Diamond News Archives
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U.S. President Donald Trump leads a meeting with the White House Coronavirus Task Force and pharmaceutical executives in Cabinet Room of the White House on March 2, 2020 in Washington, DC.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Tuesday demanded that the Federal Reserve cut rates even more after the central bank announced it would slash rates by 50 basis points in an effort to combat the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Federal Reserve "must further ease and, most importantly, come into line with other countries/competitors," Trump tweeted.
"We are not playing on a level field. Not fair to USA. It is finally time for the Federal Reserve to LEAD. More easing and cutting!"
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday slashed interest rates by half a percentage point in response to slower economic growth from the deadly coronavirus outbreak. On the move, markets began fluctuating, dipping into and out of negative territory, amid fears of a virus-related global slow down.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin praised the Fed on Tuesday for cutting interest rates, saying, "I applaud the Fed on this move."
Trump, who has used stock market gains as a measure of his presidency, has been hammering the Fed to cut interest rates, tweeting Monday that the U.S. central bank is falling behind its global peers.
"As usual, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve are slow to act. Germany and others are pumping money into their economies. Other Central Banks are much more aggressive," Trump said, referring to the Fed chairman.
"The U.S. should have, for all of the right reasons, the lowest Rate. We don't, putting us at a ... competitive disadvantage. We should be leading, not following!" he...
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(IDEX Online) - India's diamond exports are expected to drop by a fifth this year, say forecasters.
Coronavirus combined with sluggish global demands, have badly hit the second biggest cutting and polishing country in the world.
Total diamond exports in the first nine months of the fiscal year were down 18 per cent year-on-year, according to a report published today by Crisil Ratings, the Mumbai -based global analytical company.
About 40 per cent of the country's diamond sales are to Hong Kong, where imports were halted on 15 January and have yet to resume.
Subodh Rai, senior director, Crisil Ratings, "Exports would continue to fall in the closing quarter of this fiscal, which typically accounts for roughly a third of India's exports to the south-east Asian region.
"Given extended holidays in the region and shutdown of markets in the aftermath of the n-CoV outbreak, exports worth over $1 billion may be lost in this quarter alone."
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Mish
Powell issued a rare inter-meeting statement promising to support U.S. economy.
At least one quarter-point cut is coming on March 18, as Powell signals Fed Ready to Cut Rates Despite Doubt They Can Fix Virus Fallout[1].
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell opened the door to a rate-cut at the Fed’s March 17-18 meeting by issuing a rare statement Friday pledging to “act as appropriate” to support the economy.
Powell’s intervention 90 minutes before the stock market’s close on Friday marked a sharp pivot from the previous message of policy makers that it was way too soon to judge the economic impact of the China-borne epidemic.
“We’re going to get infections here and there for quite a while,” said former International Monetary Fund chief economist Olivier Blanchard, who is now with the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “The economic cost may be large.”
One Cut or Two?
The only debate now is whether there would be one rate cut or two.
Prior to Powell's intervention message on Friday, I commented New Record Low Yields on 10- and 30-Year Bonds: Double Cut?[2]
I expect a 50-basis point cut per my Friday point: "A quarter point cut would leave the 10-year treasury yield inverted with the Effective Fed Funds Rate by 16.3 basis points."
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
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(IDEX Online) - Russia's deputy finance minister Alexey Moiseev says he's working on a "road map" towards lifting a ban on rough diamond exports from parts of the Central African Republic (CAR).
Exports have been allowed from some parts of the poverty-stricken country, labelled green areas, since a total ban was lifted in 2013.
But sales of "conflict diamonds" from so-called "red areas", controlled by armed anti-government groups, remain off limits.
Mr Moiseev, who currently chairs the Kimberley Process, said: "We do feel that we need to build a proper road[1] map for CAR to go back to the Kimberley[2] Process," according to an UrduPoint News report.
He told a press conference at the Russia Today International News Agency: "We are about fair treatment of people who produce diamonds in this country.
"For many of them it's the only source of income and [they] are currently forced to sell those diamonds to various crooks who take those diamonds in pockets, they are using false certificates and they end up in the market[3] anyway."
The CAR government can currently issue KP certificates to rough diamond shipments for goods sourced in the eight approved green zones, but not elsewhere.
CAR has been unstable since its independence from France in 1960. Despite its reserves of diamonds, gold, oil and uranium it has one of the world's poorest populations....