Turkey’s central bank raised its benchmark rate by 625 basis points on Sept. 13 in a move that boosted the Turkish Lira and may ease investor concerns about monetary policy. The Central Bank has increased the lending rate to 24 percent, meaning it has now increased interest rates by 11.25 percentage points since late April. The bank said there was still an upside risk to the inflation outlook from what it called a deterioration in pricing behavior, despite weaker domestic demand conditions. Source Hurriyet Daily
Global trade has taken a sharp turn down, reinforcing the view that the world economy is in its worst state since since the financial crisis a decade ago. Figures published Monday show trade fell 1.8 percent in the three months through January compared with the previous perid. That’s the biggest drop since May 2009. On a year-on-year basis, trade posted its first decline in nine years in the three-month period. Source: Bloomberg.
European shares opened deep in the red on Monday, adding to the worst weekly fall of the year last week after disappointing economic data in Europe and the United States stoked fears of recession. Source: Reuters
China’s oil giants aim to spend the most in five years in pursuit of higher energy output. But unlike global rivals investing in top-tier assets, the state-owned producers are trying to boost supply from fields that are either old and high-cost or new and challenging. Source: Bloomberg
