September 18th – The BESA Times
Nineteenth Edition - Sunday, September 18th
Every week, a complete snapshot of what happened around the world in the past seven days
Notable Headlines
Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, facing a key referendum at home later this year, accused Germany, France and Spain of breaking European Union rules on deficit control and spending. He called on EU Leaders to acknowledge that austerity policies have failed and denied the criticism was designed to foster support among euro-skeptic voters before the Constitutional Referendum expected in November or December.
The Nigerian army released 566 persons, including 355 babies, held by Islamist militant group Boko Haram in several camps across Northeastern Borno state. Nigeria has been grappling with Boko Haram since 2009, when it began an insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people in a bid to impose its version of Islamic law.
Bank of Russia says easing over for 2016 after second cut. While Governor Elvira Nabiullina conceded that another decrease this year can’t be completely ruled out, she said it’s “extremely unlikely”. The Bank of Russia has its reputation on the line as it looks to rein in inflation to 4 percent by the end of 2017 after overshooting its price forecasts in 2015 for a fourth year.
What to remember of last week's news?
India set for record harvest as timely rainfall boosts crops. India is counting on an increase in production of food to curb food inflation after the first back-to-back shortfall in monsoon rainfall in three decades ravaged crops and widened a shortage of essential commodities.
Italy has asked the European Union to boost financial incentives for the defense industry as it seeks closer EU military cooperation in light of the U.K.’s decision to quit the bloc. The measures recommend giving defense ministries and firms access to European Investment Bank financing as well as to new research funding, removing VAT on purchases, omit big item spending from deficit calculations and the development of new pan-European military programs and the pooled purchasing of equipment for the bloc’s armed forces.
Austria’s presidential election rerun, scheduled after a court ruled votes weren’t counted properly, can’t be held as planned on Oct. 2 because of postal-ballot envelopes that don’t seal properly. The rerun became necessary in July after Austria’s constitutional court voided a May 22 vote in which former Green Party leader Alexander Van der Bellen beat nationalist contender Norbert Hofer by about 30,000 ballots from more than 4.5 million cast. While the Austrian president has a largely ceremonial role, he or she can dismiss the government and call fresh elections.
A week in the financial markets
Our Homemade Article
Negative Interest Rates and the Hunt for Yield by Felix Lim for BESA
What to expect for next week?
United States Q2 GDP set to be released as before the Federal Reserve’s Janet Yellen speaks on monetary policy on Friday. The data is being looked at closely as a strong indicator of the Federal Reserve’s decision to hike interest rates.
Europe's CPI, a measure of price movements by the comparison between the retail prices of a representative shopping basket of goods and services will be announced, an indication of the effectiveness of European economic policies.
WRITTEN BY THE BESA RESEARCH TEAM
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