Russia plans to issue its first yuan-denominated bond as the country is working with China to cut reliance on the US greenback, Russian broadcaster RT reports.

China and Russia are drawing increasingly close amid a changing global landscape marked by President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy and his trade war which involves multiple battles with US allies and others alike.

Beijing and Moscow have been planning yuan bonds since 2016, but the plan has been postponed several times. According to RT, Russia now expects to issues its first sovereign debt in the Chinese currency, officially called renminbi, by the end of the year or early next year.

Both countries are concerned about “the dollar hegemony” and see the launch as a stepping stone in their bid to break the dominion up, the network said.

“It’s a step towards de-dollarization,” investment strategist with Premier BCS Anton Bakhtin told RT. “Secondly, it’s an additional bridge between us and the Chinese investors.”

As tensions escalate with the US, world countries are becoming increasingly worried about Washington using global reliance on the dollar as a weapon.

However, it will take much more time to fully shift away from the greenback and countries are looking for additional financial instruments as protection.

Both China and Russia have been stockpiling gold. Since December, the People’s Bank of China has reportedly added about 100 tonnes of gold to its reserves. Russia has bought 106 tonnes of the precious metal this year.

Over the past decade, Russia has more than quadrupled its gold reserves to more than 2,200 tonnes and now owns the fifth-largest stockpile by country. China’s reserves reportedly stand at more than 1,950 tonnes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has taken a special interest in breaking up America’s “exorbitant privilege” in the words of former French President Charles de Gaulle through the dollar hegemony.

In June, Putin urged five major emerging economic powers – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, known as BRICS – to accelerate developing a system that could replace the dollar.

China, on the other hand, is on a campaign to make the renminbi a global reserve currency and its rising gold reserves could add to world confidence in the currency.

China’s launch of yuan-denominated Shanghai futures in March generated a lot of enthusiasm around the world.

Experts say the new futures contract traded on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange is now on course to become an alternative international oil benchmark not priced in dollars.

Source: Presstv

Chinese President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have agreed to cooperate in the spirit of multilateralism and free trade, with the visiting German leader vowing to expand investments in China, which is its largest trading partner.

The development came as the two leaders met and held discussions in Beijing on Friday, when Xi pointed to the common interests of China and Europe in “safeguarding the basic rules of (a)multilateral trading system” and called for jointly upholding what he referred to as “international fairness and justice,” China’s state broadcaster CCTV reported.

According to the report, Merkel further described Beijing-Berlin dialog and cooperation as extensive and expressed Germany’s satisfaction in sharing China’s achievements on multilateralism and pledged to promote people-to people and cultural exchanges.  

She further shared Xi’s perspective that unilateralism and protectionism also have adverse impact on Germany, insisting that trading partners should work to overcome differences and frictions through dialog and consultation.

The Chinese president then emphasized that as two of the world’s major economic powers with global influences, China and Germany should exhibit responsibility and “jointly uphold international fairness and justice,” the report added.

Xi further called for stronger cooperation between the two nations in emerging fields such as intelligent manufacturing, artificial intelligence, digitalization and 5G networks as well as new energy vehicles to jointly cultivate and explore future markets.

The report also cited Xi as saying that China is “accelerating the opening of its financial and service sectors” and would welcome Germany’s investment in such sectors, providing Berlin and others with newer opportunities.

Merkel, who is on a two-day tour of China at the invitation of Premier, Li Keqiang, further expressed Germany’s willingness to “play a constructive role in the development of EU-China relations” and to enhance communication and coordination with Beijing in the field of international affairs.

The visit came amid an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing as China on Monday filed a complaint against the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO) after the Trump administration imposed new tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese imports.

China’s Commerce Ministry declared in a statement that Beijing would defend its legal rights in accordance with the rules of the international body that limit the tariffs each country is allowed to charge.

The announcement came one day after the US began imposing 15-percent tariffs on a variety of Chinese products. In a retaliatory move, China also began imposing new duties on US crude oil.

This is while China’s Commerce Ministry further announced in a Thursday statement that trade negotiations aimed at ending a protracted tariff war with Washington are scheduled to resume in the US capital next month.

According to the statement, American and Chinese trade negotiators had earlier in the day held a phone conversation and agreed to meet “in early October” for another round of talks.

China’s Vice Premier Liu was further cited as saying that he spoke with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on the phone and both parties agreed to hold what will be the thirteenth round of high-level economic talks in Washington at the beginning of next month.

The last round of the US-China trade negotiations was held in Shanghai in July, which was hailed as “constructive” but ended with no announcements.

