Feb 9 (Reuters) &#8211; The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Headlines

Johnson confident in AstraZeneca vaccine after S Africa move https://on.ft.com/2Lw7fS3

Mike Ashley&#8217;s Frasers Group sells stake in French Connection https://on.ft.com/3p09laI

Senior Fed official shrugs off inflation risks from stimulus plan https://on.ft.com/3q4A8Uq

Overview
British Prime minister Boris Johnson said he was &#8220;very confident&#8221; in the vaccines the UK was rolling out, saying they were &#8220;effective in delivering a high degree of protection against serious illness and death, which is the most important thing.&#8221;
Mike Ashley&#8217;s Frasers Group sold its 25% stake in French Connection last week, jumping aboard a share price rally sparked by rumours of a potential takeover.

Richmond Fed president Tom Barkin has shrugged off concerns that further fiscal stimulus might generate an unhealthy jump in inflation this year, saying the US economic recovery still needs support.


(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)
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PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times – Feb. 9

Lightweight fighter Guram Kutateladze announced Monday that he underwent knee surgery and will miss UFC Fight Night on March 13.
Kutateladze, who sustained a torn left meniscus, made the announcement on social media. He was scheduled to fight Don Madge.
Kutateladze (12-2, 1-0 UFC) extended his winning streak to nine bouts with a win over Mateusz Gamrot in October, the Georgian&#8217;s UFC debut.
South Africa&#8217;s Madge (9-3, 2-0) awaits a replacement opponent for the fight. Madge would be fighting for the first time since September 2019.
&#8211;Field Level Media
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Guram Kutateladze (knee) out of March UFC Fight Night

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s Nedbank denied any wrongdoing on Monday after three local news sites reported on its links to a scandal that led to large losses at public entities, sending the bank&#8217;s shares down almost 9%.
Investigative outlet amaBhungane, the Daily Maverick and News24 said Nedbank paid billions in rand in fees to a company called Regiments Capital for involving it in deals that lost money for municipalities and state-owned companies.
The article published by the three news sites said the commissions were often not disclosed to clients Regiments was supposed to be advising impartially and that Nedbank knew or should have known this, among other allegations.
In a statement responding to the article, Nedbank said there was nothing unlawful or unusual about its relationship with Regiments, although with hindsight it might have acted differently.
&#8220;Our internal and external reviews confirmed that Nedbank has at no time acted unlawfully in its dealings with Regiments and the affected counterparties,&#8221; Nedbank said.
An email to the address on Regiments&#8217; website seeking comment bounced back, while a call to the number on its website went to the voice mail of another firm. Reuters could not immediately reach any legal representatives for Regiments.
Nedbank shares closed down 8.87% versus a 1.9% decline for the South African banking index. (Reporting by Emma Rumney. Editing by Mark Potter)
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Nedbank denies complicity in S.Africa corruption, shares fall

WHO&#8217;S CHIEF SCIENTIST SAYS AFTER SOUTH AFRICA TESTS WE MUSTN&#8217;T CONCLUDE THIS VACCINE DOESN&#8217;T WORK AT ALL
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WHO’S CHIEF SCIENTIST SAYS  AFTER SOUTH AFRICA TESTS WE MUSTN’T CONCLUDE THIS VACCINE DOESN’T WORK AT ALL

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; The lead investigator on the South African trial of AstraZeneca&#8217;s vaccine said he believed the vaccine had a major role to play in Africa and globally, despite data showing it offered minimal protection against mild-to-moderate COVID-19 disease by the country&#8217;s dominant virus variant.
Shabir Madhi from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg told Reuters he would begin rolling out the 1 million AstraZeneca doses already in the country immediately, since they have an expiry date in April and it would be reckless to waste them.
South African health officials said on Sunday that they were putting AstraZeneca vaccinations on hold temporarily while they sought scientific advice on how to proceed. Vaccinations had been due to start soon, after the first vaccine doses arrived by plane from India last week. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Alison Williams)
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AstraZeneca vaccine has major role to play, lead S.Africa investigator says

