The Main Special Control Center reports that the earthquake was registered on February 27 at 03:15:39 Kiev time, 19 km to the west of Mukachevo at a depth of 2 km.
According to experts, an earthquake of such magnitude poses no threat to the population, but is classified as highly perceptible, especially inside a building.
This is confirmed by the comments of local residents.
Oil is getting cheaper on Monday after a strong growth in previous trading.
Data published in the U.S. on Friday pointed to the continuing high level of inflation in the country. This could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to a greater extent, which will have a negative impact on the U.S. economy. A recession, in turn, would reduce demand for fuel, analysts said.
The quotations of April futures for Brent crude oil at London’s ICE Futures exchange fell by $0.29 (0.35%) to $82.87 per barrel by 6:59 a.m. on Tuesday. On Friday those contracts rose by $0.95 (1.2%) to $83.16 per barrel.
The price of WTI April futures on NYMEX fell by $0.2 per barrel to $76.12 in the morning. According to results of previous trades the cost of contracts grew by $0.93 (1.2%) to $76.32.
Brent added 0.2% and WTI 0.3% over the week.
The U.S. consumer price index (PCE) rose 0.6% in January from the previous month, the highest gain in six months, and rose 5.4% year over year, the Commerce Department said Friday. It was up 0.2% and 5.3% in December, respectively.
The PCE Core index, which excludes food and energy costs, rose 0.6% for the month (up 0.4% in December). In annual terms, the indicator, which the Federal Reserve closely monitors when assessing inflation risks, accelerated to 4.7% from 4.6% in December. At the same time analysts expected a less significant rise – by 0.4% and 4.3%, respectively.
The major currency pairs were slightly changing during the trades on Monday.
The data published in the U.S. on Friday showed that inflation in the country remains high. This may prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates to a higher level and not to lower them for a longer period of time.
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said Friday that higher inflation points to the need to raise interest rates further. However, she refrained from speculating whether rates should be raised immediately by 50 basis points at the March meeting.
“The inflation numbers are still not where we need them to be,” she said in an interview with Bloomberg. The report is “consistent with the Fed needing to do a little more on the rate to make sure inflation slows again,” she said.
The euro is trading around $1.0542 in the morning versus $1.0547 in the previous session.
The value of the single European currency is now around 143.74 yen, up from 143.91 yen on Friday. The dollar is at 136.37 yen against 136.46 yen at the end of the previous trading day.
The DXY index, which shows the value of the U.S. dollar against six major world currencies, is up 0.06%. The WSJ Dollar, which tracks the dollar’s trend against 16 currencies, rose by a similar amount.
The pound is trading at $1.1938 compared to $1.1942 on the previous trading day. The euro is at Friday’s closing level of $0.8831.
“The environment is a bit nervous” as the market is unsure of the Fed’s future actions, noted Bank of Singapore currency analyst Moh Siong Sim. “Will they raise the rate by 25 basis points? Or will they be forced to increase the pace of the hike? There is no definite answer right now,” he said.
Export changes in % to previous period in 2021-2022
Source: Open4business.com.ua and experts.news
Republicans are calling for immediate action against the Chinese government, citing a new U.S. Department of Energy report that cites a “laboratory leak” as the cause of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“What’s important is holding the Chinese Communist Party accountable so this doesn’t happen again,” tweeted Senator Tom Cotton.
His call was echoed by Senator Rick Scott.
“The left has spent the last 2 years trying to censor the truth and cover up Communist China, but the facts are undeniable. (…) It’s time to hold this evil regime accountable,” Scott’s tweet follows.
Senator Marsha Blackburn noted, “For years, Anthony Fauci and Joe Biden officials have called this a conspiracy.”
Senator Josh Hawley said he would reintroduce a bill requiring more information about what the U.S. government learned about the COVID-19 outbreak.
“The American people deserve the full truth about the origin of COVID. (…) I will once again introduce a bill to make the U.S. government’s intelligence reports about COVID open to the people,” he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Senator Dan Sullivan said on NBC that there should be an “extensive” public hearing in Congress on the origins of COVID-19.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that experts at the U.S. Department of Energy had concluded that the coronavirus likely spread due to a laboratory leak in China.
“The Department of Energy now agrees with the FBI that the virus likely began to spread because of a laboratory incident in the PRC,” the publication said.
The department came to that conclusion after reviewing new intelligence. The FBI reached a similar conclusion, using its own sources, in 2021.
However, according to the newspaper, so far, there is no consensus on this issue in the U.S. government. Four government agencies, as well as a specially formed group of intelligence specialists, still lean toward the theory of natural origin of the virus. Two other U.S. agencies are not yet able to come to a definite conclusion.
Shortly after the pandemic began, incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly voiced the “laboratory” origin of the coronavirus. He claimed that China would need to compensate the world for the damage caused by the coronavirus. Trump himself often referred to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus,” and his opponents criticized such claims. Under current U.S. President Joe Biden, the work to determine the origin of COVID-19 continues.
Government Resolution No.157 of February 17 has amended the procedure for public procurement, in particular, reduced the list of exceptions when it is allowed to enter into direct contracts without a tender, the Ministry of Economy said with reference to First Deputy Prime Minister – Economy Minister Yulia Sviridenko.
“We are gradually returning to the mandatory use of Prozorro in procurement. Thus, by this decision we have significantly reduced the list of exceptions when it is allowed to enter into direct contracts without a tender, obliged to publish more information on direct purchases”, – noted Sviridenko.
Ministry of Economy also pointed out that there are conditions for publishing a report on the execution of the contract on procurement in the electronic procurement system (EPS), clarified the information that customers may not publish in the annual procurement plans and the announcement of the bidding, if such information poses a security risk.
In addition, there is an obligation to publish the texts of contracts and all annexes thereto in the case of procurement without the use of Prozorro, but it is still possible to hide sensitive information about the supplier, the address of delivery, if such information poses a security risk, says the Ministry of Economy.
At the same time, it is provided that in the case of procurement, the value of which is less than 50 thousand UAH, without the use of an electronic procurement system, the customer shall not make public in the electronic procurement system the report on the contract of procurement, concluded without the use of an electronic system of procurement.
