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BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Data suggests Hungary has overcome its inflation crisis, its economy minister said on Wednesday, after the country posted the highest rate of price growth in the European Union last year before it started slowing towards the central bank’s target.Marton Nagy said Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s cabinet would still “keep an eye” on inflation, but would also focus on reviving economic growth amid a weaker-than-expected recovery from last year’s inflation-led downturn.The remarks by Nagy, a former central banker, appeared to be at odds with the National Bank of Hungary’s assessment, which last month warned policymakers against prematurely declaring victory over inflation and backed a cautious rate policy.”While many raise questions about our statements that we have managed to push inflation to the ground and it will stay there, this is looking more and more like a certainty based on the latest results and data,” Nagy told a business conference.Nagy said favourable inflation trends were likely to have prevailed in September.Economists polled by Reuters projected an annual inflation rate of 3.1% last month. The NBH targets 3% inflation, with a tolerance band of one percentage point either side.The NBH, which has slashed borrowing costs by a combined 1,150 bps in its current cycle, said a careful and patient policy approach was justified and said policymakers should not overreact to rate easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve.The bank has also flagged a rebound in core inflation to around 5% by the end of 2024 and said its preferred measure of underlying price trends could still exceed 3% next year.The forint, central Europe’s worst-performing currency which has lost more than 4% versus the euro this year, also plumbed its weakest levels per euro this week than at any point since the NBH started cutting rates in May 2023. More
The standards, announced by Beth Haddock, Global Policy Lead at Stablecoin Standard, at the Annual Flagship Event in Singapore, were designed to promote operational resilience, transparency and consistent issuer commitments globally. Stablecoin Standard’s Policy Working Group created the high-level standards that are both general and actionable, while being sensitive to the innovation in the market. Quotes from Endorsers:Stablecoin Standard (SCS) is the industry body focused on setting operational, transparency, and product related standards for stablecoins. The SCS plans to achieve industry wide standards by sharing international best practices, business development use cases, forming industry led working groups defining what a high-quality liquid stablecoin should look like, and engaging with policymakers domestically & internationally. The SCS ecosystem consists of over 30 advisory board members, industry partners and issuers that offer digital currencies in global jurisdictions such as the US, EU, Singapore, Australia, and Turkey – among others.Users can follow the Stablecoin Standard on LinkedIn and X and to learn more, please visit: https://stablecoinstandard.com/ContactKevin [email protected] article was originally published on Chainwire More
Large holders are acting, as seen by the $15.6 million movement from Binance that was recorded in the transaction metrics. This is an example of dormant coins being brought back into circulation. This could portend a price rally as it frequently corresponds to significant changes in Bitcoin’s price.According to past experience, these kinds of volumes typically indicate that bullish momentum may be building up in the near future when combined with older Bitcoin holdings reentering the market. With multiple significant moving averages providing support and resistance levels, it appears that Bitcoin is consolidating around the $62,000 range, according to the market data.The sudden surge in price combined with the rise in transaction volume points to the possibility that Bitcoin is preparing for a more significant move on the market, possibly testing the $65,000 mark once more. Given that significant price swings, whether positive or negative, usually precede on-chain transaction spikes, this is especially important. Volatility on Bitcoin is still there despite this volume.With traders waiting to see whether this influx will create sustained upward pressure or merely be a momentary uptick, the $65,000 resistance level remains a crucial line to watch. If this is broken, there could be even bigger moves ahead, but if the current support is broken, Bitcoin might drop back into the mid-$50,000 range.This article was originally published on U.Today More
The report added drugs on the list will not be subject to requirements such as prior authorization or quantity limits. The government will ask for feedback on its initial list of 101 generic drugs which will cover common prescriptions such as penicillin, metformin, lithium and albuterol asthma inhalers, according to the Axios report. It would also include common drugs for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions. The program is not expected to start until January 2027, the report said.The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The U.S. Medicare health program spends billions of dollars annually on drugs for over 67 million people aged 65 and older or who have disabilities.It recently unveiled new maximum prices for the first 10 high-cost prescription medicines negotiated under the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. More