SALIM ABDOOL KARIM CO-CHAIR OF SOUTH AFRICA’S MINISTERIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON COVID-19 SAYS MAY AFFECT THE RATE AT WHICH WE ESCALATE VACCINATIONS
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SALIM ABDOOL KARIM CO-CHAIR OF SOUTH AFRICA’S MINISTERIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON COVID-19 SAYS  MAY AFFECT THE RATE AT WHICH WE ESCALATE VACCINATIONS

GENEVA, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa will roll out the AstraZeneca vaccine in a &#8220;stepped manner&#8221; to assess its effectiveness in preventing severe illness, Professor Salim Abdool Karim, the co-chair of South Africa’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19, said on Monday.
Karim said South Africa would pause the rollout while determining how to roll it out, and could vaccinate 100,000 people with the shot to see how well it worked on preventing hospitalisations and deaths. (Reporting by John Revill, Stephanie Nebehay, Emma Farge and Peter Graff; Editing by Alison Williams)
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South Africa to roll out AstraZeneca vaccine in steps to assess effectiveness

* Surveys find 1/3 to 1/2 of South Africans don&#8217;t want shot
* Includes young nurses, affluent with social media access
* South Africa worst hit by COVID-19 on continent
By Tim Cocks
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; As a nurse in a country battling deadly diseases, Rich Sicina sometimes vaccinates other South Africans, but he says there is no way he will take a COVID-19 shot &#8211; he doesn&#8217;t believe it will be safe or effective.
South Africa&#8217;s decision on Sunday to suspend plans to roll out AstraZeneca&#8217;s vaccine, after data showed it may not offer sufficient protection against the country&#8217;s dominant coronavirus variant, has only added to Sicina&#8217;s concerns.
&#8220;We do not trust these politicians,&#8221; he said.
Many South Africans agree. The Indaba nurses union, to which Sicina belongs, has advised its 17,000 members to boycott the vaccine.
Two polls, a global one by IPSOS and a national one by South African fintech start-up CompariSure, in January suggested that half of South Africans would refuse the vaccine. A University of Johannesburg (UJ) survey, with the biggest sample size of 10,000, put the number more optimistically at a third.
The stakes are high: COVID-19 has hit South Africa harder than anywhere else on the continent, infecting nearly 1.5 million and killing more than 46,000, while a more infectious variant that evolved here has spread around the world.
South Africa hopes to vaccinate 40 million people, or two-thirds of the population, to achieve some herd immunity but has yet to administer a shot.

THE DEVIL&#8217;S JAB
Efforts to eradicate certain diseases have foundered before in Africa when a section of the population rejects vaccination &#8211; often driven by religious beliefs and mistrust of Western pharmaceutical companies.
In 2003, Muslim clerics instigated a boycott of polio shots in northern Nigeria. There have been similar appeals against COVID-19 shots.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli told citizens to avoid the vaccines &#8211; calling them a foreign plot &#8211; and protect themselves by praying while inhaling steam.
The governor of Nigeria&#8217;s Kogi state, Yahaya Bello, was filmed in January saying vaccine makers &#8220;want to &#8230; introduce the disease that will kill you, God forbid.&#8221;
In December, South Africa&#8217;s Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng prayed that &#8220;any vaccine that is of the devil &#8230; may it be destroyed by fire&#8221;, in remarks he declined to recant despite fierce criticism.
Mogoeng had no further comment, his spokesman said.
Such concerns are not uncommon on a continent where sickness is often seen as resulting from supernatural forces &#8211; and where big pharmaceutical companies have run dubious clinical trials resulting in deaths.
Added to the mix are conspiracy theories available online, some of which from &#8220;anti-vaxxers&#8221; in wealthier countries.
South Africa&#8217;s Department of Health has run a publicity campaign to counter popular myths, including that Bill Gates, whose foundation helped fund the development of COVID-19 vaccines, put a microchip in them that he plans to use for world domination.
The UJ survey found that less-educated people were more willing to be vaccinated, and white South Africans, who tend to be wealthier and have access to better schools, were more hesitant than Blacks.
&#8220;People with &#8230; degree-level education are often the ones very interested in their smart phones, so they have greater access to conspiracy theories&#8221; than poorer folk who get information from radio and TV, survey co-author Kate Alexander said.

