Skip to main content

Author: LS

OPEC+ meeting delayed as Saudi Arabia and Russia row over oil price collapse

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on OPEC+ meeting delayed as Saudi Arabia and Russia row over oil price collapse

OPEC and Russia have postponed a Monday meeting to discuss oil output cuts until April 9, OPEC sources said on Saturday, as a dispute between Moscow and Saudi Arabia over who is to blame for plunging crude prices intensified.

The delay came amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries led by Saudi Arabia and its allies, a group collectively known as OPEC+, to urgently stabilise global oil markets.

Oil prices hit an 18-year low on March 30 due to a slump in demand caused by lockdowns to contain the coronavirus outbreak and the failure of OPEC and other producers led by Russia to extend a deal on output curbs that expired on March 31.

OPEC+ is working on a deal to cut the production of oil equivalent by about 10% of world supply, or 10 million barrels per day, in what member states expect to be an unprecedented global effort including the United States.

It should be reminded that oil recovered from this week’s lows of $20 per barrel with Brent settling at $34.11 on Friday, still far below the $66 level at the end of 2019. Prices had their biggest one-day gain ever on Thursday when Trump said he expected Russia and Saudi Arabia to announce a major production cut.

IMF, WHO urge leaders to focus on health spending to get virus under control

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on IMF, WHO urge leaders to focus on health spending to get virus under control

 The IMF and the World Health Organization on Friday urged leaders of developing countries to prioritize paying medical staff, buying protective gear and other health expenditures in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a joint column in the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, the heads of the two institutions said getting the new coronavirus under control was a prerequisite to reviving the global economy, and it was critical to strike the right balance in spending emergency aid.

“Our joint appeal to policymakers, especially in emerging market and developing economies, is to recognise that protecting public health and putting people back to work go hand-in-hand,” wrote International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“As financing to support severely constrained public budgets reaches the countries in need, our joint plea is to place health expenditures at the top of the priority list,” they said.

The IMF and WHO leaders also underscored their joint call with the World Bank for debt relief for the poorest countries, a step that has not yet been backed by the Group of 20 (G20) major economies.

More than 1 million people have been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and more than 53,000 have died, a Reuters tally showed on Friday.

Dr. Mahmoud Jibril dies of coronavirus

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Dr. Mahmoud Jibril dies of coronavirus

Dr. Mahmoud Jibril, the former head of the rebel government that overthrew Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, has died of the coronavirus in Cairo in Cairo where he had been hospitalised for two weeks.

Dr. Jibril, 67, devoted his life to his country and is remembered for his leadership of the executive office of the National Transitional Council and tenure as Interim Prime Minister following the 17 February revolution.  To his great credit, he established the National Forces Alliance in 2012 in advance of the General National Congress elections.  Dr. Jibril was particularly dedicated to building civil society and promoting the inclusion of women and young Libyans in politics.  Dr. Jibril was a friend and mentor to many and participated most recently in the UN-facilitated Political Dialogue Forum.  He will be greatly missed.

Latest on the spread of the coronavirus

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Latest on the spread of the coronavirus

Global cases of the new coronavirus have shot past 1 million with more than 54,000 fatalities.

Reported cases have surpassed 1.03 million globally and nearly 54,500 people have died.

The number of confirmed new cases in South Asia neared 6,000, even as authorities in some cities tightened restrictions on movement and warned lockdowns could be extended in a bid to rein in the pandemic.

Britain is unlikely to relax its stringent lockdown rules until the end of May, a leading government adviser said on Saturday, warning that first the spread of the coronavirus must slow and intense testing must be introduced.

Spain overtook Italy for the first time for the number of confirmed cases, but the overnight death toll fell from the previous day.

Two of the principal U.S. coronavirus hot spots – New York and Louisiana – reported their biggest jumps in COVID-19 deaths yet on Friday, as the White House sent mixed messages on whether Americans should cover their face if they venture outdoors.