Over the past year, the world’s two largest economies have been involved in a tense trade war, which escalated further on September 1 when both sides started implementing fresh levies on each other’s products.

Source: Presstv

The pirates, who kidnapped eight sailors from a cargo vessel off the coast of Cameroon last week, contacted the ship owner, according to a source from the Russian Embassy in Cameroon on Wednesday.

Three Russian nationals are being held hostage and a ransom for their release is being negotiated on, a source in the embassy said in an interview with Russian state-run news agencies TASS and RIA.

The talks can last for up to two weeks and the amount of ransom will not be revealed for the captives’ security, the source said.

The health condition of the Russian captives is “satisfactory,” according to the source, and an agreement was reached to supply them with medicines against malaria.

“The pirates, based on our information, are Nigerians. Presumably, the sailors were taken to Nigeria. An emergency response group is negotiating the release of sailors,” the source said.

Nigerian police spokesman Frank Mba said there was no information yet about three Russian sailors abducted off the Cameroonian coasts last Friday.

“We will act immediately once we have any information on the incident or their whereabouts,” Mba told Anadolu Agency.

Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said its diplomats are working with Cameroonian officials to accelerate the process of the release of the Russian citizens.

The vessel, which belongs to German company MarConsult Schiffahrt, was attacked near Port Douala, eight sailors were kidnapped, one Ukrainian, three Russians and four Filipinos. The vessel itself was not seized.

*Abu ‘Adnan contributed to this story from Lagos, Nigeria

Source: aa.com

US President Donald Trump has accused the mainstream American media of trying to crash the country’s economy as recession fears grow due to Trump’s trade disputes with several countries particularly China.

“The Fake News Media is doing everything they can to crash the economy because they think that will be bad for me and my re-election,” he said in a tweet on Thursday. “The problem they have is that the economy is way too strong and we will soon be winning big on Trade, and everyone knows that, including China!”

Trump’s critics have accused him of trying to shift blame for recession concerns away from his escalating trade disputes with the world.

China on Thursday vowed to retaliate against planned escalations with unspecified but “necessary” countermeasures against the latest round of US tariffs levied on $300 billion of Chinese products as part of an escalating trade war.

Early this month, Trump tweeted that Washington will commence imposing tariffs of 10 percent on the remaining $300 billion of goods and products coming from the Asian country to the US from September 1.

The surprise tariff announcement came days after officials from the US and China restarted trade talks in Shanghai, China.

However, Trump backed off on part of the plan on Tuesday, postponing tariffs on some items such as cell phones, laptops and other consumer goods.

He hoped that the move could blunt their impact on US holiday sales. However, tariffs will still apply to those products from mid-December.

On Wednesday, US stocks tumbled as weak economic data from China and Germany and a key US Treasury benchmark exacerbated global recession fears.

Trump, however, targeted Federal Reserve policy as the culprit for the market turmoil. The Federal Reserve cut interest rates last month and is expected to make additional cuts in the months ahead.

Source: Presstv

Many black people in the United States have difficulty saving money partly because they lack access to traditional banking services, contributing to the growing racial wealth gap in the US, a new study has found.

Many African Americans depend on more expensive alternative financial services like check-cashing counters since there are fewer banks in non-white neighborhoods, according to the study published on Tuesday by McKinsey & Co.

Increasing access to basic banking services, like checking and savings accounts, could save individual black Americans up to $40,000 over their lifetime, the report found.

“Black families are being underserved and overcharged by institutions that can provide the best channels for saving,” said the report authored by McKinsey partners Shelley Stewart and Jason Wright.

In majority-white communities, there are an average of 41 banks and financial institutions for every 100,000 people, compared with 27 in neighborhoods that are majority non-white, the study said.

However, more expensive alternative financial services like payday lending are more readily available in black neighborhoods, the report said.

Additionally, banks in black communities typically require higher account balances to avoid service fees, the study said.

The US racial wealth gap has expanded significantly over the last two decades, with the wealth of the average white family growing 10 times higher than the average wealth of a black family, according to government data.

The white household had a net worth of $171,000 while average black and Hispanic households had a median net worth of $17,600 and $20,700 respectively.

“When you bridge that gap, the money is not just going to black pockets, it’s going to everyone’s pockets,” Wright told Reuters.

America’s racial income inequality and corporate greed has become a focus of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

Critics say the tax policies of US President Donald Trump has funneled vast amounts of money to the wealthiest Americans while offering only modest benefits to lower income taxpayers.

Source: Presstv

The grounding of the 737 MAX for more than four months after two deadly accidents has tarnished Boeing’s reputation, but it still has the confidence of US policymakers.

