World

Three years into the Ukraine war, Russia’s wartime economy appears not only to be surviving Western sanctions, but thriving — driven by oil revenues, surging military production, and a broader economic reorientation toward war. While much of the world expected Russia to collapse under the weight of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the opposite occurred: the Russian economy grew by 3.6% in 2023 and an even higher 4.1% in 2024, outpacing most Western nations. Yet this is not a sustainable economic model for the long term. Growth is heavily militarized and sustained by wartime spending, making it fiscally unsustainable. Inflation has also ticked upward amid rampant state spending, creating a cost-of-living crisis that won’t be easily reversed. Transitioning the Russian wartime economy ...

Shafaq News/ Recent developments in Turkiye's economy will be discussed on an international level, the Turkish Ministry of Treasury and Finance announced on Tuesday. Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek and Central Bank Governor Fatih Karahan will discuss Turkiye’s latest economic developments in a call at 13:00 GMT, hosted by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, as part of efforts to reassure investors following recent political and economic turmoil, the ministry stated.On Wednesday, Turkish police arrested Ekrem İmamoğlu, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s main rival. A court later ruled to hold him in pretrial detention on corruption-related charges. The decision sparked the country’s largest protests in over a decade, with opposition figures and European leaders condemning it as “politically mo...

Turkey’s financial authorities scrambled Monday to stop a rout in the currency and stock market, after the country lurched toward a full-blown political crisis at the weekend with the imprisonment of a rival to President Reçep Tayyip Erdoğan. The lira fell nearly 2 percent against the dollar and the government bond market was also hit by heavy selling as markets reopened after the weekend, but by midday there were signs that emergency measures from the Central Bank of Turkey (TCMB) and stock exchange regulator (SPK) had contained the fallout, at least in the short term. Turkey’s currency had slumped to a new all-time low against the dollar and euro last week after Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu — the man who was set to challenge Erdoğan for the presidency at the next election in 2028...

“The Romans had a god named Janus – deity of thresholds, beginnings, and transitions, famously depicted with two faces, one looking back, the other forward. Debt management demands that same duality. Like that ancient god, we too must look in two directions at once: backward at the debts we’ve accumulated, and forward to the futures they will shape,” said UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) chief Rebeca Grynspan in her opening remarks at UN organised 14th International Debt Management Conference last week in Geneva. A perfect illustration showcasing that debt management requires countries to balance their past borrowings with the impact they will have on the future. Several developing nations are currently struggling with a severe debt crisis. UNCTAD Report indicates that in 2023, their ...

Tunisian President Kais Saied sacked Prime Minister Kamel Maddouri less than a year after his appointment amid a faltering economy and a growing number of migrants arriving from countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Maddouri was replaced by Sara Zaafarani, who is an engineer and has been minister of equipment and housing since 2021. She is Tunisia's third prime minister in less than two years. In recent months, Saied has sharply criticised the performance of ministers, saying many have not met the required standards and that the expectations of the Tunisian people are high. Last month, he sacked Finance Minister Sihem Boughdiri. In a meeting broadcast on the presidency's Facebook page, Saied called on Zaafarani "to further coordinate government action and overcome obstacles to meet th...

The eurozone, also called the euro area, is a union of 20 European Union member states that have officially adopted the euro as their primary currency and sole legal tender. These member states exist under one monetary authority, the Eurosystem. At the beginning of 2018, Italy was the third-largest economy in the currency bloc. When Italy entered into a deep political and economic crisis, it was a concern for the European Union (EU) and the global markets. At the time, Italy accounted for 11% of the EU's gross domestic product (GDP). At the end of September 2018, the ruling coalition comprising the Five Star Movement (M5S)—a political party that espoused a populist, anti-establishment view (and was critical of the EU)—and the Lega Nord—also a political party in Italy—submitted their...