By Andrei Skvarsky. Asia’s frontier markets in general have relatively low dependence on exports and are unlikely to be affected by Donald Trump’s anticipated tariff rises while potential higher U.S.-Chinese trade and political tensions may benefit frontier market nations such as Vietnam, fund manager Asia Frontier Capital (AFC) argues. Exports are responsible for a relatively… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Views
Renaissance Capital: rouble to be worth around 94.50 to USD in 2025
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital expects the rouble to keep weakening from now on and close at around 94.50 to the U.S. dollar in 2025 but warns there are risks the Russian currency will drop lower than that. “We stick to our forecast for the rouble: an average exchange rate of 93.00… Continue Reading
Forecast of Russian GDP growth slowdown to about 1% in 2025 backed by Renaissance
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow-based investment bank Renaissance Capital believes that deceleration of economic growth in Russia to around 1 per cent in 2025 forecast by the central bank is a more likely scenario than a slowdown to 2.5 per cent predicted by the Economic Development Ministry. Renaissance largely attributes the relatively fast gross domestic product… Continue Reading
World Bank offers anti-‘middle-income trap’ recipe to 100-odd nations
By Andrei Skvarsky. The World Bank has proposed a formula for avoiding a “middle-income trap”, an economic growth slowdown that, according to a common but disputed theory, typically hits a country after it has achieved a middle-income level and bars it from moving on to high-income status. Use of a two-component remedy – investment plus… Continue Reading
UAE’s ADCB to set up Islamic banking hub for Central Asia
By Andrei Skvarsky. Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is planning to boost the role of its Kazakhstan subsidiary Al Hilal Islamic Bank by making it a hub for corporate Islamic banking services for the whole of Central Asia in stepping up what ADCB calls its “strategic presence” in the region. Concurrently, ADCB will phase out retail… Continue Reading
Uzbekistan gold producer gets ‘BB-’ rating with ‘stable’ outlook from S&P
By Andrei Skvarsky. S&P Global Ratings has assigned a long-term rating of ‘BB- ‘ with a ‘stable’ outlook to Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company (NMMC), the world’s fourth-largest gold producer. This is the first rating obtained by the state-owned company from the New York City-based agency, NMMC said in a statement. One component of… Continue Reading
RenCap expects Russia’s GDP to grow 2.7 pct YoY in 2024
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian investment bank Renaissance Capital expects Russia to end 2024 with 2.7 per cent year-on-year economic growth, 5.7 per cent annual inflation and a relatively stable rouble, the institution’s chief economist has said. The rouble, which stands at around 90 to the U.S. dollar today, is likely to edge down to about… Continue Reading
Routing FDI into UK through Guernsey could reverse downward trend – financier
By Andrei Skvarsky. A “unique” relationship to the United Kingdom makes Guernsey, a UK dependency and an international financial centre, an effective channel for foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK, which is “ever more vital” for its economy but declining, according to a Guernsey-based financier. Guernsey “channels investment into the UK that other international… Continue Reading
ActivTrades: U.S. economy slowdown, $80 oil, more expensive gold likely 2024 highlights
An economic slowdown in the United States with potential depreciation of the dollar, a generally stable oil price of around $80 a barrel and higher gold prices are among global economic highlights predicted by the ActivTrades brokerage for 2024. Falling inflation in the United States, which plunged to 3.4 per cent by the end of… Continue Reading
Renaissance Capital foresees 1pc growth for Russian economy in ’24
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow-based investment bank Renaissance Capital forecasts 1 per cent growth for the Russian economy in 2024, relative near-term stability for the rouble and the reduction of a prohibitive key interest rate this year but argues that inflation tops Russia’s macroeconomic agenda. In 2023, Russia’s economy grew by 3.2 per cent, RenCap estimates.… Continue Reading
GUEST POST: Can IT Services Be a Growth Driver for the Uzbek Economy?
By Peter Margetts,managing partner,Room Seven Capital Partners.* Unlike most emerging markets, Uzbekistan is blessed with a highly diversified economy. Food production is a significant economic driver. The country is a top-10 global grower of cotton. It produces more than 150,000 tons of copper per year. Perhaps most importantly, industry is significant: Uzbekistan makes stuff! The… Continue Reading
Rewilding can be profitable business – UK financier
By Andrei Skvarsky. Rewilding, the practice of returning land to its natural state, can bring serious financial profits, a British financier and environmentalist argued at a conference earlier this month. A recent project to rewild marshes and forest land in Somerset was one example cited at the Sustainable Finance Week conference in Guernsey by Ben… Continue Reading
Fed’s rates policy likely to make 2024 ‘the year of the dollar dive’ – deVere CEO
The U.S. dollar is likely to weaken “consistently” in 2024, the head of global financial consultancy deVere argues, citing large-scale current sell-offs of greenbacks by investors in the expectation of multiple rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve. “Investors increasingly believe that the Federal Reserve’s most aggressive interest rate hiking campaign in a generation is… Continue Reading
GUEST POST: Breaking the mold: Innovative guerrilla marketing techniques
By Angie Stafford. You’ve been tasked with promoting your business’s new product launch, but your marketing budget is limited. How do you spread the word and create buzz when you can’t afford expensive ad campaigns or flashy commercials? It’s time to think outside the box with some guerrilla marketing techniques. Forget everything you know about… Continue Reading
Kuwait banks’ investing in public services plunges by two-thirds YoY – newspaper
