58-0112 USAF KC-135 tanker heading back to Pittsburgh after Not AF1 Joe Delaware dooty
No visible replacement at or inbound
Largest Boeing 737 MAX model takes off on maiden flight
The event was kept low-key as jet maker tries to navigate through its recent crises
Boeing Co's 737 MAX 10, the largest member of its best-selling single-aisle airplane family, took off on its maiden flight on Friday, in a further step toward recovering from the safety grounding of a smaller model. The plane completed a roughly 2-1/2-hour flight over Washington State, returning to Renton Municipal Airport near Seattle at 12:38 p.m. The first flight heralds months of testing and safety certification work before the jet is expected to enter service in 2023.
In an unusual departure from the PR buzz surrounding first flights, the event was kept low-key as Boeing tries to navigate overlapping crises caused by a 20-month grounding in the wake of two crashes and the COVID-19 pandemic.Boeing's 230-seat 737-10 is designed to close the gap between its 178-to-220-seat 737-9, and Airbus's 185-to-240-seat A321neo, which dominates the top end of the narrowbody jet market, worth some $3.5 trillion over 20 years. However, the market opportunity for the 737 MAX 10 is constrained by the jet's range of about 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km), which falls short of the A321neo's roughly 4,000 nm. Boeing must also complete safety certification of the plane under a tougher regulatory climate following two fatal crashes of a smaller 737 MAX version grounded the model for nearly two years - with a safety ban still in place in China.
Boeing has carried out design and training changes on the MAX family, which returned to U.S. operations in December.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/industrials/largest-boeing-737-max-model-takes-off-on-maiden-flight
SAM545 USAF C-40B departed Ft. Benning, GA after an overnight
This AC left JBA on 0616 south and had a ground stop at MacDill AFB then continued s/sw.
It reappears heading north from Columbia (north of Columbian coast) on 0617-prolly departed Bogota and made another stop at MacDill AFB..then up to Fort Benning, GA
Myanmar's cash shortage casts shadow despite rise in activity
Central bank avoids printing more money, fearing kyat's fall and inflation. Myanmar's cash shortage is continuing as banks toughen restrictions on withdrawals after February's coup d'etat resulted in runs on banks.
The shortage is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, as the central bank is reluctant to increase the supply of cash, fearing the depreciation of the nation's currency, the kyat, and inflation. With employees and suppliers demanding payment in cash, more businesses are suffering. Messages for trading in cash are posted by individuals on social media sites, such as "Cash 500 available at KBZ. 6.5%. FtF in YGN." That message, whose number refers to lakh (100,000 kyat), means "50 million kyat (about $30,000) will be delivered face-to-face if that amount is deposited, with a premium of 6.5%, in an account at Kanbawza Bank in Yangon." KBZ Bank, the biggest privately held bank in Myanmar, allows depositors to withdraw up to 200,000 kyat in cash from automated teller machines per week. But because cash withdrawal is possible only at a limited number of ATMs, depositors flock to them from early morning, immediately forming lines of more than 100 people.
The stagnation of banking services initially started as bankers took part in the civil disobedience movement to protest the military coup, resulting in manpower shortages at banks. The situation shows few signs of improvement, although bankers have returned to work since mid-April under toughened crackdowns on protesters by the military. Concerns are still spreading among consumers that cash, once deposited, cannot be withdrawn, adding fuel to the continuous efforts to withdraw cash. Foreign companies operating in Myanmar say they cannot cope with increasing demand from local employees to pay them in cash instead of through bank transfers. An increasing number of suppliers and other business partners are also demanding payment in cash.
Makro Myanmar, a major Thai-based wholesaler, stopped credit card transactions this month and now accepts only cash. Theoretically, the problem could be solved if the central bank printed more bank notes and supplied them to banks. But financial experts believe it is refusing to do so because it fears that increasing the amount of cash in circulation will lower the value of the kyat and trigger inflation. The one-way outflow of deposits has left commercial banks in a precarious position. "The more cash is supplied, the more people will withdraw cash and convert it into the U.S. dollars as a safe currency," said a foreign banker. "The central bank is afraid of a deterioration of banks' business conditions and the kyat's depreciation." As of Friday, the kyat was quoted at 1,595 to 1,605 per dollar at commercial banks, down 17% from the pre-coup exchange rate. The rate once fell below 1,700 kyat in May, prompting the central bank to carry out dollar-selling market interventions. Google's COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports indicate that the level of people going out in public in Myanmar has returned close to the pre-coup level. At retail shops and amusement facilities in Yangon, for example, customer levels temporarily plunged to 90% of the pre-pandemic level but have firmed back to around 50%.
moar
https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-s-cash-shortage-casts-shadow-despite-rise-in-activity
Biden to Meet With Top U.S. Financial Regulators on Monday
President Joe Biden plans to meet with top U.S. financial regulators on Monday to discuss the health of the system they oversee and how his administration’s priorities, including on climate change and inclusion, can best be addressed.
The meeting, which was announced by the White House on Friday night, comes at a critical stage for Biden’s infrastructure proposal and after Federal Reserve officials said this week that they anticipated two interest rate increases by the end of 2023.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that the president would “meet with lead financial regulators for an update on the state of the country’s financial system and institutions.”
She said the session would “cover regulatory priorities including climate-related financial risk and agency actions to promote financial inclusion and to responsibly increase access to credit.”
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/biden-to-meet-with-top-u-s-financial-regulators-on-monday-1.1618925