Economy

After the ruble crash: "Must adapt the economy"

The latest US sanctions have lowered the exchange rate of the Russian ruble to the lowest level since March 2022. Now Russia's Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov says that Russia must adapt, writes Reuters.

- It is clear that adaptation to the new anti-Russian sanctions will be necessary, both in terms of banking mechanisms and currency inflows.

The ruble's exchange rate stabilizes somewhat on Friday after the country's central bank stopped buying foreign currency.

Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is endless"

Argentina's President Javier Milei has ruled the country for a year and during that time implemented major economic reforms to fight inflation and reduce the influence of the state. In an interview with The Economist, he explains the philosophy behind his radical experiment and the magazine describes him as the mole he claims to be.

- Every day we deregulate and we still have 3,200 structural reforms going on [...] my contempt for the state is endless, says Javier Milei to The Economist.

According to Milei, even neoclassical economics ultimately leads to "favoring socialism".

Whether the project succeeds remains to be seen. So far, major cuts in the public sector and a drastic devaluation of the currency have led to a reduction in inflation to 3 percent per month from 13 percent, according to The Economist.

Food prices
Record-high coffee prices - find bargains when you can

The price of coffee has reached new record levels after rising by around 20 percent in Swedish stores in the past year, notes TT. Matpriskollen's CEO Ulf Mazur advises buying on sale before the next increase takes effect in February.

- I myself will maximize my purchases, he tells the news agency.

The reasons for the rising price include a weak krona, rising commodity prices and reduced harvests in Brazil.

Swedish growth
Sweden's GDP rose unexpectedly during the third quarter

Sweden's GDP rose unexpectedly by 0.3 percent in the third quarter of 2024, compared to the previous quarter. The analysts had expected an unchanged level, according to Infront. On an annual basis, the increase was 0.7 percent, according to Statistics Norway's figures.

The increase was mainly driven by inventory investment, while foreign trade in goods dampened growth.

- Sweden's GDP continued to develop somewhat weaker than the historical average with small movements in most of the components of the supply balance, says National Accounts section head Jessica Engdahl in a statement.

At the same time, the Statistics Authority presents new figures from the retail trade which show that the sales volume increased by 0.4 percent in October, compared to the previous month.