Боргове навантаження України є надзвичайно високим відносно до ВВП, більш ніж наполовину складаючись із валютних запозичень, заявив під час засідання уряду міністр фінансів Олександр Данилюк.

«Частка валютного запозичення у боргу є майже 70%. А фіскальні ризики – як явні, так і приховані – вимагають прозорого оприлюднення та ефективного управління. Як результат, разом із бюджетом ми вперше подамо два нових документи: стратегію управління боргом і звіт про фіскальні ризики», – сказав він.

Кабінет міністрів України схвалив проект бюджетної резолюції до 2020 року, яка започатковує процес планування державних фінансів на середньострокову перспективу.

Документ передбачає ріст економіки України на 4% до 2020 року, зниження інфляції до 5% до 2020 року, зниження дефіциту бюджету до 2% та зниження частки боргу до 55% ВВП.

У Кабміні очікують, що протягом трьох днів резолюцію передадуть до Верховної Ради.

Бюджетна резолюція – постанова Верховної Ради України, що визначає основні напрями бюджетної політики на наступний бюджетний рік. Бюджетна резолюція розробляється урядом.

 
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Кабінет міністрів України схвалив проект бюджетної резолюції до 2020 року, яка започатковує процес планування державних фінансів на середньострокову перспективу.

Документ передбачає ріст економіки України на 4% до 2020 року, зниження інфляції до 5% до 2020 року, зниження дефіциту бюджету до 2% та зниження частки боргу до 55% ВВП.

«Ми вирішили змінити підхід – перейти до середньострокового бюджетування, не на один рік, а на три. Ми чітко визначаємо, які економічні показники прогнозуємо на 3 роки, які пріоритети ставимо», –сказав прем’єр Володимир Гройсман під час презентації документа. 

«Це черговий системний крок. Розпочинаємо новий бюджетний процес, і у вересні внесемо новий проект державного бюджету на 2018 рік відповідно до Бюджетної резолюції», – додав він. 

У Кабміні очікують, що протягом трьох днів резолюцію передадуть до Верховної Ради.

Бюджетна резолюція – постанова Верховної Ради України, що визначає основні напрями бюджетної політики на наступний бюджетний рік. Бюджетна резолюція розробляється урядом. 

 
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Panama’s business community on Tuesday cheered the Central American country’s decision to establish full diplomatic ties with China and ditch Taiwan, hoping to deepen links with a key customer of the nation’s shipping canal.

Although there was regret at the cost to Taiwan, an ally of various Central American nations, there was broad support for President Juan Carlos Varela’s decision to throw his lot in with China, whose growing global ambitions contrast with U.S. President Donald Trump’s isolationist rhetoric.

“I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision, given the long-term links we’ve had with Taiwan, but nonetheless, [China] is a global superpower, the world’s No. 2 economy, the second biggest user of the canal – and so we think this is a positive development that will result in more business and investment in Panama,” said Inocencio Galindo, president of Panama’s Trade, Industry and Agriculture chamber.

The diplomatic U-turn comes as China attempts to position itself as a defender of free trade in the face of the “America First” policy of Trump, who was elected in November 2016.

Chinese officials also celebrated the news.

Wang Weihua, the permanent representative in the Office of China-Panama Trade Development and Beijing’s top representative in the country, said various attempts had been made over the years without success to establish formal ties.

Late last year, more advanced talks began with Varela’s team that concluded only this week, said Wang, who added he was involved in the discussions.

China is interested in Panama for its strategic location, and as a trade and logistics hub, he added.

“China has made a big bet on Latin America, where it has strategic investments, and Panama, which didn’t have diplomatic relations, was losing out on those advantages,” he said in an interview. “Now Panama will be able to enjoy what our country can offer it in various sectors.”

Almost a fifth of the cargo crossing the isthmus last year went to or from China, which has been taking an increasing interest in the Panama Canal.

In March, the canal’s administrator, Jorge Quijano, said Chinese state firms were considering developing land around the waterway, which was recently expanded.

A spokesman for the canal said Quijano would address the implications of the diplomatic change for commerce on Thursday.

Bright Future

Taiwanese economic aid has helped support Central America, a region in the United States’ backyard that relies heavily on agriculture and struggles with law and order.

Its remaining allies were guarded about what the future held for their ties with Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.

