The Bank of Canada has begun to cut the bond-buying program

Former US President Donald Trump opposes a tax on billionaires. According to the former US leader, US billionaires would prefer to leave for another country if the tax is introduced.

London’s Heathrow airport expects traffic to fully recover by about 2026, while the number of travelers flying through the largest airport of Great Britain is significantly lower than the level existing before the pandemic, even though over the past three months their number has increased.

The US oil inventories unexpectedly increased by 4.27 million barrels over the week. Amid this news and the news about the resumption of talks with Iran to lift sanctions, including the embargo on exports of “black gold,” oil fell to its lowest level in a week and showed the strongest decline since August. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida said that measures to support oil prices would be implemented.

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Gazprom to increase reserves in Europe – Austria and Germany – after the completion of pumping into Russian storage facilities. Against the background of this news, the price of gas in Europe fell to $960/mcf.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept interest rates unchanged and lowered its growth forecast for the current year. The BoJ also kept monetary policy conditions soft, forecasting inflation well above the 2% target for at least two more years. It indicated that BoJ would lag behind other central banks in winding down its crisis management policy.

Canada’s central bank left its key interest rate at 0.25%. It declared the termination of the bond purchase program, referring to Canada’s strong economic growth, high vaccination rates, and a significant increase in employment. The Bank of Canada also signaled that it may raise interest rates as soon as April 2022 and said inflation would remain above target for most of next year due to rising energy prices and supply chain problems.

A survey of economists shows that central banks are cutting stimulus measures too quickly, and supply chain disruption is a major global economic threat. Global growth will decrease to 4.5% in 2022, compared with 5.9% in 2021.

Asian stock indices decreased Thursday amid fears that recovery from the pandemic will slow as high inflation forces tighter monetary policy. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 0.87%, Australia’s ASX 200 decreased by 0.25%, China’s CSI300 lost 0.67%, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng decreased by 0.14%. Commodity prices, including aluminum, iron ore, and coal, also fell.