Kenya has signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to purchase oil using Kenyan shillings rather than US dollars. This move promotes the use of Kenya’s national currency and enhances its economic autonomy.

The Japanese Yen has been strengthening against all other currencies on Friday. EUR/JPY fell the hardest, by 1.82%. Other currency pairs, like NZD/JPY and GBP/JPY, are also down 1.5% so far.

EUR/USD rose above 1.0900 after the Fed raised interest rates, the highest since early February. Another Fed’s rate hike of 25bps was delivered, but the US dollar weakened all around the place.

Putin advocated for the internationalization of the Chinese yuan, saying that around two-thirds of trade between Russia and China is conducted in yuan and ruble. The president said his country supports the use of the yuan in trade between Russia and countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The euro strengthened against all fiat currencies, supporting the ongoing trends. EUR/AUD jumped 1.5%, while EUR/JPY and EUR/GBP are up 1.2%.

The Japanese yen continues to appreciate against all currency pairs. NZD/JPY is down 1.33%, and CAD/JPY along with USD/JPY fell 1%.

Virgin Orbit Holdings closed indefinitely due to cash-crunch concerns that have crippled many other tech businesses. Due to its inability to get funding, the company announced it was reducing 85% of its personnel as well. The stock (VORB) fell 42% as a result, down 98% from its peak of $10.

Boerse Stuttgart, one of the largest German stock exchanges, entered the crypto world. It has received a license as a crypto custodian from Germany’s financial regulator (BaFin). This license allows the exchange of custody and trading of digital assets for its clients.

The annual inflation rate in Euro Area fell from 8.5% in February to 6.9% in March. Netherlands’s inflation tumbled from 8% to 4.4%. French inflation eased from 6.3% to 5.6%. Poland’s inflation dropped from 18.4% to 16.2%. Austria’s inflation fell from 10.9% to 9.1%.

Crypto company Ledger has raised $109 million in the Series C round. This funding round put the company’s valuation at $1.4 billion. Some of the investors in the round included Cathay Innovation, True Global Ventures, Digital Finance Group and VaynerFund.

UBS CEO, Ralph Hamers. is stepping down on April 5th after the company acquired financially troubled Credit Suisse. Sergio Ermotti is about to succeed Hamers, who was UBS’ CEO from 2011 to 2020. 

The result of the annual inflation rate in Spain surprised, dropping from 6% in February to 3.3% in March. This is very close to the central bank’s goal. Germany’s inflation also fell, from 8.7% to 7.4%, a little above the estimated 7.3%. Belgium’s inflation held steady at 6.6%.