Mapped: Which Countries Have the Highest Inflation?

Mapped: Which Countries Have the Highest Inflation Rate?

Inflation is surging nearly everywhere in 2022.

Geopolitical tensions are triggering high energy costs, while supply-side disruptions are also distorting consumer prices. The end result is that almost half of countries worldwide are seeing double-digit inflation rates or higher.

With new macroeconomic forces shaping the global economy, the above infographic shows countries with the highest inflation rates, using data from Trading Economics.

Double-Digit Inflation in 2022

As the table below shows, countless countries are navigating record-high levels of inflation. Some are even facing triple-digit inflation rates. Globally, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, and Venezuela have the highest rates in the world.

As price pressures mount, 33 central banks tracked by the Bank of International Settlements (out of a total of 38) have raised interest rates this year. These coordinated rate hikes are the largest in two decades, representing an end to an era of rock-bottom interest rates.

Going into 2023, central banks could continue this shift towards hawkish policies as inflation remains aggressively high.

The Role of Energy Prices

Driven by the war in Ukraine, energy inflation is pushing up the cost of living around the world.

Since October 2020, an index of global energy prices—made up of crude oil, natural gas, coal, and propane—has increased drastically.

Compared to the 2021 average, natural gas prices in Europe are up sixfold. Real European household electricity prices are up 78% and gas prices have climbed even more, at 144% compared to 20-year averages.

Amid global competition for liquefied natural gas supplies, price pressures are likely to stay high, even though they have fallen recently. Other harmful consequences of the energy shock include price volatility, economic strain, and energy shortages.

“The world is in the midst of the first truly global energy crisis, with impacts that will be felt for years to come”.

-Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA

Double-Digit Inflation: Will it Last?

If history is an example, taming rising prices could take at least a few years yet.

Take the sky-high inflation of the 1980s. Italy, which managed to combat inflation faster than most countries, brought down inflation from 22% in 1980 to 4% in 1986.

If global inflation rates, which hover around 9.8% in 2022, were to follow this course, it would take at least until 2025 for levels to reach the 2% target.

It’s worth noting that inflation was also highly volatile over this decade. Consider how inflation fell across much of the rich world by 1981 but shot up again in 1987 amid higher energy prices. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell spoke to the volatility of inflation at their November meeting, indicating that high inflation has a chance of following a period of low inflation.

While the Federal Reserve projects U.S. inflation to fall closer to its 2% target by 2024, the road ahead could still get a lot bumpier between now and then.

Source: Visual Capitalist

What are the steps to inherit in the Philippines?

WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO INHERIT IN THE PHILIPPINES?

1) SECURE THE DEATH CERTIFICATE.

The registration of deaths in the Philippines is governed by law (P.D. 651 as amended by P.D. 766) .

If the decedent died in a hospital, the attending physician or administrator of the hospital certifies as to the fact of death. If the decedent died outside of a hospital, the nearest of kin can report the death to the Local Civil Registrar where the deceased habitually resided.

The death of a foreigner must be reported to the Local Civil Registrar where he habitually resided or to the Civil Registrar of the City of Manila if he died while in transit in the Philippines or without a habitual residence.

Generally, the fact of death must be reported within forty-eight hours and registered by the Civil Registrar within 30 days from the date of death.

2) DETERMINE IF THE DECEASED LEFT A WILL.

Unlike other countries, there is no central or official registration of wills in the Philippines. A copy of a will can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk of Court which holds the copies of the documents notarized by a notary within a particular locality. The problem with this is that the will could have been signed , attested to, and notarized in another place. It would be highly impractical to search all the offices of Clerks of Court in the Philippines to determine the existence of a will.

If there is a will, it must be probated or proved by filing a Petition with the Regional Trial Court where the deceased was residing at the time of his death or if he was a resident of a foreign country in the place where he had properties.

If there is no will, two things can happen: a) Filing of a Petition for Settlement of the Intestate Estate which will result in the appointment by the court of an administrator for the estate of the decease, who is usually the nearest of kin; OR b) Extrajudicial Settlement of the Estate of Deceased if there are no debts and the heirs can agree among themselves with respect to the partition of the estate.

A. JUDICIAL REMEDIES : PROBATE OF THE WILL OR FILING A PETITION FOR THE SETTLEMENT OF THE INTESTATE ESTATE.

These two judicial remedies have similar steps, except that the Probate of the Will ( which is actually initiated as a Petition for Letters Testamentary) includes proving the genuineness and authenticity of the will. In the Philippines, most wills are known as notarial wills which require legal formalities as to the signing and execution which are the matters to be determined in the initial stages when there is a will.

1) CHOOSE AN ATTORNEY TO FILE THE PETITION.

Estates that reach the courts are generally complicated in terms of the number of the properties, the nature thereof, and the competing interests of the heirs. It could involve parcels of land in different parts of the Philippines which have themselves been inherited in some form or another by the deceased from his or her ancestors. Often these remain undivided with compounded real property taxes and regulatory fees. For these reasons, it would be prudent to get an experienced attorney to handle the estate proceedings.

2) FILING OF THE PETITION.

The Petition must be filed with the Regional Trial Court where the deceased was residing at the time of his death or where he had properties if a resident of a foreign country. What becomes a significant issue at this point is the money necessary to file the Petition since the filing fee is based on the assessed value of the estate.

