On 8 March, President Alassane Ouattara announced an cabinet reshuffle, necessitated by Prime Minister Hamed Bakayoko’s apparently rapidly deteriorating state of health. As Bakayoko’s chief internal rival, Ouattara’s chief of staff Patrick Achi, becomes prime minister ad interim, this may tilt the balance in the party-internal race for Ouattara’s succession permanently in his favor.… Read the rest
Italy on 8 March surpassed 100,000 coronavirus deaths, amid warnings the spread of new variants is fueling a third wave of infections. A jump in hospitalizations and a 23% rise in infections week-on-week suggest that the situation is rapidly worsening. Experts have warned that Italy should brace for a new peak in around two weeks and that daily cases could reach as high as 40,000 per day unless more severe restrictions are swiftly adopted.… Read the rest
Already in March we can make a preliminary balance of what the summer is leaving us. The best part came from the macroeconomic side. With the price of soybeans firm around USD 500 per ton and the prospects of USD 3.35 billion entering in SDRs from the IMF, literally fallen from the sky, the “exchange rate peace” continued and that took stress away from the rest of the economy, which tends to dance around the dollar.… Read the rest
On Tuesday, 9 March, the House of Representatives began deliberations on a government legislative package to create a digital affairs agency, one of Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s top priorities upon becoming prime minister last year.
After the pandemic revealed significant shortcomings in the government’s ability to use information technology, the agency will primarily focus on digitalizing government services.… Read the rest