2025-09-15 09:31
JOHANNESBURG, Sept 15 (Reuters) - South Africa's longer-term inflation expectations fell to their lowest level on record, a quarterly survey showed on Monday, after the central bank said it would aim for a lower inflation level. Analysts, business people and trade unions now expect annual inflation to average 4.2% over the next five years, down from 4.4% in the second quarter survey. Inflation stood at 3.5% (ZACPIY=ECI) , opens new tab in July, the latest month for which data is available. Sign up here. "These downward revisions were made against the backdrop of the SA Reserve Bank's announcement of a change to the preferred inflation target at the end of July, just before the survey period," the Bureau for Economic Research, which conducts the survey, said in a report. The central bank, which commissions the survey, has been pushing for a formal change to its current inflation target range of 3% to 6%. At its last interest rate announcement it said it would start aiming for 3% inflation, rather than the middle of its target band, despite the finance minister not yet signing off on any official change to its target. Short-term inflation expectations were also revised down in the third-quarter survey, with forecasts for 2025 and 2026 averaging 3.8% and 4.2%, respectively, compared to 3.9% and 4.3% previously. The South African Reserve Bank's next interest rate announcement is scheduled for September 18. The majority of economists polled by Reuters expect the country's main lending rate (ZAREPO=ECI) , opens new tab to remain unchanged, given a modest uptick in inflation in July and possible further rise in August. Some analysts think the bank's stated preference for 3% inflation will also encourage it to maintain its repo rate after cuts in May and July. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-africas-longer-term-inflation-expectations-drop-record-low-2025-09-15/
2025-09-15 09:17
Sept 15 (Reuters) - Sterling gained against the dollar and the euro on Monday as investors braced for a week of pivotal central bank decisions in which the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates and the Bank of England to hold policy steady. Sterling rose to its highest level against the dollar since early July before paring gains. It was last at $1.3583. Against the euro , the pound was up 0.2% to 86.33 pence but remained within its recent range. Sign up here. Investors are focusing on this week's key rate decisions in the United States, Japan, Britain, Canada and Norway, with the Federal Reserve's decision on Wednesday taking centre stage. While the Fed is widely expected to cut rates by 25 basis points, the Bank of England is likely to keep its main interest rate on hold and announce a slow down in the pace at which it reduces its government bond holdings. Commentary from the policy decision is unlikely to spur a meaningful reaction in sterling as attention remains on Britain's autumn budget announcement, said Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe. Finance minister Rachel Reeves will deliver her annual budget on November 26. UK public finances remain weak and analysts say Reeves will have to raise taxes by at least 20 billion pounds ($27 billion) - and possibly double that - to remain on course to hit her own fiscal targets. Elsewhere, the dollar was a touch weaker against a basket of peers , with Goldman Sachs analysts saying the impending Fed rate cut should lead to fresh declines. The dollar has fallen nearly 10% so far this year against major peers. The U.S. economy's reduced outperformance relative to the world and the lower cost of hedging U.S. dollar assets for investors in Asia are among the factors that could contribute to fresh weakness in the dollar, the Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/sterling-firms-heading-into-busy-week-central-bank-decisions-2025-09-15/
2025-09-15 08:01
MOSCOW, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Russia on Monday warned European states that it would go after any state which sought to take its assets after reports that the European Union was floating the idea of spending billions of dollars worth of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine. After President Vladimir Putin sent his army into Ukraine in 2022, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with the Russian central bank and finance ministry and blocked $300-$350 billion of sovereign Russian assets, mostly European, U.S. and British government bonds held in a European securities depository. Sign up here. Reuters reported that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants the European Union to find a new way to finance Ukraine's defence against Russia using the cash balances associated with Russian assets frozen in Europe. Politico reported that the European Commission is mulling the idea of using Russian cash deposits , opens new tab at the European Central Bank from maturing bonds owned by Russia to fund a "Reparations Loan" for Ukraine. "If this happens, Russia will pursue the EU states, as well as European degenerates from Brussels and individual EU countries who try to seize our property, until the end of the century," former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev wrote on Telegram. Russia will pursue European states in "all possible ways" and in "all possible international and national courts" as well as "out of court", said Medvedev, who serves as deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council. Russia says any seizure of its assets amounts to theft by the West and will undermine confidence in the bonds and currencies of the United States and Europe. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/russia-warns-europe-we-will-go-after-any-state-which-takes-our-assets-2025-09-15/
2025-09-15 07:53
