As we have noted since the Central Banksters started to rapidly raise interest rates, the decade’s long merger and acquisition spree is over. However, the “Bigs” will still get bigger, as they buy out overleveraged companies that can’t afford to borrow at high rates to refinance while, at the same time, recessionary pressures erode their profitability.
SPOTLIGHT: CHINA’S ECONOMIC STRUGGLE
China’s economic crisis has emboldened reformers who argue for structural change to the country’s economy, challenging other officials who contend that stimulus spending will put China’s productivity back on track, Reuters reported.
SPOTLIGHT, TOP TREND 2023: OFFICE BUILDING BUST
About 24 percent of office space in 18 major Chinese cities sat empty in June, compared to 18.2 percent in the U.S., real estate services firm CBRE reported. In that month, the national value of office rents fell 7 percent below that of 2019.
BANK OF JAPAN HOLDS INTEREST RATE STEADY
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) did not change its interest rate when the governing committee met on 22 September, citing “extremely high uncertainties” about its own and the world’s economic future.
CANADA’S INFLATION RATE SPIKES IN AUGUST
Canada’s annual Inflation rate jumped to 4 percent in August from 3.3 percent in July, largely due to a 0.8-percent rise in the price of petroleum fuels, Statistics Canada reported. The rate was the highest since April.
BUNDESBANK PRESIDENT WARNS AGAINST ENTRENCHED INFLATION
“At all costs,” the European Central Bank (ECB) must prevent inflation from becoming entrenched across the Eurozone’s economy, Joachim Nagel, president of Germany’s central bank, said in a speech last week.
BANK OF ENGLAND PAUSES RATE HIKES
By a vote of five to four, the Bank of England’s (BoE’s) rate-setting committee paused its steady march of rate increases at its meeting last week, leaving its key rate at 5.25 percent.
TURKEY RAISES KEY INTEREST RATE BY 5 POINTS AT ONCE
On 21 September, Turkey’s central bank hiked its key one-week repo interest rate by a whopping five percentage points to 30 percent, matching economists’ forecast in a FactSet poll.
RUSSIA HALTS EXPORTS OF GASOLINE AND DIESEL FUEL
With world oil prices closing in on $100 a barrel, Russia has banned exports of diesel fuel and gasoline, with exceptions for some low-grade diesel and for supplies to four adjacent ex-Soviet states.
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS/CLOSING STORES TRENDS
In recent times, the economic landscape has presented an array of challenges that have profoundly affected the business community. Some of the most significant challenges include soaring inflation rates, escalating interest rates, looming fears of a recession, and a tangible decrease in revenues for many sectors…all made worse by the COVID War which destroyed the lives and livelihoods of billions across the globe.