Nord Stream 2 expects regulators to decide by May whether its contested natural gas pipeline linking Germany to Russia will be able to operate as planned. Already suffering U.S. sanctions, the project led by Gazprom PJSC is pinning its hopes on German regulator Bundesnetzagentur to help it clear hurdles erected by European Union competition authorities. So-called unbundling rules rolled out by the trade bloc last year require the owners of gas and those who deliver it by pipeline or ship to be separate legal entities, even the fuel comes from outside the EU. Source: Bloomberg
Germany
Germany’s economic output turns out even weaker as its manufacturing PMI for September misses expectations. Analysts forecast the PMI to be 44, while official figures show the index to be at 41.4. Source: Bloomberg
It’s the weakest headline reading since November 2012 and this will continue to suggest that Germany is tilting towards a technical recession currently with the economic slowdown showing no signs of stopping. Source: Forexlive
Labour demand in Germany is declining at an alarming rate. Similar and further declines are to be expected as demographic changes begin to impact Economies across Europe.
German industrial production registered its biggest annual decline in almost a decade, highlighting the severity of the trade-inflicted manufacturing slump in Europe’s largest economy. Source: Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank is planning to overhaul its trading operations by creating a so-called bad bank to hold tens of billions of euros of non-core assets, a source close to the matter said on Monday. Source: Reuters
A senior German diplomat was in Tehran on Thursday for meetings with Iranian officials to try to preserve the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and cool rising tensions in the region, a German diplomatic source told Reuters. Source: Reuters
The recent murders of five women in Sweden have sparked debate and calls for policy change in the country often lauded for its gender equality. Two of the murders took place in broad daylight, while one was killed at home in the same room as her young baby. Most of the victims have not been named in Swedish media, which is usually due to families not giving consent. Source The Local
Pakistan’s Parliament is expected to consider a resolution on Tuesday about whether the French envoy should be expelled over the publication of controversial cartoons depicting Islam’s Prophet, testing whether the government gives in to threats from radical Islamists. Source France24
Greece recognises Sputnik V as ‘equivalent’ to European vaccines. Greece will recognise Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine in its vaccination certificate, making it easier for Russian tourists to travel and spend their summer holidays in Greece. Source Euractiv
Taiwan’s largest annual military exercise will begin in earnest this week, with the country using sophisticated software to simulate a full-scale enemy invasion and gauge its reaction to a worst-case scenario lasting eight days. Source Newsweek
Saudi and Iranian officials held direct talks this month in a bid to ease tensions between the two foes, a senior Iranian official and two regional sources said, as Washington works to revive a 2015 nuclear pact with Tehran and end the Yemen war. Source Reuters
- Defence official says the self-ruled island is looking to acquire Lockheed Martin’s AGM-158
- Beijing has ramped up pressure as it tries to force Taipei to accept its claims of sovereignty
Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian railways) stated about the deficit of fuel. The rest amount of diesel is enough for four days as Ukrzaliznytsia reported.
“Ukrzaliznytsia has two contracts on the supply of 10,000 tons of diesel fuel. Meanwhile, due to the refusal of the suppliers to load out fuel on the contracts, the company owns a stockpile for four days,” the message said.
However, the company noted that currently, the work is held on ‘provision of stable work of the railroad transport’, the company controls the situation and has a firm plan for the provision of necessary volume of fuel soon. Source 112 UA
The strike on US military base at Erbil airport with the use of a drone is a cunning test by Iran and its allied militias in Iraq of the willingness of the US to step up its response after such assaults, analysts say.
The drone attack which late Wednesday hit a previously safe area far from the reach of the pro-Iranian militias’ missiles, is also seen as a test of the Kurds, and specifically whether they themselves will respond to the strike. Source The Arab Weekly
The police and firefighters fell into an ambush this Tuesday evening in Épinay-sur-Seine (Seine-Saint-Denis). Many individuals attacked them. The officials responded with tear gas in particular. Source Actu17
Denmark has become the first European nation to revoke the residency permits of Syrian refugees, insisting that some parts of the war-torn country are safe to return to.
At least 189 Syrians have had applications for renewal of temporary residency status denied since last summer, a move the Danish authorities said was justified because of a report that found the security situation in some parts of Syria had “improved significantly”. Source The Guardian
Denmark will stop using the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine altogether because of suspected rare but serious side effects. Meanwhile, South Korea reported its highest case count in three months. Follow DW for the latest. Source DW
China’s economy grew by double digits in the latest quarter but an explosive rebound from the coronavirus pandemic is slowing abruptly as manufacturing and consumer spending return to normal. Source AP
It finally happened, that glorious moment, when, after teetering on the verge for weeks – for reasons we’ll get into shortly – the incredibly spiking US gross national debt, after kissing the line a couple of times for a moment, finally, and suddenly by a big leap, jumped over the $28-trillion mark, with a $143-billion leap in one day on Wednesday, March 31, following some big Treasury sales. Source Wolfstreet
The Russian Akademik Cherskiy vessel has arrived at the construction site to lay pipes for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Nord Stream 2 AG, project operator company, told reporters. Source Tass
Holders of UK government bonds are suffering the worst quarter in at least two decades as Britain’s economic prospects brighten, setting a contrast with the eurozone where a more sputtering recovery from the coronavirus crisis is helping haven assets hold their value. Source FT
Sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell to a nine-month low in February amid bitterly cold weather, and expensive lumber and rising mortgage rates could cool the housing market this year. Separately on Tuesday, the Commerce Department said the current account deficit, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments into and out of the country, surged 34.8% to a 12-year high of $647.2 billion in 2020 as the pandemic severely disrupted exports. Source Reuters
Turkey’s currency tumbled as much as 15% after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sacked the country’s central bank governor over the weekend. Naci Agbal had been credited as a key force in pulling the lira back from historic lows. Source BBC
- The Fed expects core inflation to hit 2.2% this year, but has a long-run expectation of it sticking around 2%.
- The U.S. central bank also indicated that it didn’t plan to hike interest rates through 2023 and that it would continue its program of buying at least $120 billion of bonds a month.
- Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, described the move in yields as a “belated overreaction” to the Fed’s projections and Jerome Powell’s statements on Wednesday. Source CNBC
The US State Department called for companies to cease activity on the controversial pipeline or face sanctions. The US has slammed the project as a Russian plan to “divide Europe and weaken European energy security.” Source Deutsche Welle
Nokia on Tuesday (16 March) announced plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs within two years to trim costs and invest more in research capabilities, as the Finnish telecoms group seeks to step up its challenge to Sweden’s Ericsson and China’s Huawei, write Supantha Mukherjee and Essi Lehto. Source EU Reporter
- Industrial production jumped 35.1% in the January-February period from a year earlier, compared with a median estimate of 32.2% in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
- Retail sales climbed 33.8% in the period, versus a forecast of 32%.
- Fixed-asset investment rose 35%, well below a projection of 40.9%.
- The jobless rate was 5.5% at the end of February, up from 5.2% in December.
- The CSI 300 Index pared an earlier loss of as much as 1.5% after the data dump to trade 0.8% lower as of 10:25 a.m. in Shanghai.
- The yuan was little changed in both onshore and offshore markets. Source Japan Times
Pushed by drastically increased public spending and a record-setting economic slowdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Italy’s national debt ratio surged last year, reaching 155.6 per cent of the country’s GDP, authorities said. Data issued on Tuesday by the country’s National Statistics Institute (ISTAT) revealed that the national debt in 2020 totalled 2.57 trillion euros ($3 trillion), Xinhua news agency reported. Source Menafn