Palm oil imports rise 15.8% m/m to 990,528 tons Soyoil imports fall 25.3% m/m to 367,917 tons Sunflower oil imports rise 28.5% m/m to 257,080 tons MUMBAI, Sept 15 (Reuters) - India's palm oil imports jumped in August to their highest level in more than a year, as competitive pricing relative to soyoil prompted refiners to step up purchases ahead of the festive season, a leading trade body said on Monday. Higher palm oil imports by India, the world's largest buyer of vegetable oils, are expected to help top producers Indonesia and Malaysia reduce inventories and support benchmark Malaysian palm oil futures . Sign up here. India's palm oil imports in August rose 15.76% to 990,528 metric tons, reaching their highest point since July 2024, the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said. Imports of soyoil decreased 25.27% to 367,917 tons, the lowest level in four months, and sunflower oil imports rose 28.53% to a seven-month high of 257,080 tons, the industry trade body said. In August, India imported 6,000 tons of canola oil for the first time in nearly five years, the SEA said. Higher imports of palm oil and sunflower oil lifted India's total edible oil imports in August by 4.7% to 1.62 million tons month-on-month, the highest level since July 2024, the SEA said. Refiners are gearing up for the upcoming festive season, and imports are expected to stay above 800,000 tons in September, said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trade house. Demand for edible oil, particularly palm oil, in India typically rises during the festival season due to increased consumption of sweets and fried foods. India buys palm oil mainly from Indonesia and Malaysia, while it imports soyoil and sunflower oil from Argentina, Brazil, Russia and Ukraine. India imported 589,283 tons of duty-free edible oils from Nepal in the first nine months of the marketing year ending October, under a regional trade pact, the SEA said. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-august-palm-oil-imports-hit-1-year-high-festive-demand-price-advantage-2025-09-15/
2025-09-15 07:35
Sept 15 (Reuters) - Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink was back online for most users after a brief outage on Monday, according to tracking website Downdetector.com. The number of U.S. users reporting issues fell below 1,000 as of 1:15 a.m. ET (0515 GMT), down from a peak of more than 43,000, Downdetector said. The platform tracks outages by collating status reports from multiple sources. Sign up here. Starlink's website reported an outage early on Monday, without providing further details. "Starlink is currently experiencing a service outage. Our team is investigating," it said. The message has since been removed. The commander of Ukraine's drone forces Robert Brovdi reported that the Starlink outage affected the entire frontline of the war with Russia starting at 07:28 local time (0428 GMT). "Another global outage at SpaceX," he wrote on the Telegram messaging app, adding that the service started coming back around half an hour later. Ukraine's forces are heavily reliant on SpaceX's Starlink terminals for battlefield communications and some drone operations. More than 50,000 terminals are currently in operation in Ukraine, according to officials. Starlink, operated by Musk's SpaceX, provides internet services via a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites and is widely used in remote areas and conflict zones. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. https://www.reuters.com/technology/musks-starlink-service-back-up-after-brief-outage-affects-thousands-users-2025-09-15/
2025-09-15 07:08
Sept 15 (Reuters) - In the lush highlands of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, coffee crops are rotting and withering as an escalation in the decades-long conflict in the region has kept farmers from tending to their land this year. Fighting between the government and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels escalated at the start of the year as rebels seized major cities in North and South Kivu provinces, prime coffee-growing areas known for their high-quality Arabica beans. Sign up here. The latest hostilities have killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more, including farmers. They have also blocked export routes, threatening to curtail what had been a remarkable recovery for the nation's coffee industry following years of decline. Coffee bean production in Congo topped 100,000 metric tons a year in the late 1980s, according to U.N. data, but fell sharply in the 1990s as DRC forces and other armed groups fought in devastating wars rooted in Rwanda's 1994 genocide. Output climbed again in the past decade, reaching just over 62,000 tons in 2023, the U.N. data shows. Cooperatives like SOPACDI in South Kivu province were getting international recognition for their quality beans, and improvements had been made in production methods and in deepening global market connections. Now those gains are under threat. At the state-run coffee factory in Bukavu, the South Kivu capital, rows of drying beds laid empty during a Reuters visit earlier this month. François Kambale Nzanzu, the director of the state agriculture office that oversees exports, said that while coffee trees flowered abundantly this year, fighting and banking disruptions have hit exports. "We had a lot of coffee, but there weren't many exporters this year," Nzanzu said. In Muganzo, also in South Kivu, farmer Mudekereza Kashugushu Celestin surveyed the sorry state of his plantation, where fallen trees and shrivelled beans littered the ground. "There's nothing left of the coffee I had. Even those that remain are already rotten and dry," he said. The damage has left him struggling to support his family and pay his children's school fees. "I used to harvest $300 worth of coffee each year, but this year I only got $50," he said. https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/congo-coffee-farmers-fear-war-will-undo-recent-gains-2025-09-15/
