Geopolitical and trade tensions along with US sanctions have shaken trust in the US dollar over recent years. As a result, a number of global central banks have been boosting their national reserves of gold bullion. [...]

Last year, several countries including India began taking measures to reduce their dependency on US currency to make foreign trade payments in the wake of the economic sanctions and trade conflicts triggered by Washington. The Indo-Japan move is part of this trend. [...]

Earlier, Bank figures showed that Russia added nearly to 275 tonnes of gold to its coffers in 2018, with total reserves climbing to over 2,100 tonnes of the precious metal. [...]

A decade after the Great Recession in the US, approximately half of the economists at the National Association for Business Economists say that the next economic contraction will begin by the time US voters go back to the polls to decide whether they’ll keep US President Donald Trump in office. [...]

Ratings agency S&P Global said governments are continuing to run up huge debt levels and will borrow an equivalent of $7.78 trillion this year, which would be up 3.2 percent on 2018. That will come as another jump in borrowing to take the global mountain of sovereign debt to $50 trillion in 2019. [...]

Turkey does not want to be on the hook with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the country’s leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, as he blasted the Washington-based organization. [...]

The US national debt has climbed above $22 trillion. It is projected to continue rising by a trillion each year over the next decade, due to the cost of pensions and medical care for the retiring Baby Boomers. On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department published the daily statement showing outstanding public debt standing at $22.01 trillion. [...]

The Russian ruble has been gaining ground on the US dollar and the euro after global credit rating agency Moody’s upgraded Russia’s sovereign rating to investment grade with a stable outlook. [...]

NEW YORK (Sputnik) - Moody's Investors Service said in a statement that it upgraded Russia’s issuer and unsecured senior debt ratings from Ba1 to Baa3 and changed its outlook from positive to stable. [...]

Global central banks bought more bullion last year than at any time since 1971, when the US ended the gold standard. Governments added 651.5 tons of gold to their coffers in 2018, according to the World Gold Council. It said that Russia, China and Turkey are leading the gold-buying spree. [...]

The freezing of Venezuelan gold by the Bank of England is a signal to all countries out of step with US interests to withdraw their money, according to economist and co-founder of Democracy at Work, Professor Richard Wolff. [...]

The ongoing government shutdown in the United States could soon start to negatively impact the country’s debt ceiling, ratings agency Fitch said. The US runs a record deficit and pushes overall borrowing past $22 trillion. A shutdown of about a quarter of the US government entered its 19th day on Wednesday, with lawmakers and the White House divided over President Donald Trump’s demand fo [...]

The Central Bank of Russia reported purchasing 8.5 million troy ounces of gold in January-November 2018. With its 67.6 million ounces of gold Russia is now the world's fifth largest holder behind the US, Germany, France and Italy. [...]

The European Union is considering switching payments from the US dollar to the euro after Washington threatened to target European firms working in Iran. But the EU is not the first to ditch the greenback, as the experts tell RT. [...]

New Delhi and Abu Dhabi have inked a currency swap agreement to boost trade and investment without involvement of a third currency like the US dollar. The swap is for an amount of two billion UAE dirham or 35 billion Indian rupees (US$495 million), according to the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi. [...]

While it has long been clear that countries under US sanctions are more than motivated to turn their backs to the iconic greenbacks, the central bank’s interim review has shed some light on which economic zone Russia is intent to place its stake instead. [...]

The Central Bank of Russia has moved further away from reliance on the US dollar and has axed its share in the country’s foreign reserves to a historic low, transferring about $100 billion into euro, Japanese yen and Chinese yuan. [...]

The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 660 points as Apple stock dropped nearly 10 percent – the biggest single day decline for the company since 2013 – just one day after it slashed its revenue forecast. [...]

Gold has reached a more than six-month peak rising above $1,300 as investors rushed to seek refuge in the metals after iPhone maker downgraded its revenue forecast and amid fears of a global economic slowdown. The precious metal futures climbed in a second straight session on Thursday after US stocks saw the worst start of the year in more than a decade. [...]

Wealth inequality is becoming one of the fastest growing problems facing the US. As the nation gets richer, who benefits? Richard Wolff helps break down all the different facets as he and Bart dissect why people are finding it harder and harder to afford the basic needs of life. Wealth inequality can also extend to nations; Hilary Fordwich breaks down the situation as certain countries grow while [...]

Stocks in emerging markets have had a rough year but are tipped for a turnaround, according to Morgan Stanley, which predicts stable growth in those economies in 2019. [...]

The past year was full of events that inevitably split the global geopolitical space into two camps: those who still support using US currency as a universal financial tool, and those who are turning their back on the greenback. Global tensions caused by economic sanctions and trade conflicts triggered by Washington have forced targeted countries to take a fresh look at alternative payment systems [...]