The benchmark lending rate (LPR) for one year was maintained at 3.45% annually by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the nation's central bank. Five-year borrowing rates remained at 3.95%, historically low. In February, the Chinese central bank reduced the five-year loan rate by 25 basis points in an attempt to prop up the economy, which was being battered by a persistent downturn in the real...

According to calculations made by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman, businesses involved in commodity trading made $100 billion in profits overall by the end of 2023. This is the second-highest figure after the record-breaking year of 2022, when overall earnings reached approximately $150 billion. After the turbulent events of 2022, which included supply chain disruptions, high market volatility,...

According to the German newspaper NIUS, the number of bankrupt companies in Germany has been in the double digits for the past year and a half, and there is every reason to anticipate that it will continue to rise. There were 17,814 German company bankruptcies in 2023, a 22.1% rise from the previous year. The authors stress that 38% more major bankruptcies were reported than a year earlier, and...

A number of American airlines have stated that they anticipate a decrease in aircraft deliveries in 2024 because of Boeing's issues. Southwest Airlines announced on March 12 that it had received word from Boeing that, contrary to expectations, the company would only be able to obtain 46 737 MAX 8 aircraft this year, as opposed to 79. The airline stated that as a result, it will have to alter its...

According to research firm Gartner, shipments of electric vehicles worldwide would rise to 18.4 million units in 2024 and 20.6 million in 2025. Global sales of electric vehicles exceeded 15 million in 2023. 15% of electric car startups that were established in the last ten years are expected to be purchased or file for bankruptcy by 2027. "This does not imply that the market for electric...

The UK exchanges are now able to trade assets related to cryptocurrencies thanks to permission from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Financial Times reports that only experienced investors will be permitted to transact using exchange-traded notes, or ETNs, in the cryptocurrency space. Notably, the watchdog issued a warning, stating that these instruments are "ill-suited for private...

Preliminary estimates from the World Gold Council (WGC) indicate that 39 tons of gold were purchased by global central banks in January as foreign exchange reserves. According to WGC analyst Krishan Gopaul's evaluation, this is more than double the specified amounts of December (16.9 tons), making January the eighth straight month of growth. China (10 tons) and Turkey (11.8 tons) were the...

The largest lithium producer in the world, US-based Albemarle, said in a press release that it has begun a public offering of $1.75 billion in depositary shares. Each of the securities represents a 5% interest in one mandatory convertible preferred stock of Series A. Albemarle plans to provide the offering's underwriters a 30-day window to buy an additional $262.5 million worth of depositary...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reported a net loss of 3.2 billion francs ($3.6 billion) for 2023. The loss was 132.5 billion francs in 2022. According to the SNB, its foreign currency positions saw a profit of 4 billion francs last year, while its local currency positions saw a loss of 8.5 billion francs. Concurrently, gold's worth increased by 1.7 billion francs on the Central Bank's balance...