&#8220;DISTRUST OF GOVERNMENT&#8221;
Elsewhere in the world, trust in vaccines has improved since last year, with most happy to take them, and only 12% reporting no trust at all, according to a YouGov survey of 15 countries.
Influential figures, such as anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu, say they will take the COVID-19 shot.
Yet trust in South Africa&#8217;s handling of the pandemic has deteriorated, over perceived failures such as a shortage of protective equipment for medical staff and allegations of corruption in government COVID-19 relief contracts.
&#8220;You see people lining up to steal money and &#8230; you&#8217;ve got a high level of distrust of government,&#8221; said William Bird, director of Media Monitoring Africa, which fights misinformation online.
A Department of Health spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on criticism of its handling of the crisis. But officials have said that governments with better resources than South Africa have struggled to respond to the pandemic.
Social worker and &#8220;holistic medicine&#8221; healer Debasalam Bloom said she is wary of vaccines and will avoid the COVID-19 one.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe it&#8217;s been tested for long enough. So we don&#8217;t really know, long term, what the side effects are,&#8221; she said.
Some experts favour legal measures to force compliance.
&#8220;If you implement a coercive policy properly, it works regardless of whether or not there is trust in government,&#8221; Oxford bioethics expert Alberto Giubilini told Reuters. &#8220;We do that with taxes &#8230; and I don&#8217;t see why vaccines should be any different.&#8221;
He suggested lockdown restrictions on individuals who refuse the vaccine, barring them from public indoor places.
Aslam Dasoo, convener of Progressive Health Forum, an advocacy group, disagrees.
&#8220;To win this battle, you can&#8217;t do it at the expense of rights. Only the people in the end can stop the pandemic,&#8221; he said. (Editing by Giles Elgood)
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As vaccines arrive, South Africa faces widespread scepticism over safety

* U.S. stocks up early; MSCI all-country world index hits record
* Brent crosses $60 a barrel
* Hopes of $1.9 trln U.S. stimulus, vaccines, boost sentiment (Updates with early U.S. markets activity; changes byline, dateline, previous LONDON)
By Caroline Valetkevitch
NEW YORK, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; A gauge of global stock markets set another record high on Monday and oil prices rose to their highest in just over a year as investor optimism grew that U.S. lawmakers will soon pass a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package.
Investors were keeping an eye on bitcoin as it rose again, with Elon Musk promising Tesla Inc would soon take payment for its electric vehicles in the currency and revealing it had already bought $1.5 billion worth of it.
Benchmark U.S. Treasury yields surged to 11-month highs as the U.S. fiscal stimulus was seen boosting economic growth and raising inflation more quickly than expected, and before the Treasury Department sells new longer-dated debt.
Major U.S. stock indexes hit record highs in early New York trading, extending a recent streak of gains.
Comments on Sunday by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who said that if Congress approves the $1.9 trillion plan, the country would get back to full employment next year, added to the optimism.
Congress on Friday approved a budget plan that would allow a coronavirus relief bill to muscle through in the coming weeks without Republican support.
&#8220;We now have a situation where the Democrats do not need Republican approval in order to move ahead with the full $1.9 trillion stimulus package,&#8221; said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital LLC in New York.
Stocks gained even after news that South Africa had halted the rollout of AstraZeneca&#8217;s vaccine after a study showed it gave only limited protection against the country&#8217;s more contagious variant of the coronavirus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 131.57 points, or 0.42%, to 31,279.81, the S&amp;P 500 gained 10.62 points, or 0.27%, to 3,897.45 and the Nasdaq Composite added 49.03 points, or 0.35%, to 13,905.32.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.42% and MSCI&#8217;s gauge of stocks across the globe gained 0.47%. The MSCI index hit its ninth record high of 2021 overnight.
Brent oil surpassed $60 a barrel. Brent was up 68 cents, or 1.2%, at $60.02, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate rose 68 cents, or 1.2%, to $57.53.
The dollar was flat to slightly lower in choppy trading, holding its ground against a basket of major currencies as investors continued to price in a faster U.S. recovery than in most countries.
The dollar index rose 0.057%, with the euro down 0.03% to $1.2038.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes last rose 5/32 in price to yield 1.155%, from 1.17% late on Friday.
(Additional reporting by Marc Jones in London and Swati Pandey in Sydney; Editing by Larry King and Dan Grebler)
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GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks extend record highs, oil rises to highest in more than a yr

