Month: August 2022

BOGOTA, July 28 (Reuters) – Interest rate hikes have a limited capacity to rein in accelerating inflation because supply issues are one of the key drivers of consumer price increases, Colombia’s next finance minister, Jose Antonio Ocampo, said on Thursday.

The government of Colombia’s next president, the leftist Gustavo Petro, who takes power on Aug. 7, will look to raise subsidies for poor people, Ocampo added.

Colombia’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate by 575 basis points to 7.5% since the beginning of an upward cycle that started in September in a bid to control inflation. Cumulative 12-month price growth hit 9.67% in June, the highest level in two decades and more than triple the bank’s 3% target.

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The market majority expects the bank board to raise the rate by 150 basis points to 9% on Friday. read more

“As the problem is with supply, not demand, supply of high fuel prices, international food prices, of fertilizers, the interest rate’s capacity to cut inflation is very low,” Ocampo said at a conference in Bogota.

Interest rate rises merely lead to expectations of lower inflation later on, Ocampo said.

“The downside is that (lower inflation) comes from an economic slowdown,” he said.

Ocampo, who as finance minister will hold one of the central bank’s seven board seats and will vote on rate movements, raised his concern about further increases.

“I don’t believe that we yet have a contractionary monetary policy

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Photo: Rich Polk/Getty Images for MTV

Sydney Sweeney wants to be a young mom. in a Hollywood Reporter profiles, she says that the industry stigmatizes young moms, and, “I was worried that, if I don’t work, there is no money and no support for kids I would have.” Like all moms, young or otherwise, Sweeney wants to provide for her children, even if they’re still hypothetical. But she’s candid about how her life as a double-Emmy-nominated actress and it-girl is more financially taxing than it would appear to outsiders. “If I wanted to take a six-month break, I don’t have income to cover that,” she says to THR. “I don’t have someone supporting me, I don’t have anyone I can turn to, to pay my bills or call for help.” Surely HBO paychecks afford a lifestyle immune from rising gas prices? “They don’t pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you no longer get residuals,” Sweeney notes. “The established stars still get paid, but I have to give 5 percent to my lawyer, 10 percent to my agents, 3 percent or something like that to my business manager. I have to pay my publicist every month, and that’s more than my mortgage.”

Can someone who is good at the economy please help her budget this? Her hypothetical future family is dying! Let’s crunch some numbers. In January, Sweeney bought her first house in Westwood for $3 million, which was actually $305,000 over asking. Rough calculations on a

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Financial institutions want to shed their cutthroat image for a more cuddly one. To do that, many are enlisting agencies or hiring in-house talent to manage external branding.

Driving the news: Edelman launched a boutique agency, Edelman Smithfield, to focus on reputation management for investment firms, private equity and venture capital funds, banks and crypto.

By the numbers: This is an extension of previous attempts to appear softer and more trustworthy — which is an uphill battle, according to Edelman’s 2022 Trust Barometer.

  • Of those surveyed, 56% distrust financial services and 70% believe the system only favors the rich.

What they’re saying: Edelman Smithfield CEO Lex Suvanto believes communications is an effective tool for companies to increase transparency by explaining their priorities and impact in communities.

  • “People don’t trust what they don’t understand, especially in the financial services industry,” Suvanto told Axios.
  • Christine Anderson, Blackstone’s head of corporate affairs, hopes better marketing can combat the “1990s and 1980s” stereotype of institutional investors and admits, “We probably haven’t done a good job of sharing good stories of how we operate our company.”

What we’re watching: Sharing positive stories isn’t the only selling point. The uptick in shareholder activism and macro shifts in innovation — paired with a volatile market — further support the need for strategic communicators.

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