Asia Economy
Sri Lanka’s reluctance to tap IMF helped push it into an economic abyss
Protesters in Colombo on Easter, April 17, 2022. The Rajapaksa government has leaned heavily on its foreign exchange reserves, eroding them by more than 70% in two years. Jewel Samad | AFP | Getty Images Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis has triggered an unprecedented wave of spontaneous protests as the island nation of 22 million […]
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Bank of Japan’s Kuroda warns recent yen moves ‘quite sharp,’ may hurt businesses
Haruhiko Kuroda, governor of the Bank of Japan, gestures while speaking during a news conference at the central bank’s headquarters in Japan, on March 18, 2022. He said on Monday the yen’s recent moves have been “quite sharp” and could hurt companies’ business plans. Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images Bank of Japan Governor […]
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China’s first quarter GDP beats expectations to grow 4.8% year-on-year
A traffic police officer prepares to check a truck at a service station near Shanghai, which has ordered tighter restrictions on travel in and out of the city as China battles its most severe Covid outbreak since the early days of the pandemic in 2020. Yin Liqin | China News Service via Getty Images BEIJING […]
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Shanghai targets lockdown turning point by Wednesday, sources say
Medical workers in protective suits check a child patient as they conduct ward rounds at Shanghai New International Exhibition Hall, which has been turned into a makeshift hospital for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China April 9, 2022. China Daily | Reuters Shanghai has set a target to stop the spread of Covid-19 outside […]
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China’s Covid policy locks down a city three times the size of New York
The Huangpu River splits the Chinese city of Shanghai between the older settlement on the west and the newer, financial center on the east. Johannes Eisele | Afp | Getty Images China’s latest wave of Covid restrictions has forced millions of people — roughly three times as many as live in New York City — […]
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China’s lockdowns are a greater threat to inflation today than in 2020, Bernstein says
China’s automobile and component exports more than doubled in 2021 from a year ago, