Deprived of tourism dollars, Sri Lanka’s forex reserves plummeted from $7.5 billion in November 2019, when the government took office, to $2.8 billion at the end of July. Food staples in the country are also running low.
Max and Stacy discuss the reasons for the crisis and possible solutions to address it.
Rising gas prices will force European countries to restrain their ambitions to phase out coal and fossil fuels, according to an expert on EU energy markets, Simonas Vileikis.
“Underfilled storage facilities continue to push the price of gas higher. If the facilities are not refilled now, and the winter turns out to be rather severe, EU nations may be forced to reactivate thermal power plants operating on other types of fuel, including coal, to compensate for the lack of electricity,” Vileikis told TASS.
On Wednesday, European prices for gas hit a multi-year high of almost $970 per 1,000 cubic meters, extending the unprecedented rally seen over the past weeks. The surge in prices is projected to trigger power outages in the EU during the winter.
Steep gas prices have reportedly become a driver in lifting carbon and coal prices to record highs as well. Among the other factors contributing to higher energy costs, according to analysts, include low wind generation and nuclear plant unavailability across the continent.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on the EU to counter rising Chinese investment with a new infrastructure program, Global Gate. “We want to create links and not dependencies,” she said in her address.
Boom Bust’s Christy Ai and Professor Richard Wolff offer their forecasts on the EU’s latest proposal to counter China’s new Silk Road.
The world’s largest cinema chain AMC Entertainment has announced it is expanding the range of cryptocurrencies it will accept for online ticket and concession payments.
“Cryptocurrency enthusiasts: you likely know @AMCTheaters has announced we will accept Bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments by year-end 2021. I can confirm today that when we do so, we also expect that we similarly will accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash,” company CEO Adam Aron tweeted.
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts: you likely know @AMCTheatres has announced we will accept Bitcoin for online ticket and concession payments by year-end 2021. I can confirm today that when we do so, we also expect that we similarly will accept Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. pic.twitter.com/uKcFyQotoJ
In August, AMC announced it would start accepting bitcoin by the end of the year at its US theaters, making it the first cinema chain to accept crypto as a payment option. The announcement came amid attempts by the world’s biggest cinema chain to boost revenue in order to bounce back from the Covid pandemic.
Earlier in January, shares in AMC Entertainment skyrocketed, becoming one of the most highly speculative assets amid the short squeeze triggered by retail traders on Reddit’s infamous WallStreetBets forum.
Fitch Ratings has trimmed its outlook for global economic recovery for 2021, citing supply-chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic that is still affecting many countries.
The world’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 6% in the current year, according to the agency’s Global Economic Outlook report for September. The new figure is down from Fitch’s 6.3% forecast made in June.
“Supply constraints are limiting the pace of recovery,” the report says. “A greater share of demand growth is being reflected in price increases and US inflation forecasts have been revised up again.”
Fitch lowered its forecast for the US economy to 6.2%, from 6.8% made in June, while China’s 2021 growth expectation was trimmed to 8.1%, from 8.4% amid a property-market slowdown that is weighing on domestic demand.
Meanwhile, the growth forecast for the Eurozone in the current year was revised up to 5.2%, from 5%.
“Progress with vaccine rollout is limiting the impact of renewed increases in coronavirus cases on economic activity in Europe and, to a slightly lesser extent, in the US,” the agency stated. “But virus dynamics are influencing growth more heavily where vaccination rates remain low. The pandemic is still constraining labor supply.”
Fitch analysts expect global supply constraints and inflation pressures to ease in 2022.
