The US Federal Reserve (Fed) maintains its key interest rate at 4.25-4.5% annually following three reductions. The regulator's choice was clarified by the "somewhat heightened" rate of inflation in the US, along with a labor market that was stronger than anticipated. Maintaining the rate can also be viewed as a reaction to President Donald Trump, who has expressed his goal of achieving a swift...

US President Donald Trump revealed intentions to restart oil and gas extraction in the protected lands of Alaska. He believes that the reserves from these fields can satisfy the needs of the whole Asian market. The president stated that an executive order will soon be issued for the resumption measure. “I believe I'm going to accomplish it through an executive order ... I believe we will complete...

According to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Bitcoin might theoretically reach $700,000 if worldwide investment funds allocated 2 to 5% of their portfolios to the cryptocurrency. “This week, I had discussions with representatives from sovereign wealth funds about whether we should dedicate 2% of the portfolio to bitcoin investments. Or 5%? If all parties consented to that, the price of Bitcoin would...

Beijing will extend equal treatment to foreign financial institutions as it does to domestic ones when introducing new categories of financial services not currently accessible in the country, as reported by Reuters referencing the People's Bank of China. International banks will have the opportunity to provide new varieties of financial services in certain free trade zones. China has also...

Fitch, the international rating agency, forecasts that the European gas market will face a supply shortfall this year, resulting in elevated prices. “We anticipate that the European market will face a supply deficit in 2025, resulting in elevated and extremely fluctuating gas prices.” According to our EMEA Utilities Outlook 2025, "we anticipate the average TTF index gas price to reach $11 per...

In 2024, the United States became Germany's largest trading partner for the first time since 2016, thus relegating China, which has held the position for the last eight years, to second place. This information was provided by the German government agency, Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI) on January 20. As per its computations, the trade volume between Germany and the United States rose by 0.8%...

The fragmentation of the global economy is expected to persist over the coming three years, predicts the Chief Economists Outlook survey conducted for the World Economic Forum (WEF, scheduled for Davos, Switzerland, January 20-24). During the survey preparation, interviews were conducted with representatives from international organizations (such as the World Bank, World Trade Organization, and...

The World Bank (WB) has upheld its projection for global economic growth next year at 2.7%, according to the report from the organization. The WB also projects global GDP growth for 2024 at 2.7%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points from its forecast in June. In 2026, the rate is projected to be 2.7%. "Global growth is projected to have steadied at 2.7% last year and is expected to stay at that...

Brazil exported a historic amount of coffee to international markets at the end of last year, with the volume rising by 28.5% from 2023 and by 12.8% from its peak in 2020, according to the Brazilian Coffee Association. The association stated that “considering the numbers from December, Brazil set a new annual export record in 2024, delivering 50.443 million bags of coffee to 116 nations, showing...