Economy
The Chinese economy continued to recover in August. This is indicated by a number of economic indicators showing growth compared to previous months. Among such indicators are retail sales, which have shown weak dynamics since the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In August, this figure rose for the first time and almost returned to the pre-crisis level. Last month, activity in the Chinese real estate market intensified, investment and production in the manufacturing industry increased significantly. Urban unemployment fell to 5.6% from 6.2% in February, when the impact of the pandemic was particularly strong.
The Central Bank of Bolivia, together with the government, has developed a new financial plan for the current year, taking into account the negative impact on the economy of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The document says that the expected drop in the country's annual GDP will range from 5.1% to 7.9%. The growth rate of consumer prices by the end of the year may range from 0.9% to 2.3%. The state budget deficit will increase this year by more than 50% in relation to the previous year. The financial plan includes an excess of expenses over revenues by 32.1 billion bolivians or $ 4.65 billion. This amount will correspond to 12.1% of Bolivia's GDP.
The ZEW Institute conducted a study, the results of which showed that investor confidence in Europe's largest economy is gradually growing. In September, the corresponding index rose to the level of 77.4 points. In August, it was at the level of 71.5 points. Analysts did not expect positive changes in investor sentiment. They assumed that the index assessing their confidence will decrease to 69.8 points. The attitude towards the current state of the economy has also improved. The indicator that allows you to assess it, rose to minus 66.2 points against minus 81.3 points in August. The experts expected the indicator to rise to minus 72 points. Achim Wambach, head of the research center, said that such a significant increase in indicators, which was observed in September, indicated optimistic expectations about the pace of recovery of the German economy.
Cryptocurrency
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong criticized Apple for refusing to host decentralized apps on the App Store. According to him, all attempts to solve the problem with the company's management and through official channels have failed. According to Armstrong, Apple prohibits the addition of applications to the App Store with the function of earning cryptocurrencies and providing a list of DeFi applications. This directly affected the educational service Coinbase Earn, where users receive small sums for completing tasks. Coinbase previously said it may remove the DApp browser from the mobile wallet to comply with App Store policies. Then Armstrong admitted that Apple excludes the use of decentralized applications from its store.
Perhaps the Bahamas will be the first country in the world to launch its own digital currency. The national cryptocurrency will be called Sand Dollar and will appear in October. The country's central bank plans that the digital currency will help make financial services more accessible on the remote islands of the state. Citizens will be able to use their mobile phones to use the Sand Dollar. The new cryptocurrency will be regulated similarly to the Bahamian dollar. The digital currency will be subject to the same anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws as fiat currencies. In addition, to create a digital wallet, the user will have to go through a full verification procedure.
Precious metals and raw materials
India's gold purchases abroad reached $ 3.703 billion in August. Over the past twelve months, their volume has jumped 2.7 times. This is evidenced by official data. The imported gold in the past month exceeded the volume of foreign purchases of this precious metal in the four months to July. From January to August, India purchased gold in the amount of $ 11.349 billion, which indicates a 2-fold decrease in this indicator compared to the same period last year. During the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in April, India virtually stopped buying gold overseas.
Stocks of ETFs that track gold have surged to an all-time high. As investors seek to hedge the economic risks posed by a sharp increase in government deficits, geopolitical problems and falling Treasury yields, the infusion of gold ETFs has surpassed Germany's official reserves. Citibank has raised its short-term targets for gold to $ 2,200 per troy ounce and identifies three main reasons for the trend's continuation. According to the bank's analysts, the record rate of inflow of funds from investors in ETFs, the weakening of the dollar and negative real yields are still the main driving forces behind the asset's growth.