ISA Economic Data Release: 24th of February 2023

Highlights From the Past Week

Despite expectations of a major collapse, Russia’s economy only shrank by 2.1% in 2022. Sanctions put in place in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were expected to lead to a 10% contraction of the Russian economy last year. However, high oil prices allowed Russia to still secure increases in oil revenues in 2022.

Natural gas prices in Europe fell to their lowest levels in the past 18 months as it appeared that the region had avoided the worst of the gas shortages that had been predicted due to the war in Ukraine. Gas prices in Europe have fallen by nearly 85% from their highs in August 2022.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Kazakhstan’s economy grew by 3.2% on a year-on-year basis. For the entire year in 2022, Kazakhstan’s economy expanded by 3.1%, down from the 4.0% growth recorded in 2021.

Canada’s inflation rate declined to 5.9% year-on-year in January 2023. This was the result of a sharp fall in transportation and car prices. In contrast, food prices continued to rise in Canada in early 2023.

The Mexican government moved to accelerate the nationalization of that country’s lithium reserves.

There are concerns that the labor shortages that have bedeviled the United States economy will thwart the Biden Administration’s efforts to invest in infrastructure and green energy projects in the coming months.

Takeaways

The economic fallout from the war in Ukraine, which began one year ago, has not been as great as had been initially feared, both in terms of its impact on Russia and Ukraine, as well as on the rest of the world.