* Loonie trades in a range of 1.2751 to 1.2783 * Price of U.S. oil increases 1.1% * Canada&#8217;s 10-year yield touches an 11-month high at 1.026% TORONTO, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, with the loonie holding on to Friday&#8217;s gains as oil prices rose and data showed speculators have raised bullish bets on the currency to a one-year high. The price of oil, one of Canada&#8217;s major exports, rose to its highest in just over a year, boosted by supply cuts among key producers and hopes for further U.S. economic stimulus measures that can boost demand. U.S. crude prices were up 1.1% at $57.49 a barrel, while world shares hit a record high. Shares rose even as South Africa said it had halted the rollout of AstraZeneca&#8217;s vaccine. The Canadian dollar was trading nearly unchanged at 1.2754 to the greenback, or 78.41 U.S. cents, having traded in a range of 1.2751 to 1.2783. It gained 0.6% on Friday despite data showing Canada lost far more jobs than expected in January, while it has climbed nearly 15% since March. The loonie is expected to rally further over the coming year as a global economic recovery takes hold, and the gains could accelerate if investors perceive the Bank of Canada is preparing to reduce monetary stimulus, strategists say. Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Timothy Lane is due to speak on Wednesday. As of Feb. 2, speculators had raised net long positions in the Canadian dollar to 16,096 contracts, the most since last February, from 13,770 in the prior week, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed on Friday. Canadian government bond yields were higher across the curve, with the 10-year up 1.8 basis points at 1.017%. It touched its highest intraday level since March last year at 1.026%. (Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Bernadette Baum) 
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CANADA FX DEBT-Canadian dollar holds on to Friday’s rally as oil climbs

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s health ministry called on Monday for bids from service providers to import, store and distribute COVID-19 vaccines for the second and subsequent phases of the country&#8217;s vaccination programme.
In the first phase of vaccination, which was due to start this week but has been suspended temporarily, healthcare workers are to be vaccinated.
The government said on Sunday it was putting on hold use of AstraZeneca&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild-to-moderate infection caused by South Africa&#8217;s dominant coronavirus variant.
The country is now waiting to receive deliveries of Johnson &amp; Johnson&#8217;s vaccine, possibly by the end of this week.
Service providers can bid to either import the vaccine or offer logistical services for the rollout, or both, the request for proposals issued on the Department of Health&#8217;s website said.
People over the age of 60 and those with underlying health conditions will be vaccinated in the second phase. Large pharmacies and logistics companies are expected to apply to offer storage and distribution services. (Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Promit Mukherjee and Susan Fenton)
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S.Africa issues COVID-19 vaccine import, storage & distribution tender

* Tyrol has at least 140 active cases of variant, gov&#8217;t says
* How variant got into tourism hotspot still unclear
* Vienna in talks with Tyrol on how to contain variant
* Province includes Ischgl, which had big outbreak a year ago (Adds details)
By Francois Murphy
VIENNA, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Austria on Monday opted against placing the whole Alpine province of Tyrol under quarantine to contain an outbreak of the so-called South African variant of the coronavirus, instead urging the public not to go there unless they have to.
The province, a winter sports hotspot, has so far been unable to explain how the variant arrived in the Ziller Valley, long a popular tourist area. Austrian ski lifts have been allowed to open since Dec. 24, but hotels are closed for all but business travel and restaurants can only serve takeaway meals.
Tyrol&#8217;s provincial government has opposed the idea of a province-wide quarantine in talks with the national government on how to contain the variant. Both governments are led by the conservative People&#8217;s Party. Austria loosened a national lockdown on Monday, letting non-essential shops reopen.
&#8220;The government is warning against travel to Tyrol in order to prevent the South African variant from spreading, and the government asks all citizens to restrict journeys to Tyrol to those that are absolutely necessary,&#8221; Chancellor Sebastian Kurz was quoted as saying in a government statement.
So far, 293 cases of the South African variant have been confirmed in Tyrol and the current number of active cases is estimated to be at least 140, the statement added.
Austria&#8217;s coronavirus vaccination plan relies heavily on the AstraZeneca vaccine, though researchers from the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Oxford have found that it provides only minimal protection against mild or moderate infection from the South African variant in young people.
South Africa halted Monday&#8217;s planned rollout of AstraZeneca&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccinations in response to that analysis, stoking fears of a much longer cat-and-mouse battle with the pathogen.
Austria&#8217;s government asked that anyone who has been to Tyrol in the past two weeks get a COVID-19 test, and urged those leaving Tyrol to do the same immediately before travelling.
Tyrol has already seen Austria&#8217;s biggest coronavirus outbreak, at the ski resort of Ischgl last year. That prompted accusations of mismanagement that local authorities deny, and shook confidence in the province&#8217;s anti-coronavirus efforts. (Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Alex Richardson)
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Austria tries to contain S.African variant outbreak by voluntary means

