BRICS News

Non-resident portfolio flows into BRIC nations rose to $166.5 billion in May, up from $28.3 billion in outflows 12 months prior, according to data compiled by the Institute of International Finance and EPFR Global [Image: BRICS 2016]The BRICS Bank has 23 projects at various stages of preparation for 2017 to 2018, with a total lending amount of $6 billion, NDB President K.V. Kamath said at a press conference on Thursday in Shanghai.
Seven of these projects are in Brazil, six in India, two in Russia, and three in South Africa.

Putin will meet with Trump amid heightened tensions over Syria and the US election hacking controversy in the US [Xinhua]
The Kremlin on Tuesday confirmed that a high level meaning between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump would indeed take place on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Hamburg Germany this Friday.

The BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – agreed to set up the $100 billion development bank, in a step toward reshaping the Western-dominated international financial system [Xinhua]Financing sustainable development and infrastructure projects and local currency financing remain the focus of the New Development Bank launched by the BRICS countries, according to a new policy document for the next five years.

Temer has vowed since replacing Dilma Rousseff as president that he will make sure austerity and reform packages are passed through the Senate in a bid to revive the economy and boost business confidence [Xinhua]
Brazilian President Michel Temer is again facing the types of pressures he subjected his predecessor to as corruption charges continue to dog his presidency.
On Tuesday, an impassioned Temer took to national television to appeal to the Brazilian public and claim his innocence amid refresh bribery charges from the Prosecutor General.

Will Modi be able to sell Make in India to Trump’s America First? [Xinhua]
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the White House on Monday, he will try to sell US President Donald Trump on the idea that IT talent from the home country is in America’s best interests.
For years, the US has issued the H1B non-immigrant work visa to tens of thousands of Indians, largely from the telecom and IT sector, to the benefit of major multi-billion dollar US-based companies – such as the ones in tech-mecca Silicon Valley.

Workers work in new assembly production plant of China First Automotive Works (FAW) Group Corporation in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, South Africa [Xinhua]
The South African current account deficit on the balance of payments widened to 2.1 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) on a seasonally adjusted annualised basis in the first quarter 2017 from 1.7 per cent in the fourth quarter 2016, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said in its latest Quarterly Bulletin.

Russia says the US failed to use the deescalation cooperation utility even though Russian fighter jets were in the area over Raqqa when a Syrian warplane was shot down on July 18, 2017 [Image: Defense Ministry of Russia]
Amid growing tensions between Russia and the United States over the Pentagon’s downing of a Syrian Air Force fighter jet, Australia said that it is temporarily halting its contribution to the Washington-led coalition that was established to hit Islamic State positions in Syria.

The BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – agreed to create a infrastructure-focussed lender in July 2014 as an alternative to the World Bank [Xinhua]Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Sunday called for closer cooperation among the BRICS countries.
Wang met visiting South African, Indian and Russian officials ahead of a BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting in Beijing.

The Su-35 is a multi-role super-maneuverable single-seat fighter jet which carried out a number of sorties against ISIL positions in Syria and may have killed leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi [Xinhua]
The Russian military is currently investigating to verify that its forces had killed Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in Syria late last month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held an annual televised question-and-answer session with the Russian public on 15 June 2017 [Image:PPIO]Russian President Vladimir Putin held an annual televised question-and-answer session with the Russian public on Thursday, addressing topics including the crisis in Ukraine, Russia’s relationship with the West and the state of the Russian economy.
“Sanctions are a double-edged sword, it has also harmed those who have imposed them,” Putin said referring to the US Senate that voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday for new sanctions against Moscow.