Taxes for Independence

In peri-urban Cochabamba, Bolivia, the ‘informally’ employed population reject the government’s fiscal offer of taxes in return for welfare, infrastructure, and rights, including the offer’s underlying logic of reciprocity. Instead, they disaggregate the fiscal landscape by choosing to engage with some taxes and avoid others, understanding the exchanges that do take place as vehicles for independence from the state as opposed to interdependence with the state. An anthropology of tax must do the same: deconstruct fiscal systems, examine the multiple exchange logics at play, investigate the production of diverse forms of ‘economic citizenship’, and locate emic definitions of tax within their historical and cultural context. Specifically, reciprocity should not be assumed to be an organizing principle of fiscal imaginaries or realities.

Lower naira will not offset Nigerian recession risks

Subject Pressured naira. Significance The naira has depreciated by approximately 11% on the parallel market since the Saudi-Russia oil price war began, which dashed hopes of OPEC+ supply curbs to stem the price rout amid the escalating COVID-19 pandemic. This has hampered the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) ability to support the multiple exchange rate regime, prompting a sharp devaluation of the official exchange rate. Impacts The naira’s devaluation will accelerate rising inflationary pressures from the closure of Nigeria’s land borders last year. The CBN could impose damaging capital controls once more if the exchange rate falls further towards 500:1. With low funds in the oil savings fund, the authorities will likely limit their intervention against COVID-19 to soft loans from the CBN.

Determinants of Successful Agri - Futures Contracts in India

The study empirically examines the factors which impact the success of the Agri commodity futures contracts. Daily data from July 2012 to July 2017 is used for 22 commodities traded on the three national commodity derivatives exchanges and analyzed in a panel data analysis framework. The results of the study suggest that higher volatility in the spot and futures market, competition in terms of multiple exchange listing, the age of the futures contract, lot size and tick size increase the success potential of the agri futures contract. The international listing, the imposition of Commodity transaction tax, a higher number of levels in the value chain and greater geographical coverage in the spot market reduces the liquidity for the contract. Thus, the study identifies important market characteristics and elements of contract design that have implications for the success of agri commodities futures contract in India.

Successful multiple-exchange peritoneal dialysis in a patient with severe hematological toxicity by methotrexate: case report and literature review

Methotrexate is an effective medication to control several diseases; however, it can be very toxic, being myelosuppression one of its main adverse effects, which increases in severity and frequency in patients with renal failure. We present the case of a 68-year-old man with chronic, end-stage renal disease associated with ANCA vasculitis, under treatment with peritoneal dialysis, who received the medication at a low dose, indicated by disease activity, which presented as a complication with severe pancytopenia with mucositis that improved with support measures and multiple-exchange peritoneal dialysis. We reviewed 20 cases published to date of pancytopenia associated with methotrexate in patients on dialysis and found high morbidity and mortality, which is why its use in this type of patient is not recommended. However, when this complication occurs, a therapeutic option could be the use of multiple-exchange peritoneal dialysis in addition to supportive therapy for drug-related toxicity, although it is recognized that studies are required to show the role of multiple-exchange peritoneal dialysis in the removal of this medication.

Nigerian naira will stay static despite high oil price

Subject Nigeria's forex dynamics Significance The multiple exchange rate regime of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been vindicated by the naira’s stability over the last nine months. However, the ongoing segmentation of the foreign exchange (forex) market means that each of its windows now has its own set of fundamental drivers, blunting the ability of rising dollar inflows from high oil prices to bring currency appreciation. While this arrangement benefits imports as the government implements its capital-intensive economic recovery plan, it comes at the expense of non-oil private sector growth which has struggled to maintain upward momentum since the end of the recession last year. Impacts The CBN’s decision to hold its main interest rate at a record 14% signals lingering concerns over IEFX outflows ahead of the 2019 elections. The government’s push to re-balance its debt profile by increasing the ratio of external debt will weigh on the naira’s long-term outlook. The impact of falling inflation on the naira is ambiguous given existing import bans and the lack of monetary policy response from the CBN.