J&amp;J SAYS IT HOPES TO HAVE MORE DETAILS ON TALKS WITH SOUTH AFRICA ON COVID-19 VACCINE IN COMING DAYS
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J&J SAYS IT HOPES TO HAVE MORE DETAILS ON TALKS WITH SOUTH AFRICA ON COVID-19 VACCINE IN COMING DAYS

* MSCI all-country world share index at record high
* European indexes climb early on, U.S. futures gain
* Oil crosses $60 a barrel
* Hopes of $1.9 trln U.S. stimulus, vaccines boosting sentiment
* U.S. dollar retreats from recent highs
* Graphic: Global asset performance http://tmsnrt.rs/2yaDPgn
* Graphic: World FX rates in 2021 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
*
By Marc Jones
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; World shares set another record high on Monday and oil surpassed $60 a barrel for the first time in a year, on hopes that a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package will be passed by U.S. lawmakers as soon as this month.
Even news that South Africa had halted the rollout of AstraZeneca&#8217;s vaccine after a study showed it gave only limited protection against the country&#8217;s more contagious variant of the virus wasn&#8217;t going to put equity markets off.
MSCI&#8217;s 50-country index of world stocks hit its ninth record high of 2021 overnight as Tokyo&#8217;s Nikkei jumped on talk of Japan&#8217;s relaxing emergency restrictions and as China&#8217;s markets got busy before the start of the lunar new year.
Europe then made a strong start to the week as higher oil prices and inflation expectations lifted basic resource and banking shares 2% and 1.5%, and France&#8217;s Veolia launched a hostile 11.3 billion-euro takeover bid for waste and water rival Suez.
&#8220;A generalised risk-on tone is pushing stocks higher,&#8221; UniCredit&#8217;s analysts said in a note.
Bond markets were moving, too, as focus intensified on how far inflation might rise if the current mix of stimulus, rising oil and food prices and expectations for a reopening economies continue to hold.
Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields, which are one of the main drivers of global borrowing costs, climbed above 1.2% for the first time since the peak of coronavirus uncertainty last March.
Break-even rates, which account for inflation, traded as high as 2.21%, their highest since 2014 while in Europe, Germany&#8217;s 10-year yields were near five-month highs at -0.42% , near .
&#8220;It will be hard not to see inflation in something when we get what is likely to be a short-term stimulus boost,&#8221; Deutsche Bank&#8217;s Jim Reid said, referring to planned U.S. stimulus.
&#8220;Whether that will be in goods, wages or asset prices or all three remains to be seen, but it seems inevitable there will be an impact.&#8221;
That renewed focus on inflation came as Brent crude touched an intraday high of $60.06 a barrel, the highest since January last year.
Saudi Arabia&#8217;s pledge of extra output cuts in February and March on the back of reductions by other OPEC members its allies, including Russia, is helping to limit supply and support prices.
In a further sign of that supply dynamic, the six-month Brent spread &lt;LCOc1-LCOc7&gt; hit its highest in more than year, $2.45. OCBC&#8217;s economist Howie Lee said the Saudis had sent another &#8220;very bullish signal&#8221; last week too by keeping its Asian prices unchanged.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think anybody dares to short the market when Saudi is like this,&#8221; he said.

