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
American officials worry about the rapid depletion of the US military’s advanced weaponry amid the ongoing military aggression on Iran.
American officials and analysts are expressing serious worry about the rapid depletion of the US military’s stocks of advanced weaponry amid the ongoing military aggression against Iran.
Just days after the aggression began, US military leaders warned that the American armed forces have already expended thousands of sophisticated missiles and hundreds of costly interceptors, according to The Washington Post.
The report suggested the US may soon have to prioritize targets as its inventory shrinks.
American worries over dwindling ammunition are now affecting allies such as Israel and Persian Gulf states. CNN reports that a Persian Gulf ally’s missile interceptor stock is exhausted and urgently needs replenishment.
The US confirmed that Iran has destroyed a key $300 million radar system used by US THAAD missile defense systems at Muwaffaq Salti Air ...
An Iranian Army spokesman says 220 American soldiers and commanders have been killed or wounded and significant damage has been inflicted on American assets in the region in retaliatory attacks by the Iranian Armed Forces over the past 24 hours.
The spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Zolfaghari, said on Saturday that 21 American service members were killed and a number of others injured during Iranian attacks on the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
He added that some 200 American personnel were also killed and wounded during strikes against the US military base in Al Dhafra Air Base.
The Armed Forces also targeted an oil tanker owned by the United States in the northern part of the Persian Gulf, he noted.
The US and Israel waged a fresh round of unlawful military aggression on Iran on February 28, some eight months after they carried out unprovoked attacks on the country and its nuclear facilities.
The attacks led to the ...
Prior to the arrival of the United States, the Persian Gulf was essentially the domain of the British Empire which ended up handing over its holdings to the US to ensure that the latter would be at the forefront of any major war in the region, Middle East affairs expert Mais Kurbanov tells Sputnik.
Currently, the US controls a network of military installations that don’t just serve as military garrisons – these are all elements of a system of control of the Gulf ‘gas station,” Kurbanov remarks.
This defensive network was never meant to protect the Arab states of the Gulf – it’s real purpose was to protect Israel.
“This entire shield was created to keep Israel safe and to intercept missiles. They were more or less able to intercept them during the previous conflicts, before Iran started targeting their radars. And now they got nothing to intercept because Iran destroys the early warning system itself,” notes Kurbanov.
The US is unwilling and unable to defend the Gulf states – it ...
