Oil Price Increase Due to Egypt’s Unrest
Oil prices hiked up to $100 per barrel due to the tension that is happening in the Middle East, particularly in Egypt. However, the secretary general of the Opec oil carter, Abdalla El-Badri, said that there is sufficient supply of oil in the market. He has dismissed the calls and news about the rising prices of oil as well as the anxiety that is rising from the inflation and its impact on global economic growth.
China’s Lending Surpasses World Bank
China has been recorded to have lent a lot of money for funding to many other countries in the last few years. Sources say that China has surpassed the amount of lent money compared to the World Bank. Analysts and economists say that this is a big sign that China is a super power in the economic world. The two banks that provided much of the funding in various developing countries are China development Bank and china Export-Import Bank.
Bank Reserves in China are Increased
The reserves that are needed by commercial banks in the central bank will be increased according to the Chinese government. This policy is due to the large trade surplus in the previous month as exports and imports shoot up and became strong for the Chinese economy. The required increase is at 50 basis points for the reserve requirements as specified by the central bank. It is the sixth time that this type of policy was implemented so that the liquidity of the economy of the Republic of China will be slowed down.
Asian Stocks Plummet After Korean Incident
Asian stocks continue to plummet down after the South Korean bombing by North Korea. A South Korean island was bombarded and it is the bloodiest assault yet by the dictatorship for more than two decades. FTSE Asia Pacific index went down 0.4% on Wednesday after a previous 1.1% decrease. Kospi of South Korea was also going down at a 0.6% rate at noon on Wednesday after sliding down steeply at 2.4% in the morning. The won is 1% down to 1,149.30 against the United States dollar. Last Tuesday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 went down to 0.8% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng went up to 0.6% after going down at an astounding 2.7% on Monday.
Obama Supports India’s UN Security Council Seat
The President of the United States, Barack Obama, has endorsed India to have a permanent seat in the Security Council of the United Nations. This was his final words in his three-day diplomatic visit to the country. He intends to tighten the relationship between the United States and India. India has been lobbying for Security Council permanent membership for many years and they have asked many endorsements as well as proposed to many forums to prove that they are a global power that can be responsible. Obama then gave the full endorsement to the United Nations regarding India as a very good addition to the UN Security Council. He believes that India can be a good permanent member to achieve a United Nations “that is efficient, effective, credible and legitimate.”
