BRICS Business

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters at Davos that OPEC will monitor oil output and production to ensure that the agreement to curb output is met by all [Xinhua]
The commitment and execution of OPEC and non-OPEC members to curb output in line with an agreement last December is still holding strong, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said at Davos late Tuesday.
He praised Russia for being ahead of its scheduled reduction pledges.

The Russian Finance Minister has warned that oil prices will slip unless OPEC and non-OPEC countries remain committed to output cuts agreed in December [Xinhua]
Russia’s economy is still largely dependent on the export of oil, Tatyana Golikova, Chairwoman of the Accounts Chamber – parliament’s financial control body for the Russian Federation, told local media on Friday.
Russia’s economy slumped since 2015 following European Union/US sanctions and the dramatic drop in oil prices in the past two years.

China’s foreign investments are up but its exports have fallen year on year in 2016 [Xinhua]
China’s foreign direct investments last year hit a record $189 billion dollars, a report released this week showed.
According to the study done by the German Mercatur Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and Rhodium Group, China’s investments abroad rose an overall 40 per cent, with money going to the European Union amounting to $37.1 billion – 77 per cent more than in 2015.

Rampant inflation, which once frustrated the Rousseff administration and her successor Michel Temer, now appears to be falling to levels desired by the Central Bank [Xinhua]
Brazil’s Central Bank has slashed the benchmark Selic interest rate by 75 basis points bringing it down to 13 per cent from last year’s 14.25 per cent.
The latest cut follows two consecutive cuts of 25 basis points each, and was more than markets had been predicting.

Xi believes that the Communist Party leadership should lead the fight against corruption on all levels [Xinhua]
Chinese President Xi Jinping has made fighting corruption a cornerstone of hus leadership legacy, but on Friday he announced that measures taken by the state in this regard must be more intrusive.
During his speech to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection – the ruling party’s anti-graft monitor, Xi said that there needed to be more systematic and systemic efforts to root out deeply-ingrained corruption.

The devaluation of the ruble due to low oil prices and sanctions in the past two years made life much harder for average Russians [Xinhua]
Higher oil prices have benefited the ruble currency against a basket of currencies including the US dollar and the euro.
At press time, the US dollar had fallen 1.37 per cent to reach 59.53 rubles, the lowest rate in 18 months.
Russia is one of the world’s biggest exporters of oil, but when prices per barrel fell from more than $110 in mid-2014 to $27 a year ago, its economy took a tumble – and the ruble with it.

Boats of a flotilla participate in a campaign supporting Britain to leave the European Union in London, Britain, on June 15, 2016. While the UK’s economic growth will likely be slower, manufacturing is up [Xinhua]
The sterling pound’s dramatic devaluation since the June 23 Brexit referendum has been a boon for the UK’s manufacturing sector.
According to the Markit/Cips survey of the sector, manufacturing rose to its highest level in 30 months reaching 56.1.

The One Belt, One Road initiative runs through Iran as well [Xinhua]
Keeping in tandem with President Xi Jinping’s One Belt, One Road economic growth strategy, China this week expanded its pan-European railway destinations when a train left Yiwu West station in the eastern Zhejiang province headed for Barking Station in London.
The train’s trek will cover some 11,800 kilometers as it crosses through a number of countries, such as Kazakhstan into Russia, Poland, and Germany before crossing the underwater English Channel rail in France.

A weakened rand coupled with global oil production output has meant that South Africans will see higher prices at the pump this year [Xinhua]
South Africa is set to raise petrol prices by four per cent starting Wednesday the country’s energy department said in a statement.
Starting January 4, the price of petrol in the country will be approximately 50 cents higher per liter.
Diesel prices will also increase by 3.5 per cent, adding 39 cents to the price per liter.

Following the recall of the outlawed 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, India is now coping with a weakened rupee amid foreign cash outflow [Xinhua]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended his controversial demonetization policy in a televised address Saturday marking the New Year.
There have been long queues at ATMs and banks since early November as millions of people have rushed to exchange the withdrawn 500 and 1,000 rupee bills for other denominations.
There have been reports that ATMs and banks have run out of money.