The UK Parliament once again defeated PM Boris Johnson in two Wednesday votes, forcing him in the first bill preventing a no-deal Brexit to ask the EU for yet another extension to the Brexit and rejecting his bill to hold a general election on October 15.
BoJo’s Plan Goes Nosedive
The government now has time until October 19 to come up with either a deal that the Parliament can accept or convince the lawmakers to concede no-deal. If he fails, then he will have to go to Brussels and present a letter whose exact wording was included in the first bill. The House of Lords will be discussing it on Friday before it gets royal assent.
Rouhani Orders Nuclear Ramp-Up
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani ordered on Wednesday the lifting of all limits on nuclear research and development, reducing the country’s commitments under the 2015 nuclear pact with the US and world powers. Rouhani called his order “the third step” during a television address in response to the hard-hitting US sanctions that were imposed after President Trump came to power and withdrew Washington from the pact.
This came shortly after the US Treasury announced sanctions on a petroleum shipping network for having ties with Iranian regime’s Revolutionary Guards.
Fed Officials’ Comments
President of the New York Federal Reserve John Williams said on Wednesday that ‘robust’ US consumer spending was one reason the economy stood in a “favorable” place.” Williams stated the Fed was ready to “act as appropriate” to help the US economy avoid slowdown or recession in the face of external threats such as the trade war. Williams also said reporters he expected the GDP growth to be at a pace of 2.0% to 2.5% this year.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren earlier said there was no reason to cut rates as long as the economy kept growing at around 2%. Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan, on the other hand, said the economy was “mixed” and he would rather focus on consumer spending, the strongest part of the world’s biggest economy, to see if it is hit by trade uncertainties.
German Factory Orders in a Steep Slump
Data by Germany’s economy ministry showed on Thursday that orders to German factories in July fell by 2.7%, a figure 1.2 larger than the forecast. Orders the previous month were at 2.5%. The figure added to the idea that the Eurozone’s largest economy as facing a recession.
US Oil Stocks Rise
American Petroleum Institute (API) figures showed that the US crude inventories increased by 401,000 barrels in the week that ended on August 30 to 429.1 million, compared with industry analyst forecast for a drop of 2.5 million barrels.
Tanzania Increases Precious Metal Export
Africa’s fourth-largest precious metal exporter Tanzania announced on Thursday that its gold exports rose by 23% from January to July. The east African nation’s central bank did not provide export volumes.
