U.S. President Joe Biden said he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin had decided to invade Ukraine. Biden said U.S. intelligence led him to believe Putin had decided to attack Ukraine, and that an invasion could take place in the coming days, including an attack on Kiev. "We believe they will attack Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, a city of 2.8 million innocent citizens," Biden said at the White House. Biden: "We have repeatedly exposed Russia's plans not because we want a conflict, but because we are doing everything we can to remove any excuse Russia may have to justify an invasion of Ukraine and prevent them from taking action." US President's Deputy National Security Adviser: Russia is behind the hacking of Ukrainian banks.

Global fiscal and financial leaders pledged to normalize policy through a well-communicated, well-planned and carefully calibrated approach to allay concerns that rising interest rates could have spillover effects globally. The information was revealed by Bank Indonesia Governor Perry Warjiyo and the country's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati after a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Jakarta on Friday. "What is important now is to stabilize the economic recovery and facilitate a return to normalcy," German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told his own post-meeting news conference on Friday. G20 finance ministers and central bank governors said in a joint statement that they pledged to withdraw support measures cautiously so as not to disrupt the economy's recovery from the shock of the pandemic. They will also work to maintain financial stability and long-term fiscal sustainability and guard against downside risks.

Fed Governor Brainard said the central bank was ready to raise interest rates next month and decided to start shrinking its balance sheet in the next few meetings. "Given the very strong data we've seen, I do expect that it would be appropriate to initiate a series of rate hikes at the next meeting," Brainard said on a panel on Friday at a conference hosted by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in New York. indicated in. "Our recovery is now much stronger and faster than in the last cycle. So I believe it is appropriate to initiate a reduction in the balance sheet in the next few meetings."

The U.S. central bank officially imposed tough and sweeping restrictions on the investing and trading practices of central bankers to prevent a repeat of the ethics scandal that shamed the central bank last year. The changes take the form of regulations that set guidelines announced last October to limit active trading, ban the buying and selling of individual stocks and increase disclosure requirements for policymakers and senior staff. The unusual trading activity of three senior officials in 2020 came to light earlier, when the Federal Reserve was actively intervening to protect the economy from the impact of Covid-19. All three officials subsequently announced their resignations. The Fed said in a statement Friday that the new rules "are designed to preserve public confidence in the integrity of the committee's work by preventing any conflict of interest."

Sales of pre-owned homes unexpectedly rose to their highest level in a year as buyers flocked ahead of a surge in mortgage rates, further reducing tight inventories to record lows. Existing-home sales rose 6.7% in January from the previous month to an annualized rate of 6.5 million, data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed on Friday. All four regions saw monthly increases. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was an annualized 6.1 million. "Buyers may expect interest rates to rise further and lock in low rates, while investors are taking out cash to buy homes, increasing overall demand," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement Friday. "The result is that home prices continue to move steadily higher." With demand for homes in the U.S. still outstripping supply, the current pace of sales is largely dependent on the availability of properties. The increase in sales in January came almost entirely from homes priced over $500,000, and a recent rise in mortgage rates could moderate future demand. The number of homes for sale fell to a record 860,000 last month, down 2.3% from a month earlier and down from a year earlier.

More ECB officials are aware of the need to raise benchmark interest rates by the end of the year amid a strengthening inflation outlook. Before the March 10 policy meeting, there is a growing consensus among ECB officials to set September as the closing date for the bond-buying program, people familiar with the matter said. According to forward guidance issued by the ECB, bond purchases will continue until "shortly before the start" of the rate hike. That means December is the most likely month to kick off a rate hike because October may be too quick, people familiar with the matter said. There are no policy meetings in November. Officials stressed that any decision would depend on upcoming data and forecasts. An ECB spokesman declined to comment on the news.

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