“This is Venezuela — they’re very disorganized with these types of things,” said Alejandro Grisanti, the director of the Caracas-based research firm Ecoanalitica. “Every day, it’s harder for them to pay.” The government had another $237 million in interest payments come due Saturday, and the National Public Credit Office has yet to announce their payment. A delay in those payments would bring the total in arrears to $587 million. Source Bloomberg
The United States and Germany reached an agreement on Wednesday on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, ending a longstanding dispute between the allies, the Washington Post reported. Source Reuters
Turkish annual inflation has jumped to a two-year high of 17.53 percent in June, exceeding a forecast of 17 percent and continuing an extended rise after a brief dip, potentially delaying any interest rate cuts to later in the year. Source AL Jazeera
The federal government will be swimming in $3 trillion of red ink by the end of fiscal 2021, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate released Thursday that swelled 33% from the last forecast.
As a result of multiple stimulus measures aimed at combating the pandemic’s economic impact, Congress will run a budgetary shortfall this year equivalent to 13.4% of GDP, the second-largest level since 1945 and exceeded only by the 2020 spending. Source CNBC
