Tag Archives: INTELPIC

🌾 Russia first in wheat exports for second straight year
Second consecutive strong wheat harvest strengthens Russia’s position as No. 1 exporter while easing price pressure on markets.
Overflowing Russian grain ports have brought wheat consumers affected by the cost-of-living crisis a positive result: the lowest prices in almost three years.
Prices in the Chicago market are now less than half of the peak reached after the Ukrainian conflict began.
“There are not a lot of competitors for Russian wheat,” said Hélène Duflot, a grain-market analyst at Strategie Grains. “Russia is the price maker at the moment.”
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🇦🇷 The IMF grip is set to tighten
Argentina and the International Monetary Fund have had a rocky history, and it appears that things may deteriorate further.
Just five years ago, Argentina became the largest debtor to the Washington-based lender, receiving $57 billion in aid. Unfortunately, the program failed to revive South America’s second-largest economy.
At present, the government has been unable to meet the economic targets set by the IMF.
This has led to mounting pressure, with analysts suggesting that the IMF should adopt a tougher stance when a new government takes office after the October elections.
“No matter who wins after the vote, the IMF should insist that the government either bite the bullet – or otherwise the Fund should pull the plug on its support,” said Mark Sobel, a former US representative at the IMF.
Javier Milei, who emerged as the frontrunner in last month’s primary election, is in favor of dollarizing the economy and believes that the IMF should push Argentina to reduce its primary budget deficit to 1.9% of GDP by 2023.
However, even if Milei wins the October 22 election and assumes power in December, he will need the support of a united congress to pass reforms and implement a new IMF program.
Meanwhile, economy minister Sergio Massa, the presidential candidate of the center-left Peronist coalition, pledged this week to exempt millions of workers from income taxes shortly after receiving new IMF funds. This move could further strain Argentina’s already tense relationship with the fund.
Hence, after the elections, the new president will not only have to address domestic issues but also find a way to negotiate with the powerful lender, which is increasingly dissatisfied with the current policies.
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For decades, no global currency has stood a chance of dethroning the U.S. dollar. But a growing coalition of countries is apparently seeking to do just that — and they’re already making moves.
The Indian government announced on Aug. 14 that the country’s leading petroleum refiner, Indian Oil Corp., used the local rupee to buy one million barrels of oil from the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company — not the U.S. dollar.

Russian energy major Gazprom delivered its first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) via the Northern Sea Route (NSR) to China on Thursday, Reuters reported, citing the LSEG financial information company, as Moscow wants to expand using the Arctic corridor in the face of Western sanctions.
The Velikiy Novgorod tanker, loaded with LNG from the Portovaya LNG plant in the Baltic Sea, set sail to China on August 14, according to data. It has now arrived at the terminal of Tangshan Caofeidian in the Hebei province.
Russia wants the NSR – which runs through the Arctic Ocean off the country’s northern coastline and is the shortest shipping route between East Asia and Europe – to become a major shipping lane, and is investing heavily in its infrastructure. Moscow has touted NSR as an alternative to the Suez Canal.
RT News
Mainstream announcement of initiatives in line with UKAZ and REDA projects ⚡️🔥😄

SWIFT enrolls 3 central banks in CBDC interoperability beta test, expands sandbox
– SWIFT’s CBDC interoperability test has entered a new phase of sandbox testing.
– The Hong Kong Monetary Authority have integrated their infrastructure’ with ‘CBDC connector solution ‘ for direct testing.
– The first phase began in March with 18 participants.
– This phase the number of participants will top 30.
Sandbox and beta tests 😎😁❤️

🇦🇷 Argentina abolishes income tax
Well, not entirely, but close.
Argentina has announced that it will exempt millions of workers from paying income tax in an attempt to boost the standing of Economy Minister, Sergio Massa, in next month’s presidential election.
However, the measure puts the nation at risk of deepening the country’s fiscal hole.
As of October, workers earning less than 1.7 million pesos ($4,857) per month will no longer have to pay income tax, up from the previous threshold of about 700,000 pesos, according to Massa’s statement.
This exemption means that only 90,000 top-level managers and senior executives across the country will be required to pay the tax, which is less than 1% of the total number of registered workers.
Massa is competing to advance to the second round of Argentina’s Oct. 22 presidential election after his Peronist coalition finished third in last month’s primaries.
He met with the country’s biggest union leaders on Monday to unveil the measure and made the announcement during a rally in downtown Buenos Aires, where he urged voters to support him in the upcoming election.
“Workers will not pay any more taxes on their earnings,” he said.
His main competitors in the election are Javier Milei, who emerged as the primary vote winner, and Patricia Bulrich.
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Binance US CEO resigns as one-third of staff is laid off
Binance US CEO Brian Schroder has left the crypto trading platform and been replaced on an interim basis by Chief Legal Officer Norman Reed, a company spokesperson said.
The departure comes as the company is conducting a second round of layoffs, cutting about a third of its staff, or more than 100 positions, as regulatory crackdown undermines its business.
Binance Holdings has been shedding executives and other employees in recent months as well. This month, two executives overseeing regions including Eastern Europe and Russia left. In August, Binance lost its Asia-Pacific’s head and in July, a slew of executives including its chief strategy officer.
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Malaysia will take a tougher stance to recover more funds from Goldman Sachs if the US investment bank continues to refrain from engaging with Putrajaya about repatriating funds stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The Prime Minister said the money must be returned for people’s education, public healthcare and basic amenities.
“We are not some banana republic that you can plunder and leave.
“I will be in the United States next week and we hope to find an amicable solution to this issue,” he said during a talk during the 10th Annual Asia Summit here on Wednesday (Sept 13).
He said that the investment community was aware how the scandal has caused the Malaysian economy to suffer.

FTX 2.0: crypto exchange to lay out reboot plan
FTX has contacted more than 75 bidders since May to gauge industry interest in supporting the reopening of the exchange, according to a presentation filed in Delaware state court.
Several bidders have submitted proposals that are currently going through the due diligence and information exchange process, the legacy managers said, and the deadline for submitting new proposals is Sept. 24.
A plan to relaunch a new version of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange could come as early as next year.
In case you’re new to this, FTX was one of the world’s largest digital asset trading platforms prior to its bankruptcy.
It was a key part of a cryptocurrency empire controlled by its now-jailed CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces trial next month on fraud and other charges.
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