Finance

EBRD BOUGHT BULGARIA
President Chakrabarti welcomed Bulgaria’s recent actions to strengthen the stability of its financial sector and promote the liberalisation of the energy market. He reconfirmed the EBRD’s commitment to support these reforms with investment and technical advice.

IMF BOUGHT AZERBAIJAN
Executive Directors welcomed the steps the authorities have taken to adjust to the decline in oil prices and weaker growth in trading partners. However, they noted that the difficult external environment could hamper macroeconomic outcomes in the near term. While Azerbaijan’s policy buffers remain substantial, the balance of payments, fiscal position, and banking system would likely remain under pressure as the economy continues to adjust. Accordingly, Directors stressed the need to press ahead with reforms to secure macroeconomic and financial stability and promote a diversified and private sector-led economy.

UNSTABLE OIL PRICES
The collapse of oil prices has forced Canadian and global producers to slash costs and curtail investment over the past two years. Even after a rebound from a 12-year low earlier this year, oil futures in New York are still about 60 percent down from their 2014 peak. Prices have been mostly stuck in the $40-$50 range for the past four months.

IMF WANTS WHOLE WORLD
Growth has also been unequal: in major advanced economies, incomes for the top 10 percent increased by 40 percent in the past two decades, while growing only modestly at the bottom.

ЦЕНА РУССКОЙ НЕФТИ: $40
"Мы при подготовке бюджета используем цену $40 за баррель, потому что мы понимаем, что бюджет, построенный из $40 за баррель, адаптировать к стресс-сценарию $30 за баррель возможно. Если брать более высокие цены, вся экономическая ситуация окажется уязвимой перед возможными шоками, приходящими с внешних рынков"

WBG BUYS BELARUS
Since the Republic of Belarus joined the World Bank in 1992, lending commitments to the country have totaled US$ 1.5 billion.

WBG BUYS EGYPT
The World Bank finances projects for faster delivery of benefits to the people of Egypt in key sectors including social safety nets, energy, transport, water and sanitation, agriculture and irrigation, housing, health, as well as supporting employment-intensive projects and financing for micro and small enterprises. The current portfolio of the World Bank in Egypt includes 24 projects for a total commitment of about US$ 7 billion.

SAUDI CUTS DEFICIT $20 BLN
The government is reviewing thousands of projects valued at about 260 billion riyals ($69 billion) and may cancel a third of them, three people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private. The measures would impact the budget for several years, according to two of the people.

IMF SELLS MONEY
“Regarding IMF resources, I am heartened that the G20 leaders supported maintaining access to bilateral and multilateral borrowing arrangements, in line with the objective of preserving the IMF’s current lending capacity. I especially appreciated the G20's call for broad participation of the IMF membership in this effort, including through new agreements. And I am pleased that some countries have already indicated their willingness to make commitments. This should help provide confidence that the IMF will continue to have the capacity to address the needs of its membership.

PETROBRAS CUTS 11,704 JOBS
In April, the company said it expected up to 12,000 employees to leave as part of the layoff program.