STIMULUS
Asia&#8217;s overnight rally had seen Japan&#8217;s Nikkei close up 2%, Chinese blue-chip shares advance 1.5% and Australian shares finish 0.6% higher.
Wall Street futures were pointing 0.3% higher after the Nasdaq and S&amp;P 500 both climbed to record highs on Friday as weak monthly U.S. jobs data supported expectations of stimulus and after some strong corporate earning.
U.S. President Joe Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress forged ahead with their stimulus plan on Friday as lawmakers approved a budget outline that will allow them to muscle through in the coming weeks without Republican support.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yallen predicted the United States would reach full employment next year if Congress can pass its support package.
&#8220;That&#8217;s a big call, given full employment is 4.1%, but one that will sit well with the market at a time when the vaccination program is being rolled out efficiently in a number of countries,&#8221; said Chris Weston, Melbourne-based chief strategist at Pepperstone.
Expectations of a U.S. economic recovery have not boosted the dollar, however, &#8220;although much of the optimism towards U.S. macro is probably well founded,&#8221; said Kristoffer Kjær Lomholt, chief analyst, FX and rates strategy at Danske Bank.
&#8220;The U.S. jobs recovery has more or less stalled (though), and that did leave some space to take EUR/USD higher. The next big theme that may be priced further in to spot is moving ahead with U.S. fiscal talks.&#8221;
Indeed, the dollar came off a four-month high against the Japanese yen to be last at 105.50. The euro was weaker again though at $1.2022 after rising 0.7% on Friday to a one-week high.
Data showed German industry avoided a contraction in December. Despite coronavirus lockdowns at home and abroad, demand from China helped export-oriented manufacturers in Europe&#8217;s largest economy weather the COVID-19 pandemic.
The risk-sensitive Australian dollar eased from a one-week high to $0.7655 while South Africa&#8217;s rand fell nearly 0.5% after its AstraZeneca vaccine troubles.
(Additional reporting by Swati Pandey in Sydney, editing by Larry King)
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GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares reach record high, oil tops $60 a barrel

BERLIN, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; German Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday that current evidence suggests all three vaccines approved in Europe for COVID-19 provided effective protection against serious infections.
&#8220;According to what we know now, all three vaccines are effective in preventing the severe course of the COVID-19 illness,&#8221; Spahn told a news conference.
South Africa decided to put on hold use of AstraZeneca&#8217;s COVID-19 shot in its vaccination programme after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild-to-moderate infection caused by the country&#8217;s dominant coronavirus variant. (Reporting by Caroline Copley Editing by Riham Alkousaa)
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German health minister says vaccines protect against serious COVID-19 cases

* UN food price index rises to six-year high
* Food price jumps force Brazil, Turkey central banks to act
* Mixed evidence of food inflation being transitory in EM
By Karin Strohecker
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; For Cleanne Brito Machado, like millions of people in developing countries around the world, shopping for staple foods such as rice, beans, oil or potatoes now means making hard choices.
&#8220;The shopping cart is getting much smaller and we&#8217;re paying much more,&#8221; said the 41-year old, who works as a maid in Brazil&#8217;s capital Brasilia. &#8220;We&#8217;ve had to give up on little trips, visiting family at the weekend, and we haven&#8217;t been able to save any money for emergencies or to have in the bank.&#8221;
A mix of currency depreciation, rising commodity prices and coronavirus disruptions saw food inflation soar 14% last year in Latin America&#8217;s largest economy &#8211; the biggest increase in nearly two decades. The headline figure masks hikes in staples, such as a 76% jump in rice or a doubling of soy oil prices.
Other developing countries from Turkey to Nigeria also recorded double-digit jumps in food inflation. Major wheat and corn exporters such as Russia or Argentina have introduced curbs or taxes to preserve domestic stockpiles, exacerbating pressures elsewhere.
United Nations data showed food prices hit six-year highs in January after rising for eight consecutive months.
The unwelcome return of food price pressures has put policymakers and investors on high alert, worried what it means for inflation more broadly while economies are still reeling from the coronavirus crisis.
&#8220;Central banks will be watching the level of food prices quite carefully over the next few months because they will have to make a decision on whether to respond to this or not,&#8221; said Manik Narain, head of emerging market strategy at UBS.
Food is the single largest element of inflation baskets in many emerging markets, accounting for around half in countries like India or Pakistan compared to less than 10% in the United States.
Rising food prices have contributed to social unrest in the past. Climate change effects are expected to exacerbate price swings and rising energy prices add to the pressure.
For those like Machado, higher food bills leaves less to spend on other goods, squeezing demand for items from travel to eating out.
Many countries have already seen hard currency revenues from sectors such as tourism crater and they lack the capacity of their richer peers to pump in stimulus.
For central banks, the temptation may be to let inflation rise and keep monetary conditions loose to support growth, say analysts.
&#8220;It is a very difficult balance &#8211; governments in emerging markets are damned if they do and damned if they don&#8217;t,&#8221; said David Rees, senior emerging markets economist at Schroders.
&#8220;As a policymaker &#8211; do you choose to support your population or choose keeping the markets happy?&#8221;
Developed economies generally see food inflation as transitory. But in developing nations, persistent food price rises in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis lifted core inflation, prompting years of interest rate hikes.

