Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, center, says the US is trying to promote its business interests around the world by sanctioning Russian business leaders [PPIO]
The new slate of US Treasury sanctions against Russia have hit the business community there, especially among foreign investors who were rattled that Russian business leaders with ties to the government were on the latest target list.
China says it does not want a trade war but will respond firmly if the US pushes it in that direction [PPIO]
The United Nations Secretary-General has said that protectionism is not the answer to trade disputes, just hours after the White House announced that US President Donald Trump was seeking an additional $100 billion in tariffs against Chinese goods.
Beijing has strongly criticized the Trump administration for pushing tariffs on billions of dollars of imported goods from China but said it would fight to the end to protect its interests.
File photo of US President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping
The Foreign Ministry on Friday said that it did not want a trade war with the US and that any such development would harm both countries, but vowed to retaliate on hundreds of US exports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) and President of Mongolia Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj [Image: PPIO]
Days after both Chinese and Russian Presidents were re-elected, the Russian energy giant Gazprom announced that a mammoth gas project between the two countries was nearing completion.
In May 2014, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping singed a landmark $400 billion gas deal under which Gazprom will supply the China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) 38 billion cubic meters (BCM) of natural gas every year for 30 years.
Account deficit to GDP has narrowed in South Africa, according to 2017 statistics
The South African current account deficit on the balance of payments narrowed to 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) from 2.8% in 2016, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said in its latest Quarterly Bulletin.
On a quarterly basis however, the current account deficit widened to 2.9% of GDP in the fourth quarter from 2.1% in the third quarter as import growth outpaced export growth resulting in a narrowing in the trade surplus in goods.
Trump hinted that he was willing to be flexible in applying the tariffs to allies [Xinhua]
News that US President Donald Trump may be flexible on his intention to apply aluminum and steel tariffs has helped ease concerns in some emerging markets.
On Thursday, Trump said he was willing to examine the tariffs on an individual country-by-country basis.
This markes a somewhat departure from his statements just three days ago in which he blamed the European Union as a whole for unfair trade practices.
Hard to measure services sector revisions make technical recession disappear
Is the South African economy on the rise again? [Xinhua]The IMF in January 2018 estimated that South Africa grew by 0.9 per cent in 2017. South Africans were even more pessimistic and in the fourth quarter 2017 survey by the Bureau for Economic Research, the average forecast was that 2017 growth would be only 0.5 per cent rising to 1.0 per cent in 2018.
The US imports at least 23 per cent of all steel imports in the world [Xinhua]
Criticism of US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would impose a 25 per cent tariff on imported steel has come fast and furious.
World leaders, including prominent trade organizations and American allies, have lashed out at Trump saying that he is igniting a trade war.
“This is the challenge of our time, to build a South Africa in which all people have a decent standard of living, access to economic opportunities and opportunity to pursue their dreams.” – Malusi Gigaba Budget Speech February 2018
Minister of Finance Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba says South Africa must confront and overcome a number of challenges if it is to sustain growth [GCIS]
Participants at the Mining Indaba forum are upbeat on prospects for African mining industry
Mining Indaba forum is upbeat about prospects in the mining industry
The mood at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town was the best since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis according to a wide range of participants interviewed by The BRICS Post at the sidelines of this year’s event.
South African Chamber of Mines Chief Executive Officer set the tone with the first event at the Mining Investment at 7am on February 5.
