Russian economy contracts for the first time in five years as rouble crisis takes hold December 29, 2014 The Russian economy contracted by 0.5 per cent in November, its first fall since October 2009, according to official figures released today. The news came as President Putin signed a law doubling the deposit guarantee for banks to 1.4m roubles (£16,000). Officials of the Russian government added that they expect a total GDP fall of [...]
Yippee-ki-yay: Russian government spends £1.6bn bailing out Bruce Willis’ favourite bank December 27, 2014 The Russian government says it will spend $2.5bn (£1.6bn) bailing out one of its largest lenders, five times what it originally expected to spend, after the plummeting rouble caused its foreign-denominated debts to shoot up. The bank said on Friday it is planning to inject $2bn in direct aid into Trust Bank, with another $550m [...]
UK named world’s fifth biggest economy thanks to sex and drugs boost December 27, 2014 The UK has overtaken France as the world’s fifth biggest economy – and we have drugs and prostitution to thank for it. The Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr) has put together its league table for 2014, and has placed the UK narrowly above France in its rankings, with an economy worth $2.828 trillion [...]
The four most shocking things that happened in 2014 December 23, 2014 1. THE RUSSIA SAGA (Source: Getty) Russia flexed its muscles at the beginning of the year, taking the opportunity during the uprising in Ukraine to plant pro-Putin flags in the Crimea region, triggering a string of catastrophic events to unfold. And it’s likely we’re far from seeing the final act of this epic Russian novel play [...]
Saudi Arabia oil minister Ali al-Naimi: We won’t cut production to prop up prices December 22, 2014 Saudi Arabia’s oil minister has insisted the country will not cut oil production to prop up prices, despite the key commodity collapsing by a further 25 per cent in value over the past month. “Whether it goes down to $20, $40, $50, $60, it is irrelevant,” Ali al-Naimi said yesterday. “We are [...]
Happy Christmas to all our readers – Editor’s Letter December 22, 2014 So we come to the end of another year, and 2014 has been eventful enough, dominated politically in the UK by the debate over the future of Scotland and elsewhere by Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Oil prices have crashed, causing major implications for producers and consumers alike and in some countries interest rates have [...]
Morgan Stanley sale to Rosneft fails to win regulatory approval December 22, 2014 RUSSIAN oil firm Rosneft’s deal to buy Morgan Stanley’s oil merchant business has collapsed after United States regulators refused to clear it. Although the sale of the business was inked before the US and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia over its interference in Ukraine, its collapse had been expected as the political winds changed. [...]
Christmas quiz: Test your knowledge December 22, 2014 Deloitte’s chief economist, poses some of the trickiest questions of the year. How many can you get right? Answers are at the bottom. 1 The Louvre is the world’s most popular art gallery, with 9.3m visits in 2013. How many visits did people make to Disney’s Magic Kingdom in Florida in the same year? a) [...]
General election 2015: The Tories and stock markets December 22, 2014 When market-watchers think ahead to 2015’s political risks, it’s a safe bet that minds will quickly turn to the Middle East, Russia, or certain parts of Latin America and Africa. There are good reasons for this: Vladimir Putin’s revanchism looks unlikely to halt soon, and a tumbling oil price threatens further instability in Nigeria, Iran, [...]
Which were the best and worst investments of 2014? December 22, 2014 This year low interest rates have seen investors who bet on traditional investments receive returns tantamount to chickenfeed. Perhaps we should have given up before we'd all even started? Perhaps not. Investors who plumped for chocolate, property, the US dollar and Aim-listed company Fitbug would have watched as their money practically grew on trees. Conversely, [...]