Weekly news summary for May 28 to June 3, 2021
Friday, May 28, 2021: Biden Reveals Details on $6T Budget Proposal
US President Joe Biden on Friday revealed a $6-trillion budget proposal for the next fiscal year that recommended the highest raise in federal spending since World War II as the world’s largest economy attempts to recover from the pandemic and economic crisis.
The budget proposal focuses on reinvesting in Biden’s main priority areas, including infrastructure, education, research, public health, paid family leave, and childcare, and would increase taxes on wealthy individuals and corporate income.
Monday, May 31, 2021: Coincheck Set to Hold Japan’s Maiden IEO
Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck is close to executing its plan to hold Japan’s first-ever initial exchange offering (IEO), an alternative for an initial coin offering (ICO), where the exchange platform acts as a middleman between token issuers and investors.
A release on Monday said Coincheck announced that the IEO of its non-fungible token (NFT) platform partner Hashpalette, done to step up its cryptocurrency business, would occur in the summer.
Tuesday, June 1, 2021: Oil Prices Rises Sharply Ahead of OPEC Meeting
Oil prices edged higher on Tuesday, amid confidence for the demand growth outlook, as China’s and Europe’s positive factory activities signaled that economic rebound in the world’s biggest oil consumers was well set ahead of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting.
Brent crude oil futures rose 2.3% to $70.88 per barrel, marking the highest intraday price since March 8, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures gained 3% to $68.28 per barrel.
Wednesday, June 2, 2021: Turkish Lira Falls on Erdogan’s Call for Low Rates
The Turkish lira hit a fresh record low on Wednesday, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan weakened investors’ optimism with his renewed demands for lower interest rates despite the country’s high inflation levels.
The US dollar gained 1.1% to 8.6264 against the lira, having reached 8.7795 earlier in the day due to Erdogan’s statement, which could only put more pressure on recently appointed Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) Governor, Sahap Kavcioglu.
Thursday, June 3, 2021: CATL Looks to Build New Battery Plant in Shanghai
Tesla Inc.’s Chinese battery supplier Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) is reportedly planning to set up a new automotive battery facility in Shanghai, proceeding with a strong expansion pace that will reinforce its lead as the world’s biggest battery supplier.
One of the sources with knowledge of the matter said the Shanghai plant would be able to produce 80 gigawatt-hours of battery cells per year, in addition to the 69.1 gigawatt-hours in current manufacturing capacity and another 77.5 gigawatt-hours under construction.
