The number of middle -class representatives in the world has decreased for the first time in 30 years Economists continue to calculate the pandemic losses of the chief victim - middle class: all over the world this layer decreased for the first time in 30 years, and 150 million of its representatives went down the social ladder. In Russia, where the middle class most suffers into every crisis, according to HSE, it decreased by 6%.

Assistant to the Prime Minister, former head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Igor Artemyev sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak with a proposal to temporarily limit the export of “certain petroleum products and their components,” VTimes learned . According to the publication, the restriction has been discussed in the government for several weeks, and Artemyev reported on it to both Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov.

The Russian currency is steadily cheaper since March 17 - the day when US President Joe Biden in response to the question of an ABC correspondent recognized Vladimir Putin as a killer. For these incomplete three weeks, she had already lost 5 rubles to the dollar. On Wednesday, the dollar exchange rate during trading at the Moscow Bill for the first time in five months exceeded 78 rubles, and the euro rose above 92 rubles.

The proposal of US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to introduce a minimum corporate tax rate at the cross-country level has received preliminary support from G20 finance ministers, writes Bloomberg. Yellen has proposed setting a minimum rate of 21%, which is in line with the corporate tax under the Donald Trump administration. Joe Biden will raise it to 28% for his infrastructure plan . According to the agency, the G20 plans to reach an initial consensus in the middle of the year.

in an interview with Kommersant Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said that Russia is not ready to "openly intervene" in the conflict in Ukraine. Nikolai Patrushev Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation “We do not hatch such plans [open intervention in the conflict in Ukraine], no. But we are monitoring the situation closely.

The European Regulatory Authority (EMA), based on additional studies, has recognized the probable association of vaccination with AstraZeneca with severe thrombosis. However, this is extremely rare, and the benefits of vaccination still outweigh the risks.

The Central Bank predicts that the number of brokerage accounts with Russians will grow sevenfold, to 74 million. That is, the entire economically active population of the country will come to the stock market, said Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Vladimir Chistyukhin.

Direct payments to Americans in the amount of $ 1,400 per person, already approved by the Joe Biden administration, will go predominantly not to consumption, Bloomberg writes , citing a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Households in the study received an average of $3,162 in direct payments. Families will spend 13% of this money on essentials, 8% on durable goods. In total, 24.7% of aid will go to consumption.

Vladimir Putin accepted the resignation of the governor of the Republic of Tuva, Sholban Kara-ool, and the former mayor of Kyzyl, Vyacheslav Khovalyg, was appointed in his place. Kara-ool held his position for more than 13 years. The President signed a decree terminating the powers of the head of Tuva ahead of schedule. The decree states that the president dismisses Kara-ool from office at his own request.

The new OPEC+ deal, which the countries nevertheless concluded in the spring of 2020 after the “oil war” between Russia and Saudi Arabia, brought additional $30-40 billion to Russian companies and the budget, estimated Fitch . If there had been no deal, the ruble exchange rate would have fallen much more in 2020.

Sberbank and Rostelecom are creating a joint venture to develop digital identification technologies, including biometrics. The parties have already signed a preliminary agreement of intent, said in a statement.

Sberbank earned a record net profit of 103.3 billion rubles in March - as the bank explained , it was able to show such a figure due to the record volume of retail loans issued. For the entire first quarter of 2021, the bank's net profit reached 282.5 billion rubles (+29.2%). Profit before tax increased by 29.5% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 349.6 billion rubles.

Voice social network Clubhouse may quadruple its valuation as the company is in talks to raise an investment that will raise its value to $4 billion, writes . Bloomberg The deal will quadruple the company's value (Clubhouse was valued at $1 billion in January 2021) and reflect investors' astronomical expectations for the app. It is unclear how much investment Clubhouse wants to raise in total and which investors are participating in the round.

Rising prices for building materials and, in particular, for metal products used in construction forced the authorities to look for ways to regulate them. Among the possible ones are subsidizing budget construction projects at the expense of tax deductions from metallurgists and transferring excess profits from the sale of metal products to the budget.

During the pandemic, about 150 million people around the world went down the social ladder, and the middle class shrank for the first time in 30 years, writes Bloomberg. The decline in prosperity has particularly affected the disadvantaged countries of Southeast Asia and southern Africa. According to the publication, one of the most economically significant trends of the last few decades has been the emergence of a global middle class.