₦airaland Forum

Saudi reserves plunge as kingdom struggles with Covid-19 pandemic & oil-market rout

1 Jun, 2020

https://cdni.rt.com/files/2020.06/xxl/5ed4f6c885f5401d3216903b.jpg

Saudi Arabia’s foreign reserves fell sharply in April, after it transferred 150 billion riyals ($40 billion) to the sovereign-wealth fund to provide investment opportunities amid the pandemic-triggered financial fallout.
According to the country’s central bank, known as the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, total foreign reserve assets shrank by $24.7 billion in April to about $448.6 billion. The decline followed a $27 billion plunge in March, which has become the largest single-month drop for two decades.

Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan has explained that the $40 billion transfer was a one-off transaction to seize investment opportunity. “This procedure was taken after comprehensive study and taking into consideration the sufficient level for foreign-currency reserves,” the minister said.

In the first quarter of 2020, the Public Investment Fund (Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund) has invested billions of dollars in companies such as BP, Boeing, Citigroup, Facebook, and cruise operator Carnival.

The kingdom has also turned to austerity measures and tripled value-added tax in an attempt to cope with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the oil-price rout.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Saudi Arabia’s fiscal deficit this year is set to widen to nearly 13 percent of gross domestic product. The IMF projects gross official reserves will drop to around $456 billion in 2020, with the downward trend set to continue into 2021. At the end of April, the central bank’s net foreign assets stood at almost 1.7 trillion riyals ($453 billion).

“Saudi Arabia’s reserves’ position remains comfortable despite the fall,” said Monica Malik, chief economist at Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, as quoted by Bloomberg. “The still-low debt level provides an additional buffer. This is likely to rise sharply this year and next. Nevertheless, the medium-term oil price and ongoing fiscal adjustment remains critical.”

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has long been attempting to reshape the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy. This year’s oil-market turmoil has cut deeply into the government revenue for the world’s largest oil exporter.

In 2016, bin Salman unveiled the so-called Saudi Vision 2030 initiative, which includes policy and regulatory changes to be realized over the next 15 years to help the country’s economy develop beyond crude.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section

https://www.rt.com/business/490388-saudi-reserves-plunge-coronavirus-oil/

whomoveddisshittodafrontpage?

DenreleDave:
OK.. If China no buy, naija go buy am.. Buhari will surely buy them at a subsidize price

Oga Jona counseled Oga Bubu to be food self sufficient.

Abbeybailey:
All the 3rd world coons are in hibernation now like the Alaskan Polar Bears.

i saw this yesterday on the coli.

i can't post the twitter link on this platform for some reason.

DR UMAR IS ALREADY BUGGING PLS LMFAOOOO

https://www.thecoli.com/threads/dr-umar-got-me-crying.783578/

2016: Make America Great Again
2020: 25% unemployment, $4 trillion deficit, riots & curfews, travel bans, extreme racism, 100,000+covid-19 fatalities.

LOL, what be dis feminine drags tingz? females drag and males punch in combat.

compare bunker president to president nixon engaging protesters face to face during his era.

The Story of the Really Weird Night Richard Nixon Hung Out With Hippies at the Lincoln Memorial
It was one of the unlikeliest spectacles in Washington history: the President of the United States paying a late-night visit to thousands of radical protesters camped out at the Lincoln Memorial. Here’s how it happened.
https://www.washingtonian.com/2016/05/17/richard-nixon-kent-state-protests-white-house-lincoln-memorial/

UPDATE 1-China tells state firms to halt purchases of major U.S. farm products -sources

Hallie Gu, Keith Zhai, Jing Xu

3 MIN READ

(Updates throughout)

By Hallie Gu, Keith Zhai and Jing Xu

BEIJING/SINGAPORE, June 1 (Reuters) - China has told state-owned firms to halt purchases of soybeans and pork from the United States, two people familiar with the matter said, after Washington said it would eliminate special treatment for Hong Kong to punish Beijing.

Large volume state purchases of U.S. corn and cotton have also been put on hold, one of the sources said.

China could expand the order to include additional U.S. farm goods if Washington took further action, the people said.

“China has asked main state firms to suspend large scale purchases of major U.S. farm products like soybeans and pork, in response to U.S. reaction to Hong Kong,” the source said.

“Now we will watch and see what the U.S. does next.”

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he was directing his administration to begin the process of eliminating special treatment for Hong Kong, ranging from extradition treatment to export controls, in response to China’s plans to impose new security legislation in the territory.

China is ready to halt imports of more agriculture products from the United States if Washington takes more action on Hong Kong, the sources said.

Chinese importers have cancelled 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes of American pork shipments - equivalent to roughly one week’s orders in recent months - following Trump’s comments on Friday, the source said.

State purchases of bulk volumes of U.S. corn and cotton have also been suspended but the details were not clear.

In a worst case scenario, if Trump continues to target China, Beijing will have to scrap the Phase 1 trade deal, a second source familiar with the government plan said.

“There’s no way Beijing can buy goods from the U.S. when receiving constant attacks from Trump,” the person said.

China pledged to buy an additional $32 billion worth of U.S. agriculture products over two years above a baseline based on 2017 figures, under the initial trade deal the two countries signed in January.

China has bought soybeans, corn, wheat and soyoil from the United States this year, to fulfil its commitment under the trade deal. Beijing also stepped up purchases of U.S. pork, after the deadly African swine fever decimated its pig herd.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that China bought $1.028 billion worth of soybeans and $691 million of pork in the first quarter of 2020.

Private importers haven’t received a government order to suspend buying of U.S. farm produce, according to a third source with a major trading house, but commercial buyers are very cautious at the moment, the person added.

“A certain scale of trade will be halted,” given rising tensions between China and the U.S. in other areas, but it is not a full stop, said a fourth source familiar with government plan.

