“Italians put their assets into Swiss accounts as their government rejects negative economic forecasts… For the last three weeks, Italians have been lining up to put their money into Swiss bank accounts as fears grow for the safety of their assets under the government’s proposed ‘people’s budget’.
“Some are having to wait weeks to open an account. It’s becoming difficult for banks in Swiss cities to find appointments for their would-be Italian clients to open an account as a non-resident, according to a financial advisor at the Raiffeisen Institute. “We’re overburdened,” he told Repubblica.
“Spooked by the EU’s stern warnings of potential economic crisis, downgrades by ratings agencies and a growth slowdown, scores of well-off Italians have crossed the border to find out if they can open an account in Switzerland…
“Meanwhile, Italy’s finance ministry today rejected a grim economic forecast by the European Commission, describing it as a “technical failure.”
“The European Commission predicted in today’s report that Italy’s deficit would balloon due to a spending boost planned by Rome’s populist government that blatantly defies EU rules on expenditure.
“The EU said in its report today that growth in the eurozone would slow in 2019 and beyond, citing global uncertainty and heightened trade tensions.
“”We regret to note the Commission’s technical failure,” Giovanni Tria said in a statement, slamming “an inadequate and partial analysis” of the populist government’s proposed 2019 budget.”
https://www.thelocal.it/20181108/italians-rush-to-put-money-into-swiss-banks-as-budget-fears-grow
“A cold storage firm says it has run out of room because the food industry is stockpiling in the run-up to Brexit. Cardiff-based Wild Water has rented extra space in Newport, Bristol and Staffordshire, and bought another storage site in Merthyr Tydfil…
“The UK government insisted the country’s high level of food security would continue “whether we leave the EU with or without a deal”.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-46127592
“US authorities on Thursday sued Swiss banking giant UBS, accusing the European lender of fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities prior to the global financial crisis. Between 2006 and 2007, the bank allegedly misled investors about the quality of billions of dollars in low-quality mortgages that were the basis of 40 derivatives deals, the Justice Department said in a statement from Washington.”
“The exodus of Venezuelans fleeing economic and political crisis in their homeland has accelerated dramatically, reaching a total of about 3 million since 2015, the United Nations has announced.
“The new figures show that about one in 12 of the population has now left the country, driven by violence, hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicines.”
“Zimbabwean banks urged the government to introduce wide-ranging reforms amid signs the country is facing an economic crisis reminiscent of a hyperinflationary spiral a decade ago. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube is preparing to announce the 2019 budget later this month. He’s juggling a ballooning budget deficit, foreign-exchange shortages that are fueling inflation, and an inability to raise foreign loans because of $5.6 billion of debt arrears.”
“A third month of South Africa’s mining output declining in September raises the risk of third-quarter GDP showing yet another contraction.
“Statistics SA reported on Thursday that mining production fell 1.8% in September from the same month in 2017, worse than the economists’ consensus, which had expected a small growth.”
“The total amount of debts of Turkish private companies postponed by banks over the past three month under bankruptcy protection has reached more than 15 billion lira ($2.7 billion), Habertürk news site reported on Thursday. This $2.7 billion only covers the amount of debt restructured via agreements between companies and Turkish banks, Habertürk said. The actual amount of total debt of the private companies under bankruptcy protection reaches to 30 billion lira ($5.5 billion)…”
“More than adventurist foreign policy or aggressive repression of dissidents or critics at home and abroad, what Saudi Arabia needs is effective financial governance, social policy that looks forward to health and education challenges, and imaginative job creation.
“There is money to spend, but not at these rates and not for prolonged periods of time, especially if this generation is to achieve its goals.”
https://www.aei.org/publication/saudi-arabias-crisis-is-economic-and-demographic/
“China’s exports of rare earths fell by 37.4 percent from the previous month to their lowest in more than three years in October, according to customs figures released on Thursday and Refinitiv Eikon data. The world’s largest producer of rare earth minerals, a group of 17 elements used in electric vehicles and consumer electronics, shipped 3,100 tonnes last month, versus 4,950 tonnes in September, the General Administration of Customs said. The exports were down 10.6 percent year-on-year…”
https://www.kitco.com/news/2018-11-08/UPDATE-1-China-Oct-rare-earth-exports-slump-to-3-year-low.html
“Price increases of goods sold by China’s factories slowed for the fourth straight month in October as the world’s second largest economy faces lower demand for industrial materials amid cooling manufacturing activity…”
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/china-factory-inflation-growth-slows-045532400.html
“China has dropped its national currency’s reference rate against the US dollar by nearly 10%, in a bit to boost its exports.
“The Central Bank aims to determine the real value of the Yuan on the world market, in order to take into account its supply and demand on the foreign exchange market.”
http://www.africanews.com/2018/11/08/chinese-yuan-at-its-lowest-in-10-years/
“It was looking like a week of wound-licking for Asian stocks. Then crude oil entered a bear market and alarm bells rang on China’s slowdown as tech stocks plunged.
“Just like that, the region’s equity benchmark erased weekly gains and is now heading for a sixth slide in seven weeks, only worsening the wipeout that already erased $4.3 trillion of market value this year.”
“Oil notched its longest losing streak in four years as expanding U.S. stockpiles overshadowed supply concerns from the Persian Gulf to Latin America. Futures fell as much as 1.4% in New York on Thursday, extending the decline to a ninth day. The last time crude registered such a downtrend was mid 2014. American oil inventories grew at more than twice the anticipated pace last week, a government report showed on Wednesday.”
“Growth will decelerate across advanced and emerging market economies, according to Moody’s research released yesterday. In the US, the ongoing removal of monetary accommodation, waning fiscal stimulus, and restrictive trade policies will start weighing on financial markets and economic activity, the company said.”
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Economy/30358181
“‘The next crisis is not likely to be another Lehman, but another Japan — a widespread zombification of global economies to avoid the pain of a large repricing of sovereign bonds, which leads to massive tax hikes to pay the rising interests, economic recession, and unemployment.’”
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