Egypt’s loan conditions leave poor on the bread line

Egypt’s loan conditions leave poor on the bread line:

"As Zeinab Ahmed and her friend wait for the fresh loaves of subsidised bread they have just bought to cool, they chat about how soaring food prices are forcing their families to alter their eating habits. “Prices have gone crazy. Rice has doubled in price so we eat bread instead,” says Ms Ahmed outside a bakery in Imbaba, a poor district of Cairo. The wife of a metalworker, she says she has doubled the amount of bread she buys in recent months. Boshra Talaat, her friend, says her family of five has replaced rice and pasta with bread “for all three meals”."



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Rosneft’s first-quarter profit falls short of expectations

Rosneft’s first-quarter profit falls short of expectations:

"Russia’s Rosneft on Friday reported a limited rise in first-quarter profit that fell well short of analysts’ expectations, as oil production restrictions agreed between Moscow and Opec crimped output growth and a stronger rouble undermined an increase in crude prices.

The state-controlled oil group has been critical of an Opec-led agreement to cut production in an effort to prop up global crude prices, amid concerns that strong performances by US shale companies have neutered its impact and left Russian competitors at a disadvantage. 

“[The] environment remains difficult,” said Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin. “Continuing world commodity markets volatility, rouble appreciation — all of this impacted the company’s financial results.”"



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Bullish bets on oil price fall to lowest since Opec output cut

Bullish bets on oil price fall to lowest since Opec output cut:

"Hedge funds have slashed their bullish bets on US oil to a level last seen before Opec’s historic pact to cut output, revealing jitters about the cartel’s effectiveness among a crucial constituency in futures markets. Fund managers held a net long position of 163m barrels in Nymex West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures when the government took a snapshot earlier this week, according to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That was the smallest since November 29 — a day before Opec and allied producers agreed to remove more than a million barrels a day from the oil market in an attempt to end a glut and boost prices. The data recorded positions on Tuesday, two days before a rout that returned oil prices to where they were before the Opec deal. Bankers said Thursday’s nearly 5 per cent sell-off reflected further liquidation by funds."



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