By Andrei Skvarsky. Kuwaiti banks cut investing in public services by 68.8 per cent year-over-year by September 1, a Kuwaiti newspaper said, largely attributing the decline to extensive state control of the public services sector. Kuwait’s banking community put 21.7m dinars ($70.5m) into education, healthcare and other public services in the period from January to… Continue Reading
Bankman-Fried trial big confidence test for cryptos – deVere chief
By Andrei Skvarsky. The current fraud trial of American cryptocurrency tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried is a “formidable” confidence test for cryptocurrencies as its outcome will show whether those investing in cryptos can expect the same extent of regulatory protection as all other investors, according to a prominent financier. U.S. federal legislation under which the founder and… Continue Reading
CEO of deVere: Sustained growth should be No. 1 task of ECB, Bank of England
By Andrei Skvarsky. It should be the main concern of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BOE) to prevent “already slowing” economic growth from stopping as this would trigger a bunch of woes, according to the CEO of financial consultancy deVere, Nigel Green. In criticising eminent economist Nouriel Roubini for insisting… Continue Reading
Bitcoin one of this decade’s ‘best-performing asset classes’ – deVere CEO
By Andrei Skvarsky. The CEO of financial advisory deVere has made a forceful case for bitcoin, calling the number one cryptocurrency “one of the best-performing asset classes of the decade” and hailing its stabilisation over the past several months as “crucial for its integration” into traditional financial systems. While a disappointment for speculating investors, bitcoin’s… Continue Reading
Inflation in key economies likely to drop faster than expected – deVere chief
Inflation in most major economies, including the United States, is likely to drop faster than many expect, the head of global financial consultancy deVere argues, citing declining real wages, the slow implementation of monetary policies and “weak” economic growth. Interest rates would start falling as a consequence within the next year, Nigel Green, deVere’s founder… Continue Reading
Citi: While offering benefits, CBDCs threaten more competition, big brother practices
By Andrei Skvarsky. Citi warns that, along with major technical and social advantages, there are potential serious downsides to central bank digital currencies (CDBCs), an electronic form of national currencies that more than 100 central banks are developing. One problem is that transactions in CBDC may force central banks to compete with private companies that… Continue Reading
‘GDP’ the least-understood financial term – City Index
By Andrei Skvarsky. Of the multitude of financial terms, “gross domestic product (GDP)” is generally the least-understood one, according to a study by London-based financial services company City Index. Definitions of GDP are on average googled 166,300 times a month and nearly 2m times a year worldwide, City Index said in a statement in citing… Continue Reading
BCG: UAE retail banking revenues to grow by leaps and bounds
By Andrei Skvarsky. The United Arab Emirates’ retail banking sector is going to have revenues growing at a pace 64 times as fast for the period from 2021 to 2026 as was the case between 2016 and 2021, according to calculations by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). BCQ forecasts in a report that the sector’s revenues… Continue Reading
UK experts give advice on how to steer clear of crypto scammers
By Andrei Skvarsky. An online guide to British online casinos has published several tips on how to avoid falling victim to increasingly frequent cryptocurrency scams, mentioning a variety of fraud types some of which may be less familiar than others. One trick used in touting fraudulent proposals is citing alleged recommendations by some celebrity, according… Continue Reading
Bybit crypto bourse, Sumsub say up to 99 pct of forgery attempts spotted with KYC kit
By Andrei Skvarsky. The know-your-customer (KYC) solution acquired by Bybit, a cryptocurrency exchange with more than 6m users worldwide, from identity verification firm Sumsub in summer 2021 has shown excellent performance since then, according to a Sumsub statement on April 4. Using the kit takes about one minute to carry out the entire necessary testing… Continue Reading
ActivTrades: Struggle between two factors to keep gold price stable
London-based brokerage ActivTrades forecasts that the price of gold, which stayed flat on March 15, will remain stable for the foreseeable period as it is the result of a current tug-of-war between two factors that are almost equally powerful – a U.S. inflation control policy and geopolitical risks stirred by the ongoing war in Ukraine.… Continue Reading
Reuters Events, Tradecloud: Understanding energy transition crucial to commodities trading
A business strategy geared to energy transition requirements is crucial to successful trading in commodities today, according to a report released by Reuters Events, organisers of Commodities Trading USA 2022, a planned conference in June. “Commodities Trading 2022. Market Insight Report”, written by Reuters Events in partnership with supply chain platform Tradecloud, says the energy… Continue Reading
Starting a business costs under $15.5 in UK, over $2,200 in Italy – money.co.uk
By Andrei Skvarsky. The minimum cost of setting up a business in Britain is less than $15.5, making the country the best place in Europe to choose an entrepreneurial career, according to money.co.uk, specialists in comparing financial products and services. The exact minimum sum needed to establish a firm in Britain is 11.68 pounds ($15.45),… Continue Reading
Sumsub anti-fraud kit largely explains good record of Paybis crypto bourse – statement
By Andrei Skvarsky. Cryptocurrency exchange Paybis puts down much of its apparently successful performance over the past year and a half to a holistic and customisable fraud detection toolkit obtained from the Sumsub identity verification firm. Under the terms of an August 2020 deal, Sumsub has provided Paybis with an all-in-one solution enabling the crypto… Continue Reading
Tinkoff, Finam Russia’s top investment brokers – Financer survey
By Andrei Skvarsky. A survey by Financer, multinational specialists in comparing financial services and products, suggests that Tinkoff Investments and Finam are Russia’s best-performing investment brokerages. Tinkoff Investments, a unit of Tinkoff Bank, offers a quick and simple account opening procedure, a large choice of instruments for investment and a convenient mobile app, according to… Continue Reading