Russia accuses U.S. of driving aggressively towards war

 

Russia is watching with great concern as the United States (U.S.) continues its aggressive drive to war, with more than 8,000 US troops ready to be deployed to Europe, a Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said yesterday.

Peskov accused Washington of fuelling tensions over Ukraine, insisting that the crisis is being driven by NATO and U.S. actions in the region.

Moscow has reiterated calls for diplomacy and laid out security demands earlier this month in two treaties, which have been rejected by Washington. It is expecting a written response this week.

Russia insists that it is not the instigator but the target of aggression, citing as evidence the U.S. delivery of a package of “lethal aid,” including 90 tons of weapons, to Kiev on Sunday.

NATO said on Monday that it was putting its forces on standby and reinforcing its members in eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, a move that Russia denounced as Western “hysteria.”

Read More

Prepare for unstable loan markets, IMF tells Nigeria, others

 

The International Monetary Fund has advised Nigeria and other developing economies with large foreign currency borrowings and external financing need to prepare for turbulence in financial markets.

The Washington-based lender also said countries such as Nigeria should consider extending their debt maturities as a means to contain foreign exchange fluctuations.

In a blogpost titled ‘A Disrupted Global Recovery’ discussing its World Economic Outlook Update report, the IMF said, “As the monetary policy stance tightens more broadly this year, economies will need to adapt to a global environment of higher interest rates.

“Emerging markets and developing economies with large foreign currency borrowing and external financing needs should prepare for possible turbulence in financial markets by extending debt maturities as feasible and containing currency mismatches. Exchange rate flexibility can help with the needed macroeconomic adjustment.

“In some cases, foreign exchange intervention and temporary capital flow management measures may be needed to provide a monetary policy with the space to focus on domestic conditions. With interest rates rising, low-income countries, of which 60 per cent are already in or at high risk of debt distress, will find it increasingly difficult to service their debts.

“The G20 Common Framework needs to be revamped to deliver more quickly on debt restructuring, and G20 creditors and private creditors should suspend debt service while the restructurings are being negotiated.”

According to the IMF, as the policy space diminishes in many economies, fiscal deficits are expected to shrink in most countries.

It added that fiscal priority should be given to the health sector, and medium-term fiscal frameworks should ensure that public debt remains sustainable.

It said national policies should be tailored to country specific circumstances and both fiscal and monetary policies must work in sync to achieve economic goals.

The Washington-based lender in its world economic report notes that less accommodative monetary policies in advanced economies are set to pose challenges for central banks and governments in Nigeria and other emerging markets.

It said, “Less accommodative monetary policy in advanced economies will pose challenges for central banks and governments in emerging markets and developing economies.

“Higher returns elsewhere will incentivize capital to flow overseas, putting downward pressure on emerging markets and developing economy currencies and rising inflation. Without commensurate tightening, this will increase the burden on foreign-currency borrowers, both public and private. But the tighter policy also brings costs at home, as domestic borrowers will find credit harder to come by.

“Overall, tighter policies will likely be appropriate in many emerging markets and developing economies to stave off the threat of persistently higher inflation.”

The IMF said while emerging markets were more resilient with higher reserves, financial vulnerabilities would remain, especially in countries that have higher public and private debt.

It added that debt service burdens could rise significantly in the year as interest rates rise.

It said, “Public finances will come under strain in the coming months and years, as global public debt has reached record levels to cover pandemic-related spending at a time when tax receipts plummeted. Higher interest rates will also make borrowing more expensive, especially for countries borrowing in foreign currencies and at short maturities.”

Read More

Ekiti PDP Primary: Fayose’s man, Kolawole defeats Oni, emerges PDP candidate

 

Ekiti PDP Primary: Fayose’s man, Kolawole defeats Oni, emerges PDP candidate

Ado-Ekiti—Bisi Kolawole, Former Governor Ayodele Fayose’s anointed aspirant for the People’s Democratic Party governorship primary held in Ekiti State yesterday, has emerged the party’s candidate for the June 18 poll .

Kolawole, who polled 671 votes to defeat his close rival, former governor Segun Oni, who got 330 votes out of a total of 1200 delegates that participated in the primary out of which 1185 votes were cast .

The Chairman of the Ekiti PDP Gubernational Primary Election and Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, who announced the results , said Kolawole polled 671 to defeat Oni and other aspirants.

Similarly, former member, House of Representatives, Hon Wale Aribisala, scored 56 votes, former Deputy Governor Kolapo Eleka, 93, Ayodele Kazeem, 06, while Kayode Adaramodu scored 10 votes respectively.

In the same vein, Mrs Adekemi Adewumi got 0 vote, Lateef Ajijola, 03 and Mrs Biodun Olujimi got 02 votes.

The election which was held at the Great Eagles Hall in Ado Ekiti, started on schedule and could be adjudged to be peaceful.

Emmanuel said: “Bisi Kolawole, having scored the highest number of votes cast in this election, is hereby declared the winner in accordance with the guidelines of our party”.

Emmanuel congratulated all the aspirants, saying the process was an internal affairs of the party and about PDP.

Kolawole, who hails from Efon in Ekiti Central Senatorial District, was elected a member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly in 2007 and was appointed a Commissioner for Environment in 2014 by Fayose.

In his response, Kolawole commended the leadership of the party for providing a level playing ground for all aspirants, saying no breach of security and

“Let me commend someone who is a good coach who discovered me . He just have seen something in me or read my antecedents . He is wizard. I thank him for willingly giving me his endorsement making me the winner of this primary. The person is former governor Ayodele Fayose.

“Today, I want to say that we are all winners. enge Segun Oni is my brother and friend and I know that he will support this process. I want to commend other aspirants and appreciate them . Nobody can do it all alone.

“We are committed to delivering the people from.syfferings being meted out to them in the last three years. You could all attest to the fact that the process of this election was free and fair , so I willingly accept to be the flagbearer of our great party in the forthcoming governorship election in Ekiti”.

Citing cases of bias and fraudulent practices, the Senator representing Ekiti South, Mrs Biodun Olujimi, had earlier written to the Committee notifying it of her withdrawal from the race.

While addressing newsmen, Olujimi said that her decision to withdraw from the primary was informed by alleged irregularities during the accreditation of delegates.

The PDP chiefain said that she could not be part of a political process that had excluded party delegates who are mainly her supporters, adding that development runs against the tenets of participatory democracy.

She said “I pulled out because every other aspirant has full compliments of delegates from their local government. It pleased the party to give me only 12 automatic delegates in mine.”

“I have six local governments in my district as a sitting senator. They gave full compliments of delegates to somebody in four of my local government. And the two that were left, including my own local government. They gave me twelve delegates out of seventy-eight.”

“And in the second local government, they gave me only ten delegates. How do you go from your home with a broken hoe and then, you are going to ask the people to give their own to you to till the ground?”.

“I feel maybe it is because of my gender or maybe the party feels I have not done enough for it. That is why they would have done that to me”.

“So, when they’ve done that to me, it didn’t make sense to continue with the process.

When asked how the party arrived at giving out automatic delegates to aspirants, she said: “What happened was that for two years, we’ve been fighting over an illegal congress and somehow, a few weeks ago, they approved it for one group.”

“There have been two groups that have been fighting. And we said there was no congress because it was hijacked. Two weeks ago, the party approved that one group should take all the fourteen executives, and those of us that had been fighting should wait.”

When asked whether she stepped down for any aspirant, Olujimi said she didn’t step down but only pulled out of the race, instructing his supporters to vote for any aspirant of their choice.

Read More