New York City alone accounted for more than a quarter of the 7,077 U.S. coronavirus deaths tallied by Johns Hopkins University on Friday. Known U.S. infections, approaching 275,000 cases, made up about 25% of the more than 1 million cases reported worldwide.

The World Bank: emergency support operations for COVID-19

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on The World Bank: emergency support operations for COVID-19

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a first set of emergency support operations for developing countries around the world, using a dedicated, fast-track facility for COVID-19 response. 

For instance, the World Bank Group is prepared to deploy up to $160 billion over the next 15 months to support COVID-19 measures that will help countries respond to immediate health consequences of the pandemic and bolster economic recovery. 

“The World Bank Group is taking broad, fast action to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and we already have health response operations moving forward in over 65 countries,” said World Bank Group President David Malpass.

“We are working to strengthen developing nations’ ability to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and shorten the time to economic and social recovery. The poorest and most vulnerable countries will likely be hit the hardest, and our teams around the world remain focused on country-level and regional solutions to address the ongoing crisis,” he added.

Responding to widespread supply chain disruptions, the World Bank is also helping countries access critically needed medical supplies by reaching out to suppliers on behalf of governments. The World Bank is also encouraging others to provide financial support to developing countries for the COVID-19 health response.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is providing $8 billion in financing to help private companies affected by the pandemic and preserve jobs. IFC is already working to rapidly deploy a pipeline of approximately 300 companies across emerging markets to shore up private sector activity.  

A multinational meeting to discuss oil markets

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on A multinational meeting to discuss oil markets

Saudi Arabia called for an emergency meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers as it aims to reach a fair oil agreement to stabilize the oil market.

After a phone call between President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Bin Salman, the kingdom called for a multinational meeting to discuss oil markets.

A statement released by the state-run Saudi Press Agency read, in part, “the Kingdom calls for an urgent meeting of OPEC + and a group of other countries, with the aim of seeking a fair agreement that will restore the desired balance to the oil markets.”

U.S. Embassy: Libyan parties must step up their efforts in the face of Covid-19

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on U.S. Embassy: Libyan parties must step up their efforts in the face of Covid-19

The American Embassy in Libya has issued a statement calling on all Libyan parties to urgently abandon the issues that divide them, and focus their efforts on enhancing the health of Libyans and confronting the deadly novel coronavirus.

The embassy said on Friday that it is particularly crucial for relevant economic institutions to come together quickly, in a spirit of national cohesion, and adopt all appropriate financial measures for a nationwide response to the looming Covid-19 health crisis. It emphasized that it is ready to provide support to all parties in their efforts to reduce the spread of this epidemic

It should be noted that the Ambassador Norland participated in a virtual briefing on April 2 led by the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for Libya, Federico Soda, who provided an update on IOM’s crucial and lifesaving assistance to Libya’s most vulnerable populations, including migrants and internally-displaced persons (IPDs). In addition, IOM briefed on the organization’s ongoing coordination with Libyan health partners and local authorities to strengthen the COVID-19 response.
.

Moreover, Ambassador Norland and IOM Chief of Mission Soda also stressed the need for an immediate, humanitarian cessation of hostilities in Libya to allow local authorities the space needed to address the looming COVID-19 threat. They also discussed the need to prevent any discrimination in access to healthcare across Libya. In order to protect the population at large, anyone, including migrants, presenting symptoms of COVID-19 should be able to receive testing and treatment.

Six more Coronavirus cases announced in Libya, bringing total to seventeen

Written by LS on . Posted in News. No Comments on Six more Coronavirus cases announced in Libya, bringing total to seventeen

Libya’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) announced late last night the confirmation of six new cases of Coronavirus (Covid-19). This brings the country’s total confirmed cases to seventeen.

It should be noted that the first case had been announced on 24 March.

In a statement, NCDC said it had received a total of 20 suspected samples for analysis and confirmed that the remaining samples had proven negative in tests.