Shocking: the rate in the US has reached its maximum in the last 14 years!

The Federal Reserve System of the United States has increased the range of the base interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.75-5% per annum. This is the highest level of the rate since September 2007 and the ninth consecutive increase. The Fed has used a 25 basis point hike for the second time in a row, while in 2022 it increased the rate by 75 or 50 basis points.

According to the General Administration of Customs of China, in January-February 2023, imports of platinum from Russia to China increased by 279 times compared to the same period last year in physical terms (from 5.99 kg to 1.67 tons), and in monetary terms - by 265 times (from $0.2 million to $53 million). Palladium shipments increased by 8.5 times (from 0.32 tons to 2.72 tons) in volume and by 5.6 times (from $27 million to $152 million) in money terms, according to RBK.

The United States fears that a "war-weary world" will support China's plan to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, according to Bloomberg. Officially, Washington criticized Beijing's plan for being only beneficial to Russia. Moscow said it was ready to use the Chinese plan as a basis for resolving the conflict.