CAUTIONARY TALE
In Istanbul, food market vendor Seref Geyik says he has seen the effect of opening hours cut short by the pandemic and rising wholesale prices of fruit and vegetables.
&#8220;Consumers are leaning towards cheaper stalls, they are not looking for good quality produce,&#8221; the 53-year old said.
Relying heavily on imported unprocessed foods, Turkey saw food price rises accelerate from August, when the lira chalked up monthly losses of 5% or more against the dollar.
With nearly all its energy also imported, rising energy prices from early November have added to the pressure. Dry weather has meanwhile hampered production of some local crops, from hazelnuts and chestnuts to apricots and olives.
Turkey&#8217;s experience of chronically high inflation two decades ago is a cautionary tale of how price pressures can derail economic growth and shatter household and investor confidence.
New central bank governor Naci Agbal has launched a dedicated department to monitor food and agricultural prices to serve as an &#8220;early warning&#8221; system.
In January, Brazil&#8217;s central bank abandoned forward guidance that rates would stay low after the real came under pressure and bond markets sold off. In a nod to changing priorities, deputy governor Fernanda Nechio said keeping inflation under control has helped lift large numbers of people out of poverty.
Analysts predict Russia and South Africa will make the same journey.
Keeping interest rates unchanged in December, Russia&#8217;s central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina pointed to secondary effects from a rise in global food prices and the weaker rouble.
Few expect pressures to ease soon, with Chinese demand which sent global cereal prices to a six-year high showing little sign of abating.
Rice price increases led to unrest in several countries during the 2008 food crisis, and food inflation was a contributor to the Arab Spring revolts a decade ago.
&#8220;We have seen in the past instances of protests apparently at least triggered by food price spikes, (especially) when prices of staples are increasing,&#8221; said Moody&#8217;s managing director Marie Diron.
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker in London; Additional reporting by Jamie McGeever in Brasilia and Murad Sezer in Istanbul; Editing by Catherine Evans)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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ANALYSIS-Food price spikes see inflation rear its head in emerging markets

PARIS, Feb 8 &#8211; French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Monday that he continued to support the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, arguing it provided sufficient protection against &#8220;nearly all the variants&#8221; of the virus.
Veran was shown on French television receiving the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at a centre in Melun, France.
A British junior health minister said on Monday there was no evidence that the AstraZeneca vaccine did not prevent death or serious illness, and added South Africa had only imposed a temporary halt on using the vaccine.
South Africa decided to put on hold use of AstraZeneca&#8217;s COVID-19 shot in its vaccination programme after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild-to-moderate infection caused by the country&#8217;s dominant coronavirus variant. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Jon Boyle)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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Nedbank denies complicity in S.Africa corruption, shares fall

WHO’S CHIEF SCIENTIST SAYS AFTER SOUTH AFRICA TESTS WE MUSTN’T CONCLUDE THIS VACCINE DOESN’T WORK AT ALL

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