BRICS News

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, seen here with FM Javad Zarif, has said Iran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal but that the US is trying to unravel it [Xinhua]Russia has warned the Trump administration that withdrawing from the multi-lateral Iran nuclear deal would be a grave error.
US President Donald Trump on Friday extended the waiver on economic sanctions against Iran – a key aspect of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – but said that this would be the “last chance” to renegotiate the agreement, which he said was terribly flawed.

China has launched dozens of rockets for weather, climate and agricultural monitoring in the past two years [Xinhua]In its continuing efforts to increase the number of orbital satellites used for agricultural and weather purposes, the Chinese State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for Self-Defense announced on Saturday that it had launched a land resources exploration satellite.
The satellite, which was launched from the Jiuquan Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, was carried aboard a Long March-2D rocket.

Egyptian airports must upgrade their security measures if Russian tourists are to return, Moscow officials have said. But the wait is likely to be over now [Xinhua]
It may be a wait for just another month before Russian tourists start flocking to Egypt again, authorities in Moscow said on Thursday.

Increase is despite y/y decline in the final two months of 2017
The record bulk exports confirm that the South African economy has exited recession, analysts say [Xinhua]South African bulk export volumes rose by 4.9 per cent in 2017 to a new record of 171.3 million tons (Mt) after falling by 2.8 per cent in 2016 to 163.3 Mt, data from the Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) showed.
The record bulk exports confirm that the South African economy has exited recession and is on its way to surprising most economists with its renewed vigour.

Production of new energy vehicles – some for public transportation – is skyrocketing as China pushes ahead with green technologies [Xinhua]
China’s automotive industry has released data which shows that national sales of new energy cars – hybrid energy, battery and electri-operated vehicles – has increased by nearly six per cent in 2017.
In 2017, nearly 800,000 such “green” vehicles were sold on the Chinese market.

Global economic growth will hit 3.1 per cent in 2018, the World Bank says [Xinhua]
In what is a further testament to the strength and durability of emerging markets, the World Bank on Wednesday said that the projected global economic growth of 3.1 per cent in 2018 will largely be driven by these economies.
In its first report of the year, the World Bank said global growth is up from 3 to 3.1 per cent for the first time in nearly a decade, and that in the emerging markets alone the forecast for 2018 is 4.5 per cent.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, is trying to position France as a major trading partner from Europe for China [PPIO]
With the UK less likely to back out from Brexit, France has decided to cement its trade ties with China.
French President Emmanuel Macron took a heavyweight team of business leaders and trade experts on his three-day trip to Beijing Monday.
Macron has been looking to sign billions of dollars in trade links with China, thereby making France one of the biggest trading partners in Europe.

The RMB is the currency of choice for the BRICS New Development Bank. It is the fifth most used currency in the world [Xinhua]
The People’s Bank of China on Friday said that it encouraged cross-border and overseas use of the renminbi (RMB) currency to settle accounts and boost investment.
It acknowledged that Chinese banks have been looking to trade in offshore RMB and that there was a growing need for foreign-funded companies in China to be able to transfer investment revenue overseas.

The TPP has not been popular among many Republicans and some sectors of the US workforce, giving Trump the ammunition to proceed with withdrawal.

Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih told reporters in early December that OPEC will monitor oil output and production to ensure that the agreement to curb output is met by all until the end of 2018 [Xinhua]
If you haven’t heard by now, 2017 ends with oil prices well breaching the $60 a barrel mark leaving producers much more confident as they head into 2018.
This is a boon on two fronts for the world’s biggest oil producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.