- ECB President Lagarde: We will have a digital euro
- US House of Representatives calls for Trump’s dismissal
- Oil prices decline
ECB President Lagarde: We Will Have a Digital Euro
Lagarde made evaluations on the impact of Covid-19 on the economy, digital currencies, and the Eurozone economy at the “Rethinking the Future” online conference organized by Reuters news agency.
Emphasizing that the economic outlook is still solid despite the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Lagarde said that the ECB’s latest predictions for economic growth in the Eurozone are still very clearly “reasonable” despite the increasing number of Covid-19 cases and renewed restrictions. “
Lagarde pointed out that most of the uncertainties that previously shadowed the economic outlook, including the US elections, a trade agreement with the EU on Brexit, the approval and introduction of Covid-19 vaccines, have now disappeared, and the projected 3.9 percent GDP growth for this year noted that it is still valid today.
Stating that the ECB predicts that the restrictions against Covid-19 will continue until the end of the first quarter of this year, in the economic outlook report published in December 2020, Lagarde said, “If member states need to continue restrictions after March, this will be alarming.
Christine Lagarde stated that due to the continuing health and economic crisis caused by Covid-19, monetary and financial support is still needed and they will maintain appropriate monetary conditions as long as necessary.
Touching on the digital currency Bitcoin, which has rapidly increased in value in recent weeks, Lagarde said, “Bitcoin is a speculative asset.” Lagarde argued that Bitcoin facilitates some reprehensible activities.
Stating that there is a need for a regulator for Bitcoin, Lagarde said that regulations on the digital currency should be accepted globally.
“We will have a digital euro. I hope the issuance of this will not take more than 5 years. It will take some time for us to make sure that this is a logical choice,” Lagarde said, stating that the public opinion on the ECB’s possible “digital euro” issuance has been completed.
“There is a demand” for a digital currency, she added, but that there is a “need to have a system that is secure” and where risks such as hacking are addressed.
A detailed report on the digital euro will be released in the spring, the statement said.
US House of Representatives Calls for Trump’s Dismissal
US House of Representatives Calls for Trump’s Dismissal
The Senate, to which the House of Representatives will send the impeachment clause, will hold Trump’s trial and decide whether he is guilty or not, after January 20.
In the vote held in the US House of Representatives, the impeachment clause in which President Donald Trump was accused of “incitement to revolt” was accepted.
Democrats in the US Congress took an important step against Trump, whom they blamed for the Congressional raid on January 6.
Trump was accused of “incitement to rebellion” in the impeachment clause in the bill, which came to the agenda of the House of Representatives one week before the end of his term of office.
After a long debate, in the General Assembly of the House of Representatives, the impeachment clause in which Trump was accused of “incitement to rebellion” was accepted with 232 votes against 197 no votes. It was noteworthy that 10 Republican MPs also voted yes to the said dismissal clause.
It was not predicted that there would be so much shrinkage on the side of the Republicans against Trump. According to CNN’s report; Republican Jim Jordan said he was surprised by the number of Republicans voting for Trump’s dismissal. “I was hoping it would be less,” Jordan said.
Republican California Representative David Valadao, who took a stand against Trump, explained his reasoning with the following message, which he posted on Twitter: “I voted for President Trump’s dismissal. His provocative rhetoric was non-American, hate-inducing, and certainly a crime of dismissal. It is time to keep the country above politics. “
Thus, Trump, the 45th President of the United States, was recorded as “the first president twice accused of impeachment” in the country’s history.
It is not yet clear when the Senate, which constitutes the main judicial leg of the impeachment process and will decide whether Trump is guilty, will hold the vote in question.
Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in the Senate stated in his last statement that the session for Trump’s trial will not take place before January 20. Thus, it became certain that Trump’s Senate trial will remain in the reign of Joe Biden.
For the Senate to convict Trump, at least 2 out of 100 senators, or at least 67 senators, must vote in that direction.
According to reports in the American media, a significant portion of Republicans in the Senate are considering voting that “Trump is not guilty”.
US President Trump was indicted in the House of Representatives in December 2019 for a phone call with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskiy and was cleared at the Senate session in February 2020.
The Democrats in the House of Representatives also adopted the bill last night, local time, calling on Mike Pence to impose the 25th additional article of the constitution and impeach Trump. Pence, on the other hand, made clear that he had no intention of using the substance in question.
Oil Prices Decline
Oil prices fell pulling back from recent gains, on concerns that rising global Covid-19 will hamper global fuel demand.
Brent crude prices settled at $56.06 a barrel, down 52 cents, or 0.9%. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) settled at $52.91 a barrel, falling 30 cents, or 0.6%.
Oil prices eased Thursday as rising global coronavirus cases fueled demand concerns, although a fifth straight week of declining U.S. oil inventories and encouraging data from China limited the fall, Reuters reported. On Thursday, data appeared that the total volume of oil imports to China in 2020 increased by 7.3%, despite the shock from the coronavirus early last year.
Governments continue to place restrictions on travel that will restrain energy demand for months, analysts said. Governments across Europe announced tighter and longer coronavirus lockdowns on Wednesday due to a fast-spreading Covid-19 variant first detected in Britain and as vaccinations are not expected to help much for another two to three months. China recorded the biggest daily jump in coronavirus cases in more than five months, despite lockdowns, increased testing, and other measures aimed at preventing another wave of infections.
“While I see crude prices trading higher over the coming months, investors need to be mindful that the road to higher oil demand and prices will remain bumpy,” UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
On April 12, 2020, the OPEC + member countries agreed to reduce oil production amid a pandemic. The concluded OPEC + agreement on production cuts provided for production restrictions by the end of 2020 by 7.7 million barrels per day. In the April OPEC + agreement, producers were asked to cut production to 5.8 million barrels per day from early 2021 to late April 2022. However, the conditions were changed at a meeting on December 3, 2020.
The OPEC + countries agreed on December 3 last year to keep the restrictions on oil production in force, which have been in effect since the spring of 2020. However, with certain indulgences – according to the new agreements, from the beginning of 2021 the restrictions will change. in January the alliance members will be able to increase oil production by 500 thousand barrels per day. The terms of the agreement will be reviewed monthly, BBC notes.
