On Wednesday, the Fed left the key rate in the range of 2.25-2.5% and hinted that most likely it will stay the same in 2019. Meanwhile, at the end of last year, high-ranking employees of the Federal Reserve made it clear that in 2019 there would be one to three rate increases. The ECB went even further two weeks ago. A new program to support the euro zone economies through cheap loans for banks...

Following the March meeting, the Federal Reserve System of the United States left the key rate at 2.25–2.5% per annum. Thus, the regulator, who raised the rate seven times in 2017–2018, decided to extend the pause in monetary policy tightening, taken in January. Now, the Fed does not promise a rate hike this year: it was previously assumed that there would be two raises. The new soft policy of...

Six banks from around the world signed a protocol of intent to issue their own stablecoins secured by national currencies in the Blockchain World Wire (BWW) payment network, Cheddar financial channel reports citing a statement from IBM Vice President Blockchain Initiatives Jesse Lund. The top manager said that in the future the company could issue its own stablebcoin to work with banks....

Real slowdown in the growth of the Chinese economy after 2008 was more significant than official statistics reflect, according to a study by Brookings Institute of the US. The experts calculated that average rate of increase in China’s GDP was lower than the official by 1.7 percentage points. Distortion can be explained by incomplete adjustment of the National Bureau of Statistics of the PRC to...

Introduction of US protective import duties and the reciprocal increase in tariffs by China have already led to a decrease in bilateral trade. However, the negative effect on other trade flows (including those not affected by supply restrictions to/from the US) is overvalued. This conclusion was made by experts of the Washington Institute of International Finance. They analyzed changes in the...

Stagnation of maritime trade in oil and oil products, ignited by OPEC + restrictions and excess tonnage in the market, affected results of tanker companies in 2018. Freight rates, although they went up at the end of the year, continue to remain low, and most market players are still showing net losses. But analysts expect an improvement in the situation in 2019 and 2020: growth of the market will...

Rapid rise in prices for palladium, which have almost doubled in the last six months, is attracting attention of private investors. Is it worth investing in this metal now? At the end of February, the cost of palladium has exceeded the level of $ 1,500 per troy ounce for the first time in history, and on February 26 the price of the metal reached $ 1,534 per ounce. Currently, quotes have...

Demand for oil in China will reach its peak level in 2025, that is, 5-8 years earlier than most analysts expect, according to Morgan Stanley. Experts noted that such a forecast is based on uniqueness of the transport model implemented by the Chinese authorities. While most countries with a fast-growing economy expect an increase in oil consumption due to an increase in demand for cars, electric...

The most unpleasant mid-term concerns of analysts about prospects for the euro area economies in 2019 have been confirmed. After the meeting of the Board of Directors of the European Central Bank (ECB), its head Mario Draghi announced that the bank’s rate increase will probably not happen until 2020.The Eurozone’s GDP growth forecast for the next year has been reduced from 1.7% to 1.1%, and the...