Panama’s foreign minister, Isabel de Saint Malo, said Varela had expressed an interest a decade ago in establishing ties with China. She hoped the move would lead to trade, investment and tourism opportunities, especially for “exporting more goods from Panama to China.”

According to Panamanian statistics, total trade between Panama and China was worth $1.1 billion in 2016 – roughly 12 times the value of the nation’s commerce with Taiwan. Chinese exports accounted for the vast majority of it.

Alvin Weeden, a former comptroller of Panama, said the decision to break ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing would boost business and should have been taken years ago, given Panama’s reliance on global trade and Chinese shipping.

“Every day, Taiwan is more isolated,” he said, adding he did not expect the move to hurt Panama’s ties with the United States, the top canal customer. “This is a reality that’s happening, a geopolitical reality.”

Octavio Vallarino, a partner of Desarrollos Bahia, a local real estate firm, said he hoped direct flights would soon be established between the two countries, and that the commercial real estate market would be bolstered by arriving Chinese firms.

Sara Pardo, president of Panama’s hotel association, said the accord could help make travel between the two countries easier.

“This is definitely going to strengthen the economy,” she said.
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Mexico’s ancient civilizations cultivated crops such as maize, tomatoes and chilies for thousands of years before the Spanish conquerors arrived — and now those native plants could hold the key to sustainable food production as climate change bites, said a leading ecologist.

José Sarukhán Kermez, who helped set up Mexico’s pioneering National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO), said that analyzing the genetic variability of traditional crops, and supporting the family farmers who grow most of the world’s food offered an alternative to industrial agriculture.

“We don’t need to manipulate hugely the genetic characteristics of these [crops] … because that biodiversity is there — you have to just select and use it with the knowledge of the people who have been doing that for thousands of years,” said Sarukhán, CONABIO’s national coordinator, in a telephone interview.

The emeritus professor and former rector of the National University of Mexico (UNAM) recently won the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, often referred to as a “Nobel for the Environment.”

Making use of the knowledge held by indigenous groups is “absolutely essential,” Sarukhán told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

That requires working with a wide range of people, from local cooks to small-scale farmers, especially in states like Oaxaca and Chiapas in the south of Mexico where indigenous farmers have a strong traditional culture, he said.

“They haven’t gone to university, and they don’t have a degree — but they damn well know how to do these things,” he said.

For example, they discover and incorporate new knowledge as they exchange seeds with peers from different areas.

Key is funding

CONABIO is hoping to win some $5 million in funding from the Global Environment Facility for a five-year project worth more than $30 million to speed up research into indigenous crops.

The aim is to enrich the commission’s vast online database of biodiversity, with a view to influencing national agricultural policy, said Sarukhán.

CONABIO’s information on the genetic adaptability of native plants will enable scientists to develop new lines that can tolerate wetter or more arid conditions as the climate changes, he said.

Highlighting the potential of climate-adapted native crops, Sarukhán said around 60 types of maize are grown across Mexico, from the coast to 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) above sea-level, while only a handful of species are sold commercially.

Forest protection

With Mexico’s hugely varied ecosystems and biodiversity under threat, the ecologist urged a greater focus on schemes to boost local incomes rather than giving grants to encourage people to maintain vast swaths of the country’s forest.

Projects like growing organic coffee in Oaxaca’s forests or ecotourism in Chiapas are helping provide communities with a decent income and an incentive to protect the environment, he said.

Rural and indigenous communities own 60 to 70 percent of all Mexico’s forests and natural ecosystems, he noted.

“That is the patrimony they have — they don’t have anything else to live on,” Sarukhán explained. “There are ways in which you can combine the sustainable management of the forest with more attractive incomes for the owners of the forest.”
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Top officials of the U.S. central bank are gathered in Washington, debating whether to raise short-term interest rates on Wednesday, and by how much. 

Most economists expect the Federal Reserve to boost the benchmark rate a modest quarter of a percent, to a range between one and 1.25 percent. 

The Fed cut rates nearly to zero at the worst of the financial crisis to make borrowing cheaper in a bid to boost economic growth and employment. Since then, the recovering economy and improved unemployment rate, at 4.3 percent, have prompted the central bank to gradually raise rates. 

Officials worry that keeping rates too low for too long could spark a burst of inflation that could hurt the economy. The Fed’s job is to keep prices stable and encourage full employment. However, Tuesday’s newest data on inflation at the wholesale level shows little change. Fed officials have been trying to get inflation to rise to a low-but-manageable rate of about two percent. 

