The Central Bank of Brazil has suspended implementation of digital payments in WhatsApp messenger, Bloomberg reports, citing a statement by the Central Bank. It is noted that the bank ordered Visa and Mastercard to stop conducting any operations and money transfers through WhatsApp. According to the bank’s statement, the halt will allow the watchdog to assess any possible threat to the...

An expert at Deutsche Bank warned that investors would abandon the dollar if the second wave of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic begins. According to him, the US exit strategy from restrictions looks worse than that of other countries. Investor demand for the US dollar as a reserve currency could drop significantly if the second wave of coronavirus starts, Deutsche Bank macro strategy chief on...

COVID-19 coronavirus spreading from China caused serious damage to the business and economies of many countries of the world. However, at the same time, it contributed to revenue growth for companies engaged in the areas of Internet commerce, online entertainment and other digital services. The Chinese IT corporations decided to seize the moment: now, they intend to conquer the whole world as...

The coronavirus pandemic did not have a significant impact on the world's largest mining companies. According to PwC estimates, the total revenue and EBITDA of the 40 the sector’s largest players by the end of the year will decrease by only 6%. Even lower oil prices are playing into the hands of companies, as energy costs account for a quarter of direct costs. At the same time, a reduction in...

The first half of 2020 ends optimistically for oil producers. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects that demand in the second quarter will not fall as much as expected, while oil supply will be reduced (by almost 12 million barrels per day in May). Participants in the OPEC + transaction over the past month reduced supplies by 89% of the adopted plan, including the main suppliers - Russia...

The Bank of Japan once again kept the interest rate at a negative level - minus 0.1%, according to a statement from the financial regulator following the June meeting. Eight members of the regulator were in favor of maintaining a negative interest rate, one was against. The Japanese Central Bank introduced the negative interest rate of minus 0.1% in January 2016. In addition, the organization...

Since the mid-2000s, the US state aerospace agency NASA began to attract private investors in space exploration. In 2006, it launched the Commercial Resupply Services program to use the services of private companies to deliver goods, and, in the future, astronauts to the ISS. The result of this program was a contract with SpaceX, concluded in 2015. The success of Elon Musk, owner of a private...

Following the results of the planned June meeting, the US Federal Reserve System (FRS) left the key rate at 0-0.25% per annum. At the same time, the regulator promised to use the “entire set of support measures” and continue to repurchase bonds at least in current volumes - pointing to medium-term risks for the economy. In the updated macro forecast, the Fed expects a decrease in US GDP by 6.5%...

The coronavirus pandemic and quarantine measures introduced to contain it were a sharp and widespread shock for the global economy, plunging it into a deep recession, according to the Global Economic Prospects (GEP) in World Bank (WB)’s June review. According to the WB forecast, global GDP will decline by 5.2% in 2020, and this is the highest rate since the Second World War. At the same time, a...