Russian Consumers, China's Yuan, BOJ on Hold: Eco Day

(Bloomberg) -- Happy Wednesday, Europe. Here’s the latest news from Bloomberg Economics:

• Russia’s consumers are falling victim to Russian efforts to strengthen the budget and steel the economy against the threat of U.S. sanctions and emerging market turmoil
• No manipulation. China won’t devalue its currency in order to make its exports more competitive amid the trade war with the U.S., Premier Li Keqiang said
• Wait-and-watch mode. The Bank of Japan left its monetary stimulus program unchanged after adjusting its policy settings for the first time in nearly two years in July
• A look at leverage. China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell to a six-month low in July, just as a trade war between the world’s two largest economies began heating up
• Think again. “No one wins from a trade war,” is a standard refrain among economists. Southeast Asian businesses are trying to prove that maxim wrong
• Room to surprise. New Zealand’s central bank is unlikely to take a rate cut off the table if economic growth is stronger than it expects

To contact the reporter on this story: Enda Curran in Hong Kong at ecurran8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Karthikeyan Sundaram, Tuhin Kar

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