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to meet with journalists Wednesday afternoon, where she is likely to get questions about possible future interest rate hikes. She may also explain more about the Fed’s plans to gradually sell off the huge number of securities that the central bank bought during the financial crisis in a complex effort to stimulate the economy. 

Meanwhile, officials will get new information on changes in consumer prices and retail sales before they make their decision on interest rates. Investors watch retail sales closely because consumer demand drives most U.S. economic activity. 
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It’s the end of an internet era.

Yahoo, an iconic early adapter of the World Wide Web, is now part of Verizon Communications, after a $4.48 billion deal was finalized Tuesday for Yahoo’s core internet operations.

The remainder of Yahoo will be called Atlaba Inc., which will serve as a holding company for Yahoo’s shares in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Yahoo was founded in 1994 by two Stanford graduate students, and quickly became a leading portal site. At the height of the dot-com bubble, it was estimated to be worth $100 billion.

Now, under Verizon, Yahoo will join another aged internet property, AOL. The two companies will part of a division of Verizon called Oath, which is led by AOL CEO Tim Armstrong.

Oath says it has about 1.3 billion monthly users, and it hopes Yahoo may help build audience.

“Now that the deal is closed, we are excited to set our focus on being the best company for consumer media, and the best partner to our advertising, content and publisher partners,”Armstrong said.

About 2,100 people are expected to lose their jobs under the new structure in what Oath says will be a cost saving measure.

Controversial Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer will not join Oath. According to the New York Times, she was paid on average $1 million per week during her five-year stint at Yahoo. She is also reportedly receiving a $23 million severance package.

“Given the inherent changes to my role, I’ll be leaving the company,” Mayer wrote in an email to employees. “However, I want all of you to know that I’m brimming with nostalgia, gratitude and optimism.”

“Verizon wishes Mayer well in her future endeavors,” it said in a statement.
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Apple Inc. offered a $1 billion bond dedicated to financing clean energy and environmental projects on Tuesday, the first corporate green bond offered since President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris climate agreement.

The offering comes over a year after Apple issued its first green bond of $1.5 billion — the largest issued by a U.S. corporation — as a response to the 2015 Paris agreement.

Apple said its second green bond is meant to show that businesses are still committed to the goals of the 194-nation accord.

“Leadership from the business community is essential to address the threat of climate change and protect our shared planet,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives.

Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook was one of several CEOs who directly appealed to Trump to keep the United States in the pact before he made his decision.

The tech giant said proceeds from the green bond sales will be used to finance renewable energy, energy efficiency at Apple facilities and in its supply chain and procuring safer materials for its products.

The offering also includes a specific focus on helping Apple meet a goal of greening its supply chain and using only renewable resources or recycled material, reducing its need to mine rare earth materials.

Last year, Apple allocated $442 million to 16 different projects from renewable energy to recycling from its first bond offer.

One of the projects it funded was a robotic system called Liam to take apart junked iPhones and recover valuable materials that can be recycled, such as silver and tungsten — an attempt to address criticism that Apple’s products, while sleek and

seamless in design, are so tightly constructed that their components can be difficult to take apart.

Although green bonds comprise a small fraction of the overall bond market, demand has grown significantly as investors seek lower-carbon investments.

In 2016, $81 billion of green bonds were issued, double the number from 2015, according to the Climate Bonds Initiative, an organization that promotes the use of green bonds.

Governments are also embracing the use of green bonds as a way to meet a 2015 pledge by world leaders to limit global warming this century to below 2 degrees Celsius.

 
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Національний банк України встановив на 14 червня курс гривні до долара США на рівні 25 гривень 99 копійок за долар. Таким чином, порівняно з курсом на 12 червня, регулятор зміцнив офіційний курс ще на 8 копійок.

Регулятор оцінив долар дешевше ніж 26 гривень вперше за півроку. На 5 грудня 2016 року НБУ встановлював офіційний курс на рівні 25 гривень 90 копійок, але вже до кінця минулого року цей показник становив понад 27 гривень за долар.

Офіційний курс гривні до євро на 14 червня складає 29,16.

