EU’s NI offer

The European Union will propose to lift most post-Brexit checks on British goods entering Northern Ireland.

• Pushing for a deal with the London government, Brussels’ proposal will lift up to 50% of customs controls on most goods for the North.

The EU offer comes after UK Brexit minister David Frost warned that it would be a “historic wrong decision” if the EU did not consider canceling and replacing the existing Northern Ireland protocol.

In another attempt to ease the tensions, The Guardian reports that the EU Brexit commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will say that they did not put their proposals on the table on the basis of “take it or leave it,” emphasizing that he accepts that the protocol does not work well enough.

IMF inflation warning

The International Monetary Fund warned in a report Tuesday that central banks should be prepared to tighten policy should inflation get out of control.

While the IMF said it largely agreed with the US Federal Reserve and many economists’ assessments that the current wave of global price increases will eventually ease, it noted “high uncertainty” about these forecasts.

Alongside the US, the IMF cited the UK and other advanced economies as “places where inflation risks are on the upside”.

“Central banks should plan for possible action, explain clear policy triggers, and act on that communication,” said Gita Gopinath, IMF economic adviser and director of research.

Bostic comments

Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic warned on Tuesday that the current inflationary boom was unlikely to dissipate any time soon, as long as pandemic-induced supply restrictions continued to trigger sharp swings in consumer prices.

“It is becoming increasingly clear that the feature of this episode that has animated price pressures — mainly the intense and widespread supply chain disruptions — will not be brief,” Bostic said while speaking to the Peterson Institute of International Economics.

“Data from multiple sources point to these lasting longer than most initially thought. By this definition, then, the forces are not transitory.”

US stocks

Three major U.S. stock indexes continued to decline on Tuesday ahead of a significant inflation reading and the release of a third-quarter earnings season.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 117.72 points, or 0.3%, to 34,378.34. The S&P 500 closed at 4,350.65, down 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell 0.1% to 14,465.92.

• Shares traded near the horizontal line for most of Tuesday’s session, with selling spiking towards the close.

Korea tensions

North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs posed a threat to the United States and its allies, a US State Department spokesperson said on Tuesday.

• The American statement follows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s call for efforts to further the North’s military capabilities, as he claimed that North Korea’s enemy was neither South Korea nor the United States.

“The DPRK’s WMD and ballistic missile programs constitute a threat to international peace and security and the global nonproliferation regime,” a State Department spokesperson told Yonhap.

“The United States has a vital interest in deterring the DPRK, defending against its provocations or uses of force, and in limiting the reach of its most dangerous weapons programs, and above all keeping the American people and our allies safe,” the official added.