Growing concerns about the U.S. government debt ceiling and expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve will support gold, analysts at RBC Capital Markets believe.
As it was reported, the talks scheduled for Friday between Congressional leaders and President Joe Biden on the national debt were postponed by agreement of the parties. Meanwhile, U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it “should not be construed” as a failure of negotiations.
“Even with the assumption that a deal will be reached sooner rather than later, we do not rule out the possibility of panic in the financial market as the deadline approaches,” wrote RBC Capital Markets strategist Christopher Looney. – We believe that gold is the best tool for hedging in the short term.”
In addition to the government debt situation and hopes that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its interest-rate hike cycle, demand for gold is supported by a number of other factors, said analysts at ANZ Banking Group Ltd. Soni Kumari and Daniel Hines. Among them are geopolitical risks, concerns about the state of the U.S. banking sector, as well as the slowdown in global economic growth.
Under the influence of these factors, gold-focused exchange-traded funds will see an inflow of funds by the end of the year, analysts believe ANZ.
Quotes for June gold contracts on the New York Comex exchange fell 0.33% to $2013.8 per troy ounce by 11:07 a.m. Since the beginning of the year, the price has risen by 8.2%.
TAS Insurance Group in April has paid 90,94 mln UAH of insurance indemnities according to the concluded insurance contracts, which is 77,1% more than in April of the last year.
According to the message on the website of the insurer, CASCO accounts for more than a quarter of all payments for the month – 29.64%, or UAH 26,96 mln, which is 66,3% more than in the reporting period 2022.
Payments on MTPL insurance have grown by 53.3% up to UAH 34,68 mln, which makes 38,14% of the total payments of the company for a month.
In turn, the part of “Green Card” in April portfolio of insurer’s payments has constituted 16,47%, or 14,98 mln UAH of compensations – in 5,94 times more than a year ago.
Payments on contracts of voluntary medical insurance have increased by 50,9% up to UAH 10,76 mln, which is 11,84% of the total amount of payments of the company per month.
At the same time TAS IG has paid UAH 1,28 mln on property insurance contracts in April – this is 2,67 times more than last year.
The company paid UAH 2,28 mln. as insurance indemnities under other insurance contracts in April.
Ukrainians have already received 1 thousand loans totaling 1.3 billion UAH under the state program of affordable mortgages “єОsela”, said Deputy Minister of Economy Alexander Griban.
“Already 1 thousand loans for 1.3 billion UAH have been issued. It’s not much in principle, but it’s a start,” he said at the Architecture and Construction Business Forum in Kiev on Thursday.
As the coordinator of the program the company “Ukrfinjitlo” in a press release said 835 of the 1017 soft loans were given to servicemen and security forces, 93 – to doctors, 78 – teachers, 11 – academics.
According to her, since the beginning of May the partner banks issued 57 loans worth UAH 83.5 million.
The program of affordable mortgages “єOsela” has been working since October of last year. Concessional mortgage at 3% per annum is available for military servicemen, security and defense employees, medical workers, teachers and research workers.
According to the Ministry of Economy, this year there are plans to increase the list of categories of people who can receive a loan for their own homes. They will be able to take credit for the purchase of housing at 7% per annum. The government expects to make this program permanent.
The coordinator of the state program of affordable mortgage lending for citizens “єOsel” is the state “Ukrainian Housing Finance Company” (“Ukrfinjitlo”).
The World Health Organization (WHO), following the recommendation of an emergency panel on human monkeypox, has decided to no longer consider the disease a global health emergency, the organization’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, said Thursday.
“I am pleased to announce that monkeypox is no longer a global public health emergency,” Gebreyesus said during a briefing.
He said a WHO emergency commission met Wednesday and concluded that the outbreak was no longer a threat of international concern and recommended that it be removed from that status. Gebreyesus followed that advice.
However, he noted that, as with the COVID-19 coronavirus, this does not mean that the work to control the disease is over. Monkeypox, according to the WHO chief, is still a serious public health problem.
Earlier in May, Gebreyesus said the WHO no longer views COVID-19 coronavirus as a particular threat to global health.
Monkeypox is a rare infectious disease most common in remote areas of Central and West Africa. Its symptoms include nausea, fever, rash, itching, and muscle pain.
The Club of Experts previously analyzed the likelihood of monkeypox becoming an epidemic. Read more at the link:
Ankara wants the Black Sea Grain Initiative to continue functioning, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said Thursday.
“Our wish is that the grain agreement be extended,” Anadolu Agency quoted the minister as saying.
For its part, the country’s Defense Ministry tweeted that the talks on extending the “grain initiative” were positive and constructive.
In turn, the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine said at the end of the negotiations that the “grain initiative” should be extended for a longer period and expanded.
“This will give predictability and confidence to both the world and the Ukrainian market. But, above all, it is necessary to resume the registration of the incoming fleet and inspections without artificial delays and in accordance with the procedures of the Joint Coordination Center,” the agency said on its Facebook page.
Participants of the initiative agreed to continue negotiations at the technical level. They will be extended in the online format.
“Black Sea Grain Initiative” was concluded in Istanbul on July 22, 2022 with the participation of the UN, Ukraine, Turkey and Russia to create a corridor for the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports: “Chernomorsk”, “Odessa” and “Pivdenny”. The initiative was concluded for 120 days and was extended twice, most recently on March 18. However, while Ukraine claims that it was extended for 120 days, Russia claims that it was extended for only 60 days.
he Club of Experts previously analyzed the political and economic situation in Turkey on the eve of the presidential and parliamentary elections, see more at the link:
Internet Association of Ukraine (InAU) uniting 220 enterprises of information and communication technologies industry asks parliamentarians to assess the draft law No.9250 On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine On Electronic Communications (on counteraction to phishing) taking into account the arguments of InAU.
It sent an open letter to the head of the Verkhovna Rada, committees and political factions on Monday.
The Association reported on Facebook, the bill proposes to empower the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine (Derzhspetssvyaz) to develop and approve the rules against phishing and phishing websites and establish the rights and obligations of DNS providers. It is assumed that the basis of responsibility for these offenses is not determined by law but by the bylaws of the State Special Communications Service.
“Thus bill № 9250 establishes a new type of misconduct, not provided by the Constitution, which refers neither to a crime, nor to an administrative or disciplinary offense”, – is stated in the text of the letter.
The IAU emphasizes that the current Criminal Code (CC) fully regulates the issues of criminal liability for the relevant criminal acts. In particular, criminal liability is provided by Articles 361 and 361-1, as well as on the set of crimes – Articles 200, 185, 190.
The Association also believes that this document aims to legalize the system of blocking domains, which has already been built and, according to the Association, is functioning illegally under the control of the National Cyber Security Coordination Center under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC).
In its address IAU reminds that it has repeatedly pointed to the risks posed by this system, namely: the risks to the cybersecurity of the state, when the aggressor, having obtained illegal access to the system, may block access to Internet web resources in Ukraine; corruption risks, because the decision to include a particular site in the list of blocked domains is made by ordinary officials, which could lead to the blocking of any site for the purpose of extortion, raiding, other pressure; risks to freedom of speech, because
The draft law № 9250 “On electronic communications” (on counteraction to phishing) is registered in the Verkhovna Rada on April 28, 2023.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/inau.org.ua/posts/pfbid034CoZvySt4eu8GyEp49yzQ3P9JNkkq2Pj6yboZNmm17yxrixMLMqCM2ouahP44DZel
