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@ISIDEWITH submitted…9hrs9H
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported that global food prices increased for the third consecutive month in May. This rise was driven by higher prices for cereals and dairy products, which outweighed declines in sugar and vegetable oil prices. The re-acceleration of food price growth should be a cause for concern among policymakers.The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks the international prices of a basket of globally traded food, averaged 120.4 in May, marking a .9% increase from its revised April level. Despite this rise, the index is still 3% lower than a year ago and 24.9% below its peak in March 2022. However, the index has reserved some losses over the past several months and turned higher. The FAO warned, "The recent adverse weather conditions in the Black Sea region will likely result in a downgrade in world wheat production, a possibility not yet reflected in the forecast." The bigger story here is global food prices are beginning to rise once again. This is potentially catastrophic for emerging market economies where currencies are moving lower and, inversely, food prices are moving higher. Folks in these countries have to allocate higher percentages of their incomes to food purchases, and the increase in that only produces financial stress. In return, higher food prices increase the risk of social instability.
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@ISIDEWITH submitted…12hrs12H
The leader of France’s centre-right party has called for an electoral alliance with the far-right Rassemblement National ahead of snap legislative elections on June 30 that have rattled financial markets.A pact would boost the chances of RN securing an absolute majority in the election called by President Emmanuel Macron in a shock move on Sunday.Éric Ciotti, leader of the centre-right Les Républicains (LR), said his party needed to strike “an alliance with the RN, its candidates, with all those who identify with ideas of the right, with the values of the right”.“I want my political family to move in this direction,” Ciotti added, calling for a force to oppose the “impotence of Macronism” and the threat from the far left.Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader, said Ciotti had made a “courageous choice” and hailed his “sense of responsibility”.The move is a blow to Macron’s hopes of forming a united front with the forces of the centre-left and centre-right to take on RN.Leftwing parties have already thrashed out a preliminary pact to run a single list of candidates — including the Socialists, the Communists, the Greens and the far-left France Unbowed party, but not the president’s centrist alliance.
@ISIDEWITH submitted…3hrs3H
Germany has launched an 11th-hour bid to avert a full-scale trade war between Europe and China, resisting French calls to hit Chinese electric vehicles with punitive duties.The EU now charges a 10 percent tariff on all car imports — below China’s 15 percent. Realizing that it won’t be able to avert the tariffs, Germany is now pushing to keep them as low as possible, ideally on a reciprocal level that China also imposes on the EU — meaning 15 percent.“Something around 20-30 percent would give European manufacturers some breathing space to accelerate their investments in the sector and maintain their market share in Europe,” Elvire Fabry, senior research fellow at the Jacques Delors Institute in Paris, said.Yet even the highest rumored duty — 25 percent — would not be enough to deter Chinese brands thanks to their huge cost and technology advantages. Chinese EV sales into Europe grew by 23 percent, to nearly 120,000 units, in the first four months of this year.“They can lower their prices and continue to be competitive. We’ve seen that happen in France already,” Matthias Schmidt, a European auto analyst, said.
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