This is despite the fact that one of the MAX flight systems, the MCAS, has been cited in both accidents.

Is this an indication that the American aerospace giant is too big to fail?

President Donald Trump, whose mantra is “America first,” certainly criticized Boeing early in his administration over the presidential plane, Air Force One, but he has been largely silent about the recent woes.

The wave of negative press about the flaws that caused the deaths of 346 people did not prompt legislators to summon Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg before Congress to inflict on him the kind of humiliation Wall Street bankers were subject to following the global financial crisis.

“Boeing is one of the engines of the US economy, it’s way too big and too important for the United States,” said Michel Merluzeau, an expert at Air Insight Research.

– Political ties –

If American politicians were to attack the manufacturer, they would be shooting themselves in the foot, Merluzeau said, because “there are many jobs involved, a very, very numerous supply chain and it cannot be replaced with Facebook or Google that don’t produce anything tangible.”

Founded 103 years ago, Boeing employs more than 150,000 people around the world, the vast majority in the United States.

In addition to direct jobs, its subcontractors — like General Electric (GE), United Technologies and Spirit Aerosystems — are large US industrial employers.

The location of Boeing plants resembles a political campaign map, with facilities in Republican strongholds like Alabama, South Carolina and Texas, and Democratic areas like California and Washington, as well as states that helped Trump win the election: Pennsylvania and Arizona.

And Muilenburg has shown political savvy in his picks for the company’s board of directors, naming Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations, and Caroline Kennedy, ally of former president Barack Obama and daughter of former president John F. Kennedy.

– Air Force One –

Boeing is a dominant player not just in civilian aircraft but in the defense and space industries, and is a major supplier to the Pentagon.

The company produced the famous B-17 and B-29 bombers of World War II and the B-52 used the Vietnam War. Today it produces a variety of aircraft including the F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet, Apache attack helicopters, the B-1 bomber and combat drones.

It also is part of SpaceX, which will manage travel to the International Space Station.

And Boeing manufactures the presidential plane, the iconic Air Force One.

But Boeing also “can be used as a strategic tool,” said Arthur Wheaton, a professor at Cornell University in New York.

Chinese purchases of Boeing aircraft are part of trade negotiations with Beijing, according to a source, since that can be a fast way to reduce the US trade deficit.

US civilian aircraft exports fell 12 percent to $20.4 billion in May, due to the MAX crisis, which affected the GDP, according to government data.

AFP

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the fourth review of the arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Cameroon on July 17, 2019. The completion of the review enables the disbursement of SDR 55.2 million (about US$76.2 million), bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to SDR 372.6 million (about US$514.5 million).

The Executive Board also approved the authorities’ request for a waiver for the non-observance of the performance criteria pertaining to the external arrears’ accumulation and the ceiling on net BEAC financing, based on the corrective actions taken by the authorities.

Cameroon’s three-year arrangement was approved on June 26, 2017 for SDR 483 million (about US$666.9million, or 175 percent of Cameroon’s quota—see Press Release No.17/248.) The arrangement aims at supporting the country’s efforts to restore external and fiscal sustainability and to lay the foundations for a more sustainable, inclusive and private sector-led growth.

Following the Executive Board discussion, Mr. Mitsuhiro Furusawa, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, made the following statement:

“Cameroon’s performance under the ECF-supported program has improved from a year ago. Most end-December 2018 targets including on the fiscal deficit have been met, and structural reforms are advancing.

Cameroon continues to play a leadership role in the rebuilding of CEMAC’s fiscal and external buffers. Going forward, the Cameroonian authorities’ continued support of the implementation of the BEAC’s foreign exchange regulation will be essential to ensure full repatriation of foreign exchange receipts.

Enhanced fiscal discipline is key to reaching the end-2019 program targets and mitigating risks from external shocks and security challenges. Reducing recourse to exceptional spending procedures and completing the Treasury Single Account reform will support the steadfast implementation of the 2019 budget while improving cash management and the transparency of budget execution.

Refraining from new non-concessional borrowing and strictly adhering to the disbursement plan for contracted-but-undisbursed loans are essential to preserving debt sustainability. Further project prioritization and enhanced investment efficiency will help address developmental needs while supporting prudent debt management. Improving the financial viability of key public enterprises through performance contracts and targeted reforms of administered prices will reduce reliance on subsidies and mitigate risks from contingent liabilities.

Enhancing financial inclusion, the business climate, and governance remains central to promoting private sector development and boosting competitiveness. In particular, further strengthening EITI compliance and the AML/CFT framework are essential to promoting private sector-led growth and attracting foreign investment.