LONDON (Reuters) – Ethiopia’s bondholders will have to take a writedown as part of the country’s debt restructuring, State Finance Minister Eyob Tekalign told Reuters, adding he still hoped the debt rework could be completed by year-end. Ethiopia became Africa’s third country to default in as many years in December 2023, but progress on restructuring its international debt has been slow as the country negotiated a $3.4 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund.Investors have rejected the government’s most recent indicative debt rework scenario, which sets out an 18% haircut – or writedown – on its sole $1 billion bond maturing in 2024.Ethiopia needs to abide by the IMF’s debt sustainability analysis which envisages Ethiopia “moving to medium risk distress under low debt carrying capacity in the next two, three years,” said Eyob, referring to the calculations and projections underpinning debt reworks. “Based off of that, some haircut is needed,” he said, adding the latest debt sustainability analysis showed the country had a solvency issue and not just the liquidity crunch bondholders had assumed. Eyob said non-disclosure agreements between the government’s and the bondholders’ advisors were extended last week to spring 2025, allowing for more negotiations. However, formal talks with bondholders were not on the agenda right now though Ethiopia was open to meeting them on the sidelines of the IMF World Bank meetings later this month. “We’re hoping to meet them there,” Eyob said.Speaking about efforts to shelter the poorest section of the population from the fallout of birr depreciation, Eyob said a raft of measures had been taken for which the government had earmarked 30% of its budget in 2024.Measures ranged from subsidies for items such as cooking oil, fertilizer and fuel, to lifting salaries of civil servants by as much as 300% for those on the lower pay scale.Eyob said he did not expect price pressures to materialise on the scale predicted by analysts, who have forecast average inflation could hit 30% in 2025 after 23% this year. “The signs are that we are actually going… on the opposite side of that,” he said, confirming the country was on track for single digit inflation by June 2025.Government reforms had sparked fresh interest from investors, Eyob said, predicting foreign direct investment – which came in at more than $3 billion in the financial year to early-July – to double in the next two or three years.”Mining is a fairly new sector… and we’re seeing significant interest in this,” said Eyob, adding agriculture and manufacturing were also a focus.Asked about a swap line Ethiopia has agreed with China’s central bank according to reports in September, Eyob declined to give details, though said it should be bigger than the $800 million it has with the UAE. “It would significantly enhance business between the two countries,” he added. More
BEIJING (Reuters) – China has recently engaged in “intensive communications” with the United States and the European Union on electric vehicle trade issues, state news agency Xinhua reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The China-EU working team will continue consultations following the EU’s final anti-subsidy ruling on Chinese EVs on Oct. 4, Xinhua reported. More
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration could approve a license for the launch of SpaceX’s Starship 5 as soon as this month, a source told Reuters on Tuesday.Last month, the FAA said it did not expect a determination on a license before late November. SpaceX said on social media late on Monday that Starship’s fifth flight test could launch as soon as Oct. 13, pending regulatory approval.The FAA, which has repeatedly said it did not expect to decide on a license until late November, on Tuesday only said it continues to review the proposed mission and would make a decision “once SpaceX has met all licensing requirements.” It made no mention of the November timeframe.SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has harshly criticized the FAA, including for proposing a $633,000 fine against SpaceX over launch issues and for the delay in approving the license for Starship 5, which the company says has been ready to launch since August.Musk has called for the resignation of FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker and threatened to sue the agency.SpaceX suggested last month the delay in FAA approval was over “superfluous environmental analysis”Whitaker faced questions at a congressional hearing last month about the delay and responded that SpaceX had failed to complete a timely sonic boom analysis for the Starship 5 launch.”The delay of the Starship (launch) had to do with SpaceX filing an application and not disclosing that they were in violation of Texas and federal law on some matters, and that’s a requirement to get a permit,” Whitaker said.In an email invitation to VIP guests seen by Reuters, SpaceX said it is targeting the launch for Sunday. The invitation added “as with any test, there is a chance we don’t launch on the first attempt.”On Sunday, the FAA said SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket could return to flight for a mission on Monday for the European Space Agency’s Hera spacecraft from Florida.The FAA on Sept. 30 said SpaceX must investigate why the second stage of its Falcon 9 malfunctioned after a NASA astronaut mission, grounding the launch vehicle for the third time in three months. More