У січні курс гривні щодо долара США почав знижуватися, тоді Національний банк України коливання курсу гривні щодо долара США пояснював ситуативними і сезонними факторами. 17 січня НБУ оцінив долар у 27 гривень 72 копійки, відтоді з незначними відскоками гривня посилюється.
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У публічному акціонерному товаристві «Укрзалізниця» заявляють, що підтримують заходи правоохоронних органів щодо боротьби з корупцією і сприяють проведенню слідчих дій. Про це в компанії повідомили, коментуючи обшуки Генпрокуратури.

Як зазначили у компанії, обшуки тривають у рамках справи про розтрату матеріальних цінностей та коштів компанії одним із керівників департаменту локомотивного господарства ПАТ «Укрзалізниця».

«Цей епізод, за словами представників Генеральної прокуратури, стосується 2015-2016 років. У рамках цих слідчих дій було оголошено підозру за частиною другою ст. 364 Кримінального кодексу України. Директор з безпеки ПАТ «Укрзалізниця» Микола Нємцов повідомив, що, оскільки на час проведення слідчих дій підозрюваний знаходиться у відрядженні, підозру вручено через його безпосереднього керівника – члена правління ПАТ «Укрзалізниця», – йдеться у повідомленні на сайті «Укрзалізниці».

У Генпрокуратурі зазначили, що йдеться про підозру у розтраті 12 мільйонів гривень. «Була закуплена – за сприяння зазначеного керівника – у юридичної особи продукція неналежної якості, яка не могла бути використана в ремонті рухомого складу», – розповів заступник начальника відділу процесуального керівництва ГПУ Олександр Цилюрик.

Департамент локомотивного господарства компанії «Укрзалізниця», зокрема, визначає потреби залізничного транспорту України в обсягах ремонту й модернізації рухомого складу з обґрунтуванням джерел і обсягів фінансування. 
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Прем’єр-міністр України Володимир Гройсман повідомив, що на зустрічі з хорватським колегою Андреєм Пленковичем 13 червня обговорив формування нового газового коридору Хорватія – Угорщина – Україна.

«Україна готова долучитися до його створення. Ми зацікавлені у диверсифікації поставок природного газу та налагоджені співпраці в енергетичній сфері з країнами ЄС», – вказав Гройсман у Facebook.

Україна планує домовитися з Угорщиною і Хорватією про будівництво Адріатичного газового коридору, який дозволить постачати паливо від LNG-терміналу на острові Крк.

Уряд України планував підписати меморандум про створення Адріатичного газового коридору в листопаді 2013 року, проте цього так і не сталося. 25 жовтня 2013 року Україна і Європейський союз погодили новий маршрут поставки природного газу в Україну з Хорватії через територію Угорщини до українських газових сховищ.
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A drop in global cocoa prices threatens to undermine efforts to stamp out child labor in Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world’s two biggest growers, as falling incomes could force farmers to send their children to work, charities said on Monday.

More than two million children are estimated to work in the cocoa industry across the two West African nations, where they carry heavy loads, spray pesticides and fell trees using sharp tools, according to the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI).

The countries’ governments, civil society groups and some of the world’s top chocolate producers have in recent years ramped up efforts to tackle child labor in supply chains, invest in cocoa growing communities, and get more children into school.

Yet the economies of Ghana and Ivory Coast, which together account for more than 60 percent of the world’s cocoa supply, have been hit hard by a sharp drop in world prices that have seen cocoa futures plummet by around a third since last summer.

“If these low prices translate into lower incomes for poor families, and household poverty gets worse, we are worried that the risk of child labor will increase,” Nick Weatherill, executive director of ICI, told Reuters.

Children could be taken out of school if their families can no longer pay the costs, and many may be made to work on cocoa farms if growers cannot afford to employ laborers, he added.

“The drop in prices does create greater vulnerability … [due to] further demand in an already strained landscape,” Ruth Dearnley, chief executive officer of Stop The Traffik, said as charities and activists marked World Day Against Child Labor.

Since reports of child labor on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast emerged in the late 1990s, the chocolate industry has been under pressure to prove its beans are not cultivated by children.

The ICI said its child labor monitoring and remediation system (CLMRS), which it has established in the supply chains of cocoa giants Cargill and Nestle, expanded last year to cover about 60,000 cocoa farming households in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

A report earlier this year by Stop the Traffik which analyzed the sustainability efforts of some of the world’s leading chocolate companies found that Nestle had the best CLMRS and was the most transparent at reporting cases of child labor.