Cameroon’s program continues to be supported by the implementation of supportive policies and reforms by the regional institutions in the areas of foreign exchange regulations and monetary policy framework and to support an increase in regional net foreign assets, which are critical to the program’s success.”

IMF Communications Department

Deutsche Bank on Sunday (July 7) said it plans to cut 18,000 jobs in a sweeping, 7.4 billion euro overhaul designed to turn around Germany’s struggling flagship lender.

The plan represents a major retreat from trading by Deutsche Bank, which for years had tried to compete as a major force on Wall Street.

The bank will scrap its global equities business and scale back its investment bank. It expects a 2.8 billion euro ($3.1 billion) net loss in the second quarter as a result of restructuring charges.

Beyond the expected cutbacks to equities, Deutsche said it would also axe some of its fixed income operations, an area traditionally regarded as one of the bank’s strengths.

It will create a new unit to wind-down unwanted assets, with a value of 74 billion euros of risk-weighted assets.

Chief Executive Officer Christian Sewing flagged an extensive restructuring in May when he promised shareholders “tough cutbacks” to the investment bank. The pledge came after Deutsche failed to agree a merger with rival Commerzbank.

“We have started the most fundamental transformation of the Deutsche Bank for decade,” Joerg Eigendorf, Deutsche Bank head of communications told reporters on Sunday. “A new era starts for the Deutsche Bank. A new era, in which we aim to lead Deutsche Bank back onto the path of success for our clients, for our staff and of course for our shareholders,” he added.

Media reports had suggested that Deutsche Bank could cut as many as 20,000 jobs more than one in five of its 91,500 employees.

The bank did not disclose a geographic breakdown of the job cuts. The equities business is focused largely in New York and London.

A person with direct knowledge of the matter said job cuts would be distributed around the world, including in Germany.

The bank’s supervisory board met on Sunday to agree the proposed changes, one of the biggest announcements of job cuts at a major investment bank since 2011 when HSBC said it would axe 30,000 jobs.

(Source: Reuters)

American plane manufacturer Boeing has been hit with a class-action lawsuit lodged by more than 400 pilots over what they say is the company’s cover-up of design flaws in its 737 Max planes.

According to the suit, Boeing engaged in an “unprecedented cover-up of the known design flaws of the MAX, which predictably resulted in the crashes of two MAX aircraft and subsequent grounding of all MAX aircraft worldwide,” the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) reported Saturday.

Court documents the network obtained show that pilots, who were impacted by the decision to ground the aircraft, “suffer and continue to suffer significant lost wages, among other economic and non-economic damages.”

The original plaintiff is identified as “pilot X” because of the plaintiff’s “fear of reprisal from Boeing and discrimination from Boeing customers.”

The complainant lodged the statement of claim on Friday, seeking millions in damages for colleagues and Boeing customers.

The hearing for the case is scheduled to be held in a court in Chicago on October 21, according to ABC.

More than 300 Boeing 737 MAX planes were grounded globally following the two deadly crashes that left 346 people dead.

An Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX en route from Addis Ababa to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi crashed a few minutes after take-off on March 10, killing all 157 people, mostly foreign nationals, on board.

A 737 MAX passenger jet crashed five months earlier on October 29, 2018 into the Java Sea in Indonesia, killing 189 people.

The American company last month acknowledged that it had to correct flaws in its 737 MAX flight simulator software used to train pilots.

However, it did not say when it first realized there was a problem, and whether it notified regulators of the matter.

Source: Presstv

The first Russia-Africa summit this fall will hopefully increase Russian business presence on the continent, the Cameroonian ambassador to Russia, Mahamat Paba Sale, said on Thursday. “We count on this enterprise because, thanks to this event, Russian enterprises that are already present on our continent will further deepen their presence. They will be more interested in the African continent,” he said at a reception at the Russian Foreign Ministry dedicated to Africa Day.

The summit will be held in the Russian resort of Sochi in October. The diplomat said he expected it to be widely covered in Russian media, which will bring African countries back into spotlight.

Russia and Cameroon share a 55-year history of diplomatic ties. As part of their cooperation program, Russia gave free university education to 35 Cameroonians in 2017-2018.

“Students in other countries cannot receive such serious training in such favorable conditions. Therefore, we would like to thank Russia in particular for this,” the ambassador said.

Russia and Cameroon will hold a high-level inter-parliamentary meeting in 2019. The diplomat said there would be time to discuss a wide range of issues at this year’s events.

Source: Urdupoint