3) NOTIFYING ALL KNOWN HEIRS AND CREDITORS.

The heirs and the creditors of the deceased are normally identified in the Petition and are required to be notified of the initial hearing in the case . The hearing will also be published in a newspaper of general publication for 3 consecutive weeks prior to the date of the hearing.

4) JURISDICTIONAL HEARING.

This is the initial scheduled hearing of the case where the matters of notification of the known heirs and creditors and the publication of the notice as required by law are put into the record of the case.

The significance of this step is that it establishes the nature of the proceedings as IN REM or theoretically binding on the whole world.

5) INVENTORY OF THE ESTATE.

The administrator will initially make an inventory of the estate and make a report to the court. Properties could be held by third parties who can be required to appear and disclose the extent of the properties held on behalf of the deceased. Representatives of banks and financial institutions can be questioned on related matters as to investments and stockholdings of the deceased.

In many instances, the estate could include untitled or unclaimed properties which have to be investigated further , involving professional investigators, titling agencies, and geodetic engineers to determine the metes and bounds of disputed properties.

6) COURT APPOINTMENT OF THE ADMINISTRATOR OR EXECUTOR.

A Petition naming all possible heirs and listing all known properties, real or personal, of the deceased is filed with the court, seeking the appointment of an administrator or the executor named in the will who must post a bond and manage the distribution of the estate in accordance with the directives of the court.

7) HEARINGS TO DETERMINE THE HEIRS.

The court at some point will make a declaration of who are the heirs of the decedent based on the evidence presented by the parties and oppositors.

8) DISTRIBUTION OF THE ESTATE.

After settling the taxes on the estate, paying off creditors , and determining the heirs, the court will proceed to the distribution of the estate based on the agreement of the parties, if any, or if there is no agreement based on the evidence presented in court.

Note that these cases could be highly litigious before the parties can come to some sort of agreement as to the manner of partitioning the estate or the sale of the properties and the distribution of the proceeds.

B) Extrajudicial Settlement or Partition of Estate

For the surviving heirs to be allowed to do an extrajudicial settlement of the estate, there must be no will, no debts , and all must be in agreement as to the partition of the properties belonging to the estate.

A Petition is prepared by a lawyer which normally will include a declaration of all the heirs that they are the ONLY heirs of the decedent, the appointment of an administrator or attorney in fact who will act for and on behalf of the heirs with respect to the properties. This document once completed will be published in such manner as the court will order. After the completion of the publication, the heirs or the representative appointed in the Extrajudicial Settlement can provide copies to the banks holding the money in the name of the deceased and register the document with the Register of Deeds where real properties are registered.

Estate and other taxes need to be settled and the annotation of the Statute of Non Claims, which gives creditors 2 years to file a claim, is made on the titles of the real properties before any disposition of the assets can be made.

Source: hg

US Home Sales Decline Again As Mortgage-Rate Rise Stings

U.S. existing home sales fell for a ninth straight month in October as the highest mortgage rates in more than a decade pushed buyers out of the market.

Sales of previously owned homes declined 5.9% in October from the prior month to a

seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million, the weakest rate since May 2020, the

National Association of Realtors said Friday. October sales fell 28.4% from a year earlier.

The streak of declines is the longest on record, NAR said.

Existing-home sales have dropped about 32% from their recent peak in January. This

year’s decline in sales marks one of the biggest impacts from the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest-rate increases aimed at cooling the economy and bringing down high inflation.

Broader economic uncertainty and high home prices have also made buyers more

nervous about making home purchases, real-estate agents say.

At the same time, sellershave largely stepped away from the market. Many current homeowners have mortgage rates below 5%, so they are opting to stay put rather than selling and buying another home at a higher rate.

The low inventory has kept prices from dropping even as the number of home sales has

slid. The median existing home price rose 6.6% in October from a year earlier to $379,100, NAR said. Prices fell month-over-month for the fourth straight month after

reaching a record high of $413,800 in June.

The housing-market slowdown is expected to persist because home-buying affordability

is near its lowest level in decades. First-time buyers who have stepped back from the market are now facing rising rents and high inflation that can make it more difficult to save for down payments.

The Fed is expected to continue raising rates. Inflation stayed high in October, the labor

market remained tight and consumers continued to spend robustly at retailers—all signs the economy is still running too hot for the Fed’s comfort.

Cooling the once-hot housing market is part of the Fed’s process because home sales

are highly interest-rate sensitive and fuel related economic activity such as spending on

renovations, furniture and appliances.

“More potential home buyers were squeezed out from qualifying for a mortgage in

October as mortgage rates climbed higher,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a 7.2% monthly decline

in October in sales of previously owned homes, which make up most of the

housing market.

Excluding the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, October’s existing-home sales

rate was the lowest since December 2011, Mr. Yun said.

The typical home sold in October was on the market for 21 days, up from 19 days from

the prior month, NAR said.

Homes typically go under contract a month or two before the contract closes, so the

October data largely reflect purchase decisions made in September and August.

The average rate on a 30- year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.61% this week, housing-finance agency Freddie Mac said Thursday. That was down from 7.08% a week ago, which had been the highest rate in more than a decade, but still up from 3.1% a year earlier.

Mortgage applications for home purchases rose 4% on a seasonally adjusted basis in

the week ended Nov. 11 from the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Source: WSJ