Another week of destruction in the Ukraine has tragically been the main news this week once again. Sanctions have continued to be extended, the Russian stock market remains closed and the one rouble is now worth just $0.009.
The big economic news this week has been in both the US and UK; where interest rates have been raised to 0.25% and 0.75% respectively. This is the first US rate rise since 2018 and in the UK, the rates are now back to pre-pandemic levels.
In currencies the Pound–Euro pushed a new post-Brexit high on Sunday before falling back again later in the week. Against the Dollar, the Pound made a slight gain over the last few days after a low at the end of last week. One key point came at the start of the week when the Euro dipped below 1.10 against the Dollar for the first time in nearly two years. Commentators have started to reflect that increasing regional economic and political instability could see the pairing reach parity.
Another key figure released this week showed that the UK unemployment rate has now reached its pre-pandemic rate now sitting at 3.9%.
In some positive news, utilising the technology and science of the covid vaccines, scientists have begun trials of a preventative HIV vaccine!
