The Day at a Glance | June 14 2021

The Top

*G-7 summit comes to an end; commitments were made regarding vaccines at a global level, China and climate change.

*IEA forecasts that global demand for oil will have price return to its pre-pandemic level at the end of 2022, before initially expected.

*Japan will host summer Olympics under firm health and security protocols.

*Economic indicators: Industrial production in Europe grew 0.8% during April, 39.3% annual.

Economic environment

The G-7 summit came to an end and commitments were agreed upon despite a difference in stances. The G-7 summit, held in England, came to an end this weekend as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a public statement. The group committed itself to allocate billions of extra doses of the vaccine towards low income countries during the next 12 months, called for a new investigation into COVID-19`s origins, condemned the abuse of human rights in China and requested Russia to go after groups in its territory that commit international cyber-attacks. Commitments were also made to gradually abandon the use of combustion engine automobiles and favor electric vehicles. This commitment was proposed by US President Joe Biden, who proposed an infrastructure investment program at a global level in the transition towards sustainable growth – in addition to backing emerging countries in their transition towards a green economy. The proposal seeks to be an alternative to the Chinese program “One Belt, one Road”, through which China has extended its influence in Eurasia and would be funded with resources by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The Chinese proposal considers it would spend 100 billion annual dollars. However, the proposal was not generally supported. Lastly, the group also approved an agreement reached between finance ministers regarding a minimum corporate tax at a global level, which will be discussed in the following months in the G-20 meetings. Despite the agreements, there was also some tension between leaders, especially between the United Kingdom and the European Union due to unresolved issues with Brexit; and between the US and Europe due to the statement`s anti-Chinese tone, which was softened as per the European leaders` request.