The Day at a Glance | March 22 2021

The Top

· Inflation and public debt are the main concerns for economists in the United States.

· Turkish Lira falls 15% after its President, Tayyip Erdogan, fired one of the central bank`s members for increasing the interest rate.

· EU imposes sanctions on citizens and Chinese entities for human rights abuse.

Economic environment

According to a survey carried out by the National Association of Business Economics in the US, economists believe that inflation and growing public debt are the two main risks. 60% of the survey`s participants considered that inflation is a greater risk now than it has been in the last 20 years; meanwhile, 90% of them showed concern because of the trend seen in US public debt. The survey showed that there is an overall fear of growing risks, after the approval of aggressive fiscal stimulus and the implementation of a ultra-expansive monetary policy in the last year. Nevertheless, the FED has reiterated that the rise in prices is merely temporary. Additionally, 34% of surveyed people by the NABE considered that the fiscal actions carried out in the US in order to counter the economic impact of the virus have gone too far and put public debt on an unfavorable trend. Almost 60% of the survey`s participants believed its necessary to carry out structural changes to reduce the deficit, with almost 30% backing up less spending or greater taxes. According to recent reports, Biden`s administration is preparing new taxes in order to pay the fiscal stimuli, with a focus on increasing corporate taxes and tax rates for high-income individuals.