The most important events and reports on the economy, central banks and politics from the Dow Jones Newswires program
Gazprom questions the continued operation of the Nord Stream pipeline
The Russian gas company Gazprom has questioned the continued operation of the Nord Stream pipeline against the background of the repair of a necessary turbine in Canada. Gazprom has so far had no written confirmation that the repaired turbine from Canada will actually be delivered to Siemens, the company responsible for the installation, the Russian gas company said on Wednesday. “Under these circumstances” Gazprom cannot guarantee the future operation of the line.
The federal government wants to reduce emissions in the building and transport sectors
The federal government wants to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the building and transport sector with new measures. In the building sector, for example, the installation of gas heating will be banned from 2024. In addition, serial renovations of buildings as well as the installation of heat pumps and the use of district heating are to be promoted. In his package of measures to achieve the climate goals in the transport sector, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing is focusing on more electric cars, better bicycle infrastructure and an expansion of local public transport.
Wissing wants to rely on e-cars, bicycles and public transport for climate goals
In order to achieve the climate targets, Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) wants to expand the charging infrastructure for e-vehicles, the bicycle infrastructure and local public transport. Wissing presented a corresponding package of measures in Berlin. It also includes legal requirements for working from home, but not a general speed limit on motorways.
Federal government wants to introduce annual civil protection day
With an annual civil protection day and other measures, the federal government wants to better prepare people in the country for crises and emergencies. It’s about “providing security and power to act without spreading fear,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) in Berlin. The measures are part of the new civil protection program that the federal government drew up as a reaction to deficiencies and failures in civil protection during the flood disaster a year ago.
EU Commission: Russia is allowed to bring goods to Kaliningrad by rail
In principle, Russia is again allowed to bring goods by rail to the Kaliningrad exclave. The EU Commission made this clear on Wednesday after weeks of threats from Moscow against the EU transit country Lithuania. However, the transit of sanctioned military equipment and civilian goods that can also be used for military purposes remains prohibited.
EU Commission demands stronger action by Germany against lobbyists
The EU Commission has called on Germany to take stronger action against lobbyists influencing politics. According to the Commission’s annual report on the rule of law in the 27 member states, the federal government must tighten the regulations against the so-called revolving door effect. This means the change of former politicians or civil servants into the economy.
Villeroy de Galhau: Weak euro lifts inflation somewhat
ECB Governing Council member Francois Villeroy de Galhau pointed to the role of the weak euro in inflation in the euro area. “It’s good news for activity as it supports exporters, but unfortunately it raises inflation a bit,” the Banque de France governor told France Info Radio, according to the Bloomberg report. “We don’t set the exchange rate, but we track it because it’s important for inflation,” he added. The euro briefly fell below par with the US dollar on Tuesday.
Georgieva: IMF will lower GDP forecasts – risk of recession in 2023
According to IMF head Kristalina Georgieva, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will further lower its growth forecasts and sees increasing recession risks for 2023. Georgieva writes in a blog on the occasion of the meeting of the finance ministers of the 20 most important industrialized and emerging countries (G20) in Bali on July 15-16: “Recent indicators point to a weak second quarter, which is why in this month’s update of our global economic outlook forecasts for global economic growth in 2022 and 2023 will be further reduced.”
US inflation rises to 9.1 percent in June
Inflationary pressures in the US continued to rise in June, with the annual rate rising to the highest level in almost 41 years. As reported by the US Department of Labor, consumer prices increased by 1.3 percent compared to the previous month and were 9.1 (previous month: 8.6) percent above the level of the same month last year. That’s the highest annual rate since November 1981. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected monthly price increases of 1.1 percent and annual inflation of 8.8 percent.
Expectations for even stronger US interest rate hikes
The US inflation data was not what market players were hoping to see. Better-than-expected inflation readings have prompted investors to increase their bets that the Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates even more in the coming months. The federal funds futures, which traders use to forecast the development of expectations for the monetary policy track show that the market now has a 13 percent chance for a rate hike priced in by 100 basis points in July. A week ago, this value was still at zero percent.
US real incomes fall again in June
Real incomes in the US fell 1.0 percent in June from the previous month. As reported by the US Department of Labor, a decline of 0.9 percent was already recorded in May. According to the agency, the average weekly income in June was $374.76, adjusted for seasonal effects and inflation, compared to $378.53 in the previous month.
Yellen talks to China’s Deputy Prime Minister about oil price caps
US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen during a virtual meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He discussed the possibility of capping the price of Russian oil. This is one of the first signs of US efforts to lobby China on a plan to limit Russian oil revenues. Yellen said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in Tokyo that she and her Chinese counterpart would continue to work on this idea.
US crude inventories up surprisingly
Crude inventories in the US have expanded in the week ended July 8th. According to the state Energy Information Administration (EIA), they rose by 3.254 million barrels compared to the previous week. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a drop of 0.9 million barrels. In the previous week, inventories had increased by 8.234 million barrels. An increase of 4.8 million barrels was also registered in the data published the day before by the private American Petroleum Institute (API).
Biden wants to strengthen Israel’s “integration” in the Middle East
At the start of his trip to the Middle East, US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his will to strengthen the normalization of Israel’s relationship with the Arab states in the region. “We will continue to promote Israel’s integration in the region,” Biden said Wednesday after landing at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport. It is Biden’s first visit to Israel since taking office as US President.
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Brazil May Retail Sales +0.1%mom; -0.2% yoy
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 13, 2022 13:00 ET (17:00 GMT)