“Whilst the drop in cocoa prices could potentially undermine civil society efforts to date … the reality is that these efforts are more critical than ever,” Dearnley added.
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Poland warned on Monday against rising protectionism in Europe after a decisive victory for French President Emmanuel Macron’s party in the first round of parliamentary elections.

Macron has called for a “protection agenda” for the European Union that includes a “Buy European Act” and regulations to prevent strategic companies from falling into non-European hands.

Konrad Szymanski, Poland’s deputy foreign minister in charge of European affairs, told reporters in Berlin that other EU governments might adopt a more protectionist stance to support Macron.

“The future development of the EU’s single market is causing the biggest concerns for us,” Szymanski said in reference to Macron’s agenda.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said last month she was open to Macron’s proposal to create a level playing field between EU countries and other international trade partners.

Szymanski pointed out that the completion of the internal market for services and for the digital economy was still a work in progress that had to be completed urgently.

“We do not want to pay for the Macron victory,” Szymanski said, referring to a debate in EU countries that governments should fight back against rising populism by making concessions on the openness of markets.
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Eurozone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund are likely to strike a compromise on Greece on Thursday, paving the way for new loans for Athens while leaving the contentious debt relief issue for later, officials said on Monday.

IMF head Christine Lagarde suggested a plan last week under which the Fund would join the Greek bailout now, because Athens is delivering on agreed reforms, but would not disburse any IMF money until the eurozone clarifies what debt relief it can offer Greece.

Underlining the IMF’s willingness to strike a deal after months of wrangling between its European chief Poul Thomsen and the eurozone, Lagarde will attend the ministers’ meeting.

IMF participation in the bailout, even without immediate disbursements, would be enough for the German parliament to back new euro zone loans to Athens, thus ensuring Greece would get enough cash in July to repay maturing debt and avoid default.

“Everyone thinks there is a high probability we will end up with the solution Lagarde outlined,” an official involved in preparations for Thursday’s meeting in Luxembourg said.

Reforms approved Friday

A second official involved in the preparations also said he expected a deal involving IMF participation along the lines described by Lagarde.

“There would be an IMF disbursement as soon as there is more clarity on debt, but the timing of that is to be confirmed,” the second official said.

Greece’s parliament approved last Friday reforms demanded by the international lenders to conclude a long-stalled review of its bailout progress and qualify for more loans before July.

Eurozone officials said that if the expected compromise is reached, Greece could get between 7.4 and 8 billion euros from the eurozone bailout fund ESM to cover next month’s repayments.

IMF support on hold

The IMF has so far refused to join Greece’s bailout, its third since 2010, which it says must be the country’s last, meaning that in addition to Athens making reforms, the eurozone must offer relief to help make Greece’s debts sustainable.

But Berlin does not want to discuss any details of debt relief for Greece before German parliamentary elections in September. At the same time, the German parliament has asked for IMF participation if it is to agree to any new disbursements.

To complicate matters further, the IMF and the eurozone differ substantially on forecasts for Greek growth for decades ahead and on Athens’ ability to achieve high primary surpluses to help it service its debt.

Debt relief plan

The IMF is much more conservative than the euro zone, saying Greece has a track record of underperforming targets set in its bailouts. It says that to expect the country to keep a high primary surplus for decades is unrealistic.

But some eurozone scenarios show that with sufficiently high economic growth and fiscal discipline — a primary surplus above 3 percent of GDP for 20 years — Greece would not need any extra debt relief.

To bridge the gap, France is proposing to link debt relief to Greece’s GDP growth with an automatic formula. Officials said experts would explore that option further, but its chances of success are seen as rather low because of lack of experience, problems with incentives and the Greek constitution.

 
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Національний банк України встановив на 13 червня курс гривні до долара США на рівні 26 гривень 7 копійок за долар. Таким чином, порівняно з курсом на 12 червня, регулятор зміцнив офіційний курс ще на 5 копійок.

Офіційний курс гривні до євро складає 29,25.

У січні курс гривні щодо долара США почав знижуватися, тоді Національний банк України коливання курсу гривні щодо долара США пояснював ситуативними і сезонними факторами. 17 січня НБУ оцінив долар у 27 гривень 72 копійки, відтоді з незначними відскоками гривня посилюється.
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