SoftBank led the way in raising $230 million for British retailer Goosto, the European Union took action on industrial data, and Chicago wheat futures hit a 10-year high丨 Overseas Finance wants to participate

21st Century Business Herald reporter Hu Tianjiao comprehensive report

1. Global financial markets

Rising commodity prices have helped South Africa cut its debt

Rising commodity prices will help South Africa cut its debt early and alleviate concerns about Africa's most industrialized economy. South Africa's finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, said in a budget released on Wednesday that he would use the 182 billion rand ($12 billion) increase in tax revenues from the previous year to cut the deficit and borrow. South Africa's debt has surged in recent years as economic growth lags far behind the rates the country pays for borrowing. South Africa's finance minister said the government would achieve budget balance by 2024 and that debt would peak at 75 percent of gross domestic product by 2025, a year earlier than the South African National Treasury's forecast. South African miners benefited from soaring prices of platinum, iron ore and other bulk exports last year as global demand picked up sharply after the COVID-19 pandemic improved. This week, South Africa-focused Anglo American Platinum said it would pay more than $5 billion in dividends in 2021. Anglo American is the world's largest platinum miner by market capitalization.

UK MPs have warned that the UK will lose at least £15 billion due to fraud and error

UK lawmakers said future generations in the UK would have to pay for the billions of pounds caused by fraud and errors in the ministers' COVID-19 support scheme. A report released on Wednesday by the House of Commons public accounts committee showed estimated losses from fraud and errors in all government-backed COVID-19 plans were projected at least £15 billion. This includes losses from vacation programs, various state-backed loan programs, grants, "eating out help" programs, and general credit benefit payments. The committee said the government "clearly exposes taxpayers to significant long-term financial risks." It added: "A large number of taxpayers' money – which has now reached billions of pounds – will be lost due to fraud and errors."

SoftBank spearheaded the financing of $230 million for British retailer Gousto

British food bag company Goosto has raised $230 million in funding from investors led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the second stake the Japanese tech giant's equity arm has acquired this year. In a funding round last month, the Vision Fund invested $100 million in the online food ordering service company, valuing Goosto at $1.7 billion. In a statement announcing the investment, SoftBank Investment Advisors' Max Ohrstrand said Gousto "succeeded in disrupting traditional grocery store channels when it comes to how we consume late-night meals."

Weak business investment in Australia could affect GDP

Australia recorded lower-than-expected business investment in the last three months of 2021, with a slight decline in spending on equipment, plant and machinery, which will slightly affect gross domestic product (GDP). Australian capital expenditures rose 1.1 per cent from the previous quarter in the three months to December, below the 2.5 per cent increase economists had expected, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The companies plan to invest A$116.7 billion ($84.2 billion) in the 12 months until June 2023, almost in line with expectations.

The Bank of Korea left interest rates unchanged to raise inflation expectations

The Bank of Korea left interest rates unchanged, with the seven-day repo rate at 1.25 percent, while raising its inflation forecast for this year. The Bank of Korea currently expects inflation to reach 3.1 percent this year, well above its previous 2 percent forecast. Since last August, the Bank of Korea has raised borrowing costs three times to curb stronger-than-expected inflation and financial imbalances in the economy. Lim Dong-min, a researcher at Kyobo Securities, said: "The revised inflation forecast narrows the gap with market expectations because november's forecast is too low. Therefore, this does not necessarily mean that the rate of tightening will increase. ”

2. International Regulatory Developments

The EU takes action on industrial data

The European Union (EU) has set strong defenses against protecting personal data and user privacy. On Wednesday, the European Union unveiled its latest legislative program to turn attention to non-personal data. The European Commission has proposed a proposal to restrict the transfer of big data from Europe. The Data Act will restrict the transfer of large data generated by smart home devices, cars and even connected irrigation systems to companies outside the EU. French internal market commissioner Thierry Breton wants Europe to maintain control over this industrial data. "My goal is to prepare myself so that the data will be used by Europeans, used by Europeans, and have our values."

3. Global Commodities

Wheat futures in Chicago hit a 10-year high

Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose more than 3 percent on Wednesday to $8.76 a bushel, the highest level since December 2012. Russia and Ukraine are major food exporters, producing 14 percent of the world's wheat and nearly 30 percent of global wheat exports. These two countries are also major exporters of corn and sunflower oil. U.S. corn and wheat prices have both risen 14 percent since the beginning of the year.

4. Green finance is related to ESG

The IEA said the reporting rate of methane emissions in the energy sector was alarmingly low

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said governments around the world were under-reporting of highly polluting methane emissions from the energy sector, at a "staggering" 70 percent, and methane emissions were also rising across the board as natural gas prices climbed in 2021. The International Energy Agency said in its latest report that many of the greenhouse gas inventories submitted by countries to the United Nations "have not been updated for years, and even those that have been updated, many of which are not accurate enough to provide a clear picture of emissions," taking into account satellite tracking of methane and other data sources. Methane captures more heat than carbon dioxide over a shorter lifetime, and over a 20-year period, methane has 80 times the warming potential of carbon. Reducing methane emissions will have a rapid effect on curbing global warming.

Britain warns that future exploration of the North Sea could undermine the credibility of the government's climate commitments

The UK government's environmental advisers have warned that future oil and gas exploration in the North Sea could undermine the credibility of Britain's global leadership on climate change. Lord Deben, chairman of the Climate Change Commission, said that "we are very concerned about the signaling implications of new North Sea exploration at the national and international levels", adding that "ending exploration in the UK will send a clear signal to the rest of the world that we are really serious about (limiting global warming to) 1.5 degrees."" In his comments, the Panel on Climate Change published the results of the government's proposed climate compatibility test to ensure that the proposed North Sea oil and gas development licence meets the UK's 2050 net-zero carbon target.

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