Morning Brief – Foreign Exchange Reserves

Foreign Exchange Reserves

Top of the chart is China followed by Japan and Switzerland, but this week has seen the number 4 position change and now India at $580 billion has nudged ahead of Russia. To put that in perspective it means that India has sufficient cover to pay for 18 months of imports. At USD buying INR 72.68 the Rupee is almost at its high for the past 12 months.

Dubai

A set of statistics released over the weekend that underline Dubai’s determination and ambition for the next 20 years. Targeted are a 400% increase in beachfront, 60% of the Emirate to be nature reserves and an increase of 76% in its population. Somewhat of a stretch is the description of Dubai being a “global metropolis” as the 2040 Plan has a population of 5.8 million. USD steady at AED 3.67.

VW Jobs

VW is cutting 5000 jobs at a cost of EUR500 million or USD 598 million. Mostly the workers are older which is somewhat counter intuitive since they will be approaching retirement shortly, but VW has promised cost savings to its shareholders and this approach, they believe, will deliver the best savings. Seasoned readers will recall the German government doing the same with coal miners in the 1970’s which was popular with the miners who promptly spent their redundancy on long holidays in Southern Europe.

Wannabe

Yes it was this day in 1997 that Mel C, Baby, Mel B, Victoria and Gerry the quintet that made up that force of nature, the Spice Girls, enjoyed their hit Wannabe being in the Billboard Hot 100 for the 4th week. Voted the worst single of 1997 at the NME Awards and then the best single of 1997 at the Brit Awards, the Spice Girls had what can be best described as a mixed following. Brace yourselves: here is Wannabe:

Ha, ha, ha
Yo, I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I wanna (ha), I wanna (ha), I wanna (ha), I wanna (ha), I wanna
Really, really, really wanna zigazig-ah

If you want my future, forget my past
If you wanna get with me, better make it fast
Now, don’t go wastin’ my precious time
Get your act together, we could be just fine

I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want
I wanna (ha), I wanna (ha), I wanna (ha), I wanna (ha), I wanna
Really, really, really wanna zigazig-ah

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends (Gotta get with my friends)
Make it last forever, friendship never ends
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give
Takin’ is too easy, but that’s the way it is

What do you think about that? Now you know how I feel
Say you can handle my love, are you for real? (Are you for real?)
I won’t be hasty, I’ll give you a try
If you really bug me, then I’ll say goodbye

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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