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Save over 65%$99 for your first yearFT newspaper delivered Monday-Saturday, plus FT Digital Edition delivered to your device Monday-Saturday.What’s included Weekday Print EditionFT WeekendFT Digital EditionGlobal news & analysisExpert opinionSpecial featuresExclusive FT analysis More
Saudi Arabia has been invited to join BRICS but has not yet formally done so. Last week, however, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov described it as a BRICS member and said its foreign minister would attend the summit in the Russian city of Kazan.Asked to clarify Saudi Arabia’s status in BRICS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “The summit will take place now, we will supply additional information on who will represent Saudi Arabia, whether it will be represented at this summit, and we will draw conclusions from this.”High-level Saudi involvement in the Oct. 22-24 summit would be a boost for Russia, which last week called on its partners in the group to work together to create new global financial institutions as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund.BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, and China, has expanded to include South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Moscow sees the development of the group as an important part of its strategy to counter U.S. global influence and defeat Western attempts to isolate it with sanctions over the war in Ukraine.”Russia is not isolated. In the modern world, it is very difficult to isolate any country, especially a state like the Russian Federation,” Peskov said.Saudi Arabia is a key partner for Russia. The two countries cooperate closely in the OPEC+ group of oil-producing countries.President Vladimir Putin has cultivated a warm personal relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and visited him in Riyadh last December, declaring at the time that Russia’s ties with the kingdom were at an “unprecedented level”. More
WHY IT’S IMPORTANTBrazil’s government has been seeking new sources of revenue to meet fiscal targets that include reducing its fiscal deficit to zero, but market participants question its ability to fulfill that goal as it has been loath to adopt broad spending cuts.BACKGROUNDBrazil has a target of zero deficit for the year with a tolerance margin of 0.25 percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP) in either direction, as established by a fiscal framework passed last year.KEY QUOTES”The fiscal framework will not work if spending is not limited,” Haddad told newspaper Folha de S.Paulo.”What Faria Lima Ave (Brazil’s Wall St) is pointing out – in my opinion, with some exaggeration when it comes to the pricing of Brazilian assets – is that the spending dynamics going forward are worrying,” he added.”They could have an impact on the debt, and the government has to take action. The Finance Ministry has this on the table, 100%, with the same level of concern.”BY THE NUMBERSHaddad said that real rates of 6.5-7% on public debt were “a problem” and that he has been defending to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva that a fiscal adjustment is needed to stabilize the fiscal situation in the long term.He noted that government revenues need to be at around 19% of GDP and expenses below that for Brazil to reach a fiscal surplus, stabilize its debt growth and in turn prompt the central bank to lower interest rates. More
Retailers are expected to add fewer seasonal jobs this shopping period than last year due to a softer labor market and tighter consumer spending, according to a forecast from Challenger, Gray & Christmas in September.Here is a list of companies that have announced hiring plans for the holiday season so far:Company Hiring plans – Hiring plans – 2023 2024 Target 100,000 100,000 Macy’s 31,500 full- 38,000 full- and and part-time part-time seasonal employees workers Bath & Body 32,700 32,500 Works United Parcel (NYSE:UPS) 125,000 100,000 Services 1-800-Flowers. 8,000 8,000 com Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) 250,000 250,000 Dick’s 8,000 8,600 Sporting Goods Kroger (N:KR) Said it 25,000 was “seeking to hire thousands of associates” More
He shared advice on how to “survive and thrive” in these times for millennials, as well as people from generations X and Z. He continues to use his concept of “rich dad,” which he allegedly encountered when his was a teenager.Robert Kiyosaki said that in order to “survive and thrive” in today’s high inflationary environment, it is important to find new teachers – wise and experienced people who can share advice on how to manage one’s funds and increase one’s net worth. Kiyosaki recommends looking out for those on social media and particularly YouTube that offer “a massive array of teachers.”“Find the teachers that talk to your body, mind, and spirit and grow into the rich and successful person you know you are,” Kiyosaki tweeted, addressing his audience on the X platform.This is the way to reach and then attain financial success, he says. He also believes that after that, it is important to share the knowledge you acquired with others who need it: “Give back by teaching students who want to learn from you.”However, if or when that happens, Kiyosaki intends just to buy these assets “at a discount”: “I will be buying all the Bitcoin I can, as well as other assets, at bargain basement prices.” But if Bitcoin crashes to $5,000, it may then boom to $100,000, $250,000 and even higher, he wrote.This article was originally published on U.Today More
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The treasury still has just over $150M worth of DOT available for spending, which community members estimate should last about a year and a half at current prices.Software development made up the largest chunk of the budget, with nearly $12M allocated to projects like building a Polkadot-Ethereum bridge and improving wallet functionality. Marketing and outreach were the second-biggest expense, with over $9.9M going towards ads, events, meetups, conferences, and more.The findings follow earlier reports, which sparked discussions on the use of treasury funds and how these funds should be managed.Polkadot manages its treasury across multiple assets and chains within the Polkadot ecosystem. This complex financial structure supports various governance initiatives, decentralized finance (DeFi) operations, and liquidity provisions. A major development in Q3 was Polkadot’s first asset swap, in which 1M DOT tokens were exchanged for an equivalent amount of MYTH tokens. The swap was part of a broader strategy to integrate the Mythical gaming chain into the Polkadot network. As of September 30, 2024, the Polkadot Treasury holds a total of $153M (33.3M DOT) in assets, with $109M readily available for spending. In addition, $6.6M of the treasury’s reserves are held in stablecoins, and another $28M has been set aside for stablecoin acquisitions. Meanwhile, Polkadot deployed $10M of its assets across four DeFi chains, including Hydration, Centrifuge, Bifrost, and Pendulum. Executive bodies, including bounties and collectives, accounted for 15% of the spending, with funds directed towards initiatives like DeFi tooling, gaming, and business development.The treasury surplus for Q3 was reported at 32.4M DOT ($149M) after accounting for its liabilities, such as wages for the Polkadot Technical Fellowship and future distributions of MYTH tokens. Operational costs came in at $1.4M, covering network infrastructure, data services, and legal expenses. The treasury ramped up investment in talent and education, spending $3.8M on hackathons, educational programs, and recruitment efforts. On the other hand, research spending took a hit, dropping to just $313,000 from $1.5M in the previous quarter.The report also touches on the ongoing debate around inflation and its impact on the treasury’s long-term financial stability. While inflation does help refill treasury funds, the report points out that it can’t be a permanent solution since it essentially acts as a tax on token holders who aren’t staking.Polkadot stakeholders recently voted to reduce inflation rates to stabilize the treasury’s income. The report estimates that the treasury will receive around 18M DOT (about $83M) from inflation in 2025, giving it a budget of 4.5M DOT per quarter. More
