Indonesia plans to centralize control of commodity export prices
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2026-05-20 10:45 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Stanley Widianto, Gayatri Suroyo, and Fransiska Nangoy
Reuters
Wednesday, May 20, 2026
JAKARTA -- Indonesia today unveiled a sweeping plan to centralise exports of key commodities such as palm oil and coal, aiming to boost government revenue through tighter control of the sale and pricing of its abundant natural resources.
Sovereign wealth fund Danantara will oversee a trading company designated to channel exports, starting with palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys after a three-month transition. The government may add more commodities at three-month intervals.
Hong Kong targets July launch for new gold-clearing system
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2026-05-20 10:33 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Yihui Xie
Bloomberg News
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Hong Kong plans to launch a new gold-clearing system by July, advancing the city's ambitions to become a global hub for bullion trading.
The government-owned mechanism will mirror the financial infrastructure used in London, the world's largest bullion market, and allow participants to settle trades through unallocated accounts, people familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
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Japan, China lead foreign govt. retreat from U.S. Treasurys as Iran war stokes currency fears
Submitted by admin on Wed, 2026-05-20 08:57 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Anniek Bao
CNBC, New York
Tuesday, May 19, 2026
Foreign governments cut U.S. Treasurys in March as the Middle East war forced central banks to liquidate dollar reserves, defending local currencies against an energy shock that sent exchange rates tumbling.
China reduced its holdings to $652.3 billion, down roughly 6% from February to the lowest level since September 2008, according to U.S. Treasury data released late Monday stateside.
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Ghana seeks to buy 30% of gold from miners to boost reserves
Submitted by admin on Mon, 2026-05-18 08:39 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Maxwell Akalaare Adombila
Reuters
Monday, May 18, 2026
Ghana has asked large-scale gold miners to sell 30% of annual output to the central bank as part of a revamped reserve-building drive, up from 20%, a senior official told Reuters, though miners say key commercial terms remain unresolved.
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Goldman says central banks want more gold for their reserves
Submitted by admin on Mon, 2026-05-18 08:33 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Yihui Xie
Bloomberg News
via Yahoo News, Sunnyvale, California
Sunday, May 17, 2026
Central banks are expected to step up gold-buying, helping prices to recover by year-end, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Purchases are expected to pick up to average 60 tons a month over 2026, analysts Lina Thomas and Daan Struyven said in a note dated May 15. Under a revised framework for estimated accumulation, the 12-month moving average of purchases was 50 tons in March, up from a prior figure of 29.
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The surprisingly mysterious reason we use the $ symbol for the U.S. dollar
Submitted by admin on Sat, 2026-05-16 23:02 Section: Daily DispatchesBy Annie Reneau
Upworthy, Los Angeles
Friday, May 15, 2026
We see many symbols in our everyday lives that we likely don’t pay much attention to: the @ in our email addresses, for instance, or the % in our weather forecasts. But do we ever wonder where these symbols came from? Why they look like they do? Or how they came to mean what they mean?
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