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MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia’s economy avoided catastrophe during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and is now approaching pre-crisis levels, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, an assertion backed up by data showing a 34.7% jump in retail sales in April.
FILE PHOTO: A shop assistant puts a sale sign on a show window in Moscow, Russia June 18, 2020. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov
Russia’s commodity-dependent economy is on the mend after a 3% contraction in 2020, its sharpest in 11 years, when lockdown restrictions stifled economic activity, but officials say a recovery to levels of late 2019 is imminent.
Retail sales, a barometer of consumer demand and Russia’s key economic driver, rose 34.7% in year-on-year terms, the Federal Statistics Service Rosstat said, beating a 23% increase forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.
New climate-smart geothermal-powered heating and cooling projects in Europe "nearly came to a halt" in 2020 due to financial uncertainties during the coronavirus pandemic, according a report by the European Geothermal Energy Council.
By Reuters Staff
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June 2 (Reuters) - Gold prices on Wednesday retreated from a near five-month high marked in the previous session, as an uptick in bond yields weighed on the safe-haven metal while strong U.S. economic data prompted the shift back into riskier assets.
FUNDAMENTALS Spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,898.58 per ounce, as of 0053 GMT, after hitting its highest since Jan.8 at $1,916.40 on Tuesday. U.S. gold futures eased 0.2% to $1,901.90 per ounce. Data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity picked up in May as pent-up demand in a reopening economy boosted orders. But unfinished work piled up because of shortages of raw materials and labor.
The world's coal producers are currently planning as many as 432 new mine projects with 2.28 billion tonnes of annual output capacity, research published on Thursday showed, putting targets for slowing global climate change at risk.