Sanctions are forcing Russia to find alternative settlement currencies to the US dollar to ensure the security of the country’s economy, according to President Vladimir Putin.“We are moving to the de-dollarization of the economy. We are doing so not because we want to undermine the dollar, but because we want to ensure our security. We are constantly facing sanctions, they do not give us the opportunity to work in dollars,” Putin said on Thursday at the Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Sochi. Source RT
German 10-year bond yields dropped below zero for the first time in more than two years after the nation’s manufacturing sector fell deeper into contraction, compounding fears of an economic slowdown across the euro area. Source: Bloomberg.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked new drilling on 300,000 acres of land in Wyoming after ruling that the US Department of the Interior “did not sufficiently consider climate change” when allowing oil and gas companies to lease federal land in the state. Source: The Verge.
Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has announced plans to cut refugee and asylum seeker integration funding by just under a third ahead of 2020, drawing criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. In a bid to reduce government expenditure, German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz has announced plans to reduce refugee funding by €1.3 billion from 2020, bringing it down from the current €4.7 billion budget, reported DPA. Source: The Local.
