected 11.76% year-on-year in July, official data showed on Tuesday, reversing two months of rising inflation as the economy continued to emerge from lockdown. The figures boosted the lira TRYTOM=D3, which firmed to 6.9270 against the dollar. The currency weakened last week to …
Read More »Euro zone factory activity bounced back to growth in July: PMI
Just over 18 million people have been infected by the coronavirus. But governments around Europe have eased some restrictions that had shuttered vast swathes of the bloc’s economy. To offer support to the ravaged economy, the European Central Bank has ramped up its stimulus measures and European Union leaders have …
Read More »Coronavirus costs international tourism three times more than last financial crisis – UN
Tourism industry lost over $320bn due to COVID19 Before countries started to reopen for travelers, the tourism industry lost over a third of a trillion dollars in revenue as the pandemic brought travel to an almost complete halt, according to UN calculations. In the first five months of this year, …
Read More »US jobless claims rise for second week, GDP falls by record 33 percent
More than 1.43 million people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, according to new weekly data from the Department of Labor. It’s the second-straight week that the number has risen. The extent of the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic was further revealed on Thursday, …
Read More »German economy plunged 10% during 2nd quarter amid pandemic
Germany’s economy, Europe’s largest, took a massive hit during the pandemic shutdowns, shrinking by 10.1% percent during the April-June period from the previous quarter as exports and business investment collapsed. It was the biggest drop since quarterly growth figures began being compiled in 1970, the official statistics agency said Thursday. …
Read More »Oil prices steady as demand concerns offset US stimulus hopes
Oil prices were steady on Tuesday, erasing gains earlier in the session, as rising coronavirus cases dampened the outlook for demand and countered optimism over more U.S. stimulus. Efforts to stimulate the U.S. economy’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis had raised hopes for stronger oil demand. However, a proposal on …
Read More »Oil slips on US-China tensions, rising virus cases
Oil prices edged lower on Monday as rising coronavirus cases and tensions between the United States and China pushed investors towards safe-haven assets. Brent crude LCOc1 dipped 20 cents, or 0.5%, to $43.14 a barrel by 1000 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 dropped to $41.15 a …
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