The Leather Pipeline - 25.11.14
Macroeconomics
The financial markets have not been very active over the past fortnight. The G20 summit in Brisbane was probably the most important event and showed that the crisis in the Ukraine and Russian sanctions continues to be prominent. The representatives of the largest economies discussed how the global economy could be put back on track, but failed to reach a conclusion or come up with any new ideas.
For Russia, the decline of energy and metal prices is the biggest problem. Being one of the biggest exporters it might have been expected that commodity prices would rise – as they usually do – but they have fallen and there are many speculations as to why. Russia’s currency is also losing strength; the rouble has lost 20%-40% of its value. Russia is looking for new allies and to strengthen relations with potential partners such as China and Venezuela to protect sales and to stabilise prices.
