The United States is facing what is shaping up to be a perfect storm of economic bad news, with higher than normal energy prices and inflation compounded by a spiraling debt crisis and fears of economic turmoil amid high stakes debt limit talks. Meanwhile, BRICS nations are brainstorming a way to de-dollarize the international trade order.
Emerging market investors are slowly but steadily moving away from dollar-denominated debt and assets, instead preferring to park their hard-earned money into local currency bonds, an analysis by fund flow and asset allocation data provider EPFR Global has revealed.
According to the company’s figures, investors pulled out a net $2.65 billion out of primarily dollar-denominated assets between January and April of 2023, but added a net $5.23 billion into local currency bond funds.
Market analysts attribute the switch to attractive yields and falling inflation on local bond markets, and an increasingly unattractive dollar amid uncertainty surrounding interest rate-related volatility. The latter put a major dent in US Treasuries’ attractiveness to investors, and culminated in the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March, and panic among investors.
Fidelity International emerging markets debt portfolio manager Paul Greer expects the trend of weakened demand for dollar-denominated debt and assets to continue for the rest of the year. ABP Invest chief investment officer Thanos Papasavvas says there has been a “clear divergence between emerging market local and hard currency bonds [typically dollars and other major Western currencies, ed.] over the past few quarters with local currency debt looking more attractive on a fundamental and valuation basis.”
The trend of a cautious move away from the dollar, which continues to hold the coveted status of the world’s de facto reserve currency in trade, comes amid the growing risk of the US defaulting on its massive $31.8 trillion debt amid bickering between the White House and Republicans in Congress on federal spending and the debt limit.....More Below
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran will reject any call for a ceasefire in the ongoing war with the United States and Israel, insisting that there must be a permanent end to the aggression.
In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Araghchi said that Iran will continue to fight because Israel and the US had already shattered a ceasefire reached to end the 12-day war in June last year.
“And now you want to ask for a ceasefire again? This doesn't work like this… There needs to be a permanent end to the war,” Araghchi said.
“Unless we get to that, I think we need to continue fighting for the sake of our people and our security,” he said.
The comments came in response to NBC moderator Kristin Welker's question about whether Iran would be ready to end the war and return to the negotiating table with the US.
It also came two days after US President Donald Trump said that the only way to end the war would be for Iran to announce “unconditional surrender.”
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The US‑Israeli war with Iran has entered its tenth day with more airstrikes across the region
Iran has carried out a new series of strikes on US military sites across the Middle East, targeting Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has reported. A high-rise government building in Kuwait City has also been hit by a drone, according to Bloomberg.
As of Sunday, the US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,332 Iranian civilians, the Islamic Republic’s official data shows.
US President Donald Trump has denied responsibility for the strike on a girls’ elementary school in the south of the Islamic Republic on February 28 that killed at least 175 people, suggesting instead that the Iranians were to blame and calling their munitions “very inaccurate.”....more below
https://www.rt.com/news/633831-us-israeli-war-on-iran-live-updates/
