The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced an 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status for citizens of Ukraine until April 19, 2025, due to Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion.
“Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced an 18-month extension of Ukraine’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS), from October 20, 2023, to April 19, 2025, due to the ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Ukraine that prevent safe return,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on its website Friday.
The program will also be expanded to allow Ukrainians who were living in the U.S. as of Aug. 16, 2023, to apply for temporary protection.
In addition, students from Ukraine who study in the U.S. and are in the country on an F-1 visa will be able to apply for work authorization and workload reduction without losing their visa for the duration of temporary protection.
Reportedly, approximately 26,000 Ukrainians now enjoy temporary protection in the U.S., and another 166,700 may be eligible. “Current beneficiaries who wish to extend their temporary protected status must re-register in a timely manner during the 60-day re-registration period from August 21, 2023 to October 20, 2023,” the report said.
“Russia’s ongoing military incursion into Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis require the United States to continue to provide security and protection to Ukrainians who may not be able to return to their country,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who is quoted in the report.
US inflation is slowing but still remains too high, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (FRB) Governor Neel Kashkari said.
“The question that concerns me is whether we have done enough to bring inflation back to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target or whether we need to do more,” Kashkari said during an event on Tuesday.
“Inflation is slowing. We’ve made progress and good progress. I’m happy with that. But it’s still too high,” Market Watch quoted Kashkari as saying.
The pace of U.S. consumer price growth accelerated to an annualized rate of 3.2% in July, up from 3% in June.
The head of the Minneapolis FRB has a vote on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) this year.
The Fed raised the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.25-5.5% in July, a 22-year high. Judging by the quotations of futures on the rate level, traders expect it to remain at the same level following the results of the September FOMC meeting.
Another $1.25 billion grant from the United States arrived in Ukraine on Monday through the multi-donor World Bank Trust Fund, the Finance Ministry said.
“Irrevocable financial assistance from the United States is an extremely important element in supporting Ukraine’s state budget while it resists Russia’s full-scale aggression. The next grant will help the Ukrainian government to reimburse priority expenditures in the social and humanitarian sphere,” Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko was quoted as saying in the release.
The Finance Ministry specified that in 2023 Ukraine has already received $8.45 billion in grants of direct budgetary support from the United States, and in total, $20.4 billion in grants from the United States have been received in the state budget since the beginning of the full-scale war.
As previously stated by the Ministry of Finance, as of July 21 this year, the state budget of Ukraine received funding from international partners in the amount of $23.6 billion, compared to $32.1 billion last year, while the need for this year is about $42 billion.
Since then, the budget has also received EUR1.5bn of the sixth tranche of EU macrofinancial assistance and $1.5bn through the World Bank’s Trust Fund mechanism under the guarantees of the Japanese government.
Saudi Arabia will increase prices in August for all oil grades for US, Northwest Europe and Mediterranean customers as well as for some grades for Asian customers.Saudi Arabia raises oil prices slightly for US and Europe
The most significant price increases will be for customers from the Mediterranean (1-1.1%) and Northwest Europe (0.8%). For the US, Saudi oil will rise by 0.1%.
The cost of the main grade supplied to Asia, Arab Light, will increase by $0.2 per barrel next month. As a result, it will be $3.2 a barrel more expensive than the Oman and Dubai oil basket.
EUROPE, OIL, SAUDI ARABIA, US
The US real estate market continued to normalize at the end of last year, with falling mortgage rates leading to a slight decline in prices, while a number of key indicators approached seasonal norms, according to data from Zillow, an online home sales and rental service.
Only a little more than a quarter of homes (28%) in the United States were sold above the originally listed price in November, Zillow data showed. Data for December is not yet available. This is the lowest figure since June 2020, when the housing market had just recovered from the initial shocks of the coronavirus pandemic and began to warm up. Meanwhile, the figure still remains higher than in November 2019, when the share of homes sold above the declared value was 21%. “The decline in mortgage rates has begun to help renew interest from buyers. If rates continue to decline this spring and buyer activity is in line with the seasonal norm, this year could be a normal or even boring one for the market,” said Jeff Tucker, senior economist at Zillow.
The standard time for a property to be on the market before receiving an offer is currently up to 30 days. This is significantly longer than last December, when the figure was 13 days, but much less than the 43 days in December 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic. The longest time to sell a property was recorded in Austin (68 days), Las Vegas (57 days) and Phoenix (55 days). At the same time, the fastest transactions were made in Hartford, Connecticut, Cincinnati and Kansas City. Monthly mortgage costs are currently about $1.8 thousand for average homes after a 20% down payment, which is more than $100 lower than in October, when the peak level was reached. Meanwhile, the figure is still 62% higher than in December 2021. Problems with housing affordability are weakening demand, Zillow notes.
Wealthy Russians subject to U.S. sanctions may try to evade them by investing in the U.S. commercial real estate market, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) warned. The regulator urged U.S. banks to be vigilant, noting that the complex financing schemes and opaque partnership structures used in this market can help hide funds, writes The Wall Street Journal. FinCEN is the recipient of suspicious activity reports that financial institutions are required to file when they detect signals that a transaction is potentially illegal. The warning for banks issued by the regulator on Wednesday is another attempt by the U.S. Treasury Department to prevent wealthy Russian citizens from circumventing financial sanctions, the WSJ notes. “Thanks to international pressure and economic restrictions imposed on Russia by more than 30 countries, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for sanctioned Russian elites to move and hide their ill-gotten gains,” said Himamouli Das, acting head of FinCEN. The regulator outlined a number of signs and “red flags” that should alert banks. For example, sanctioned Russians may try to use investment pools or offshore funds to avoid inspections, he warned. Banks are usually not required to identify people who own less than 25% of shares in the funds. Thus, sanctioned individuals can reduce their stakes to avoid scrutiny while still retaining control of the fund, FinCEN says. They may use front companies and multi-level schemes involving multiple legal entities or trusts, as well as transfer assets to other family members or business partners to hide their involvement, the regulator warns. It notes that sanctioned individuals may not only invest in high-end and luxury real estate. In some cases, they may look for more discreet investments that provide a stable income without attracting unwanted attention. Using such strategies to evade sanctions is just as likely in small and mid-sized U.S. cities as it is in metropolitan areas, FinCEN notes. Last year, the regulator issued a similar warning to banks, advising them to pay close attention to transactions involving art, luxury yachts and jewelry.