However, China would be able to find other sellers easily (of the farm products), he added.

The sources all declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Reporting by Hallie Gu, Jing Xu in Beijing and Keith Zhai in Singapore; Additional reporting by Dominique Patton, and Gavin Maguire; Editing by Edmund Blair and Susan Fenton

https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL4N2DE2PT

op, uhavedoneverywellpostingthesebreakinganonymousrelevationsandtheshithousetrumpasslickersareinepaininyourthread.

"But in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications to the Governor, Segun Dipe, on Saturday, Fayemi described the allegation as spurious, saying the reconstruction of the sprawling edifice was captured on the 2020 budgets and could be confirmed on the state website."


Page 73 of the 112 page Ekiti State Budget confirms N3,390,000.00 was budgeted for maintenance of the building for 2020 but not for renovation/remodeling. Calling on all sharp NL accountants and budget scholars to analyze the entries. Let's try to get at the truth in a dignified manner.

https://ekitistate.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/budget.pdf

2020 BUDGET DETAILS OF 2020 BUDGET

011102100200 EKITI STATE LIAISON OFFICE ABUJA

011100100200 EKITI STATE GOVERNOR'S LODGE,
ABUJA
Approved
Estimates 2020 N3,390,000.00

Economic protests and looting also is a strong factor. The lockdown has driven ppl crazy.

America in Chaos , Societal and Economic Meltdown.

The Atlantis Report


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QpEsSS-EYw

class vs classless

mindtricks:
Still does not make his point false.

i disagree, before the covid-19 lockdown we longer saw ppl lined up for miles to get generator and cooking fuel, especially during the holiday season. ppl were still traveling to dubai, uk, & yankee and posting the pics on NL. during BBnaija broadcast run almost every one had light and power to view every tv broadcast/episode, or fully charged smart phones. two former governors are fighting for their freedom after immunity done finish.
big difference from 2015.

abeg which senator, the duly elected senator of the Kaduna Central Senatorial District, or the senator of Twitter?

EFCC arrests Senator Shehu Sani

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/370572-efcc-arrests-senator-shehu-sani.html

serious protests sprouting up all over yankee!

yinbos representing!

you know things are very serious when oyinbos take the protests to the while house!

White man caught burning down a Walgreens/Autozone #Minneapolisriots

https://www.lipstickalley.com/threads/white-man-caught-burning-down-a-walgreens-minneapolisriots.3556493/

HOLY SH*T. The cop who started the vandalizing was outted by people who know him. His name is Jacob Pederson of the St. Paul PD.

One of the best YT channels

The Atlantis Report

Over 40 Million Jobless , Debt to GDP Ratio 122% , The Economy is Crashing !!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuPpt2ORAgc

Iceman2017:
I want to ask, these bandits what are they fighting for?

Are they fighting religious war?
Or are they just blood sucking demons in human forms.

Why are they deriving joy in killing and maiming humans?

Who is their sponsors?

I have a lot to ask but who should I ask....

Well, somebody prophecy is happening. He said "by the time they finish with Nigeria, Somalia will be a heaven to compare Nigeria".

Oh God help us

Probably foreign mercenaries. Naija is surrounded by colonial francophone countries. the majority of these tingz seem to almost always occur near one of the borders. see the tribal responses in the thread on how easy it is to initiate the divide and conquer playbook.

U.S. Jobless Claims Pass 40 Million: Live Business Updates
Another 2.1 million unemployment claims were filed last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.


Breaking News: More than 40 million people — the equivalent of 1 in 4 U.S. workers — have now filed for unemployment benefits since the pandemic took hold https://nyti.ms/3dbiFU1

This article could go in several NL sections, food, business, culture, but since South-East governors are mentioned I go post it here in politics.

Sale of cow drops in Southeast

May 28, 2020 in Coronavirus, News, News Update

https://thenationonlineng.net/sale-of-cow-drops-in-southeast/

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka


The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, has said the global pandemic known as Coronavirus has become it’s nemesis in the Southeast markets.

The group lamented yesterday that Igbo no longer patronise them the way they used to as a result of COVID-19

MACBAN’s Southeast Chairman, Alhaji Gidado Siddiki, spoke with reporters in Awka, Anambra State

He said the issue is no longer the herders and cCommunities again, but the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, which had caused lockdown in the country.

Siddiki, said the outbreak of the pandemic had stopped ceremonies such as burial, marriage ceremonies among others in Igbo land, where they make huge sales, in compliance with the COVID-19 protocols.

According to him, “the Coronavirus disease outbreak is seriously affecting our business, we no longer sell cows like we used to because people no longer celebrate marriages and burials like before. These are some of the events that give us sales.

Read Also: Three killed, cows shot in attack on Fulani community


“Again, cows have become expensive due to high cost of transportation, our volume of sales has gone down very much”.

He regretted that most of his members were not adhering to the rules of social distancing, hand washing among others despite repeated sensitization

“I and members of my leadership take the awareness message to them where they are in the bush and also them that we have to join hands with other people to eradicate this virus which is threatening our business.”

He urged Muslims to relate harmoniously with everyone irrespective of the creed in the spirit of the lesson learnt during the Ramadan.

However, he commended the governors of the South-East and the people of the area for giving them the enabling environment to do their business.

A more detailed news report than Channels.

NDDC accuses (NASS) lawmakers of seeking N6.4b fake payment

May 27, 2020 in News, News Update

https://thenationonlineng.net/nddc-accuses-lawmakers-of-seeking-n6-4b-fake-payment/

these guys make hard hitting and sobering videos on youtube everyday.


The Atlantis Report

R.I.P. Middle Class America !!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USxVLfepC6g

LOL, while cleaning up my pic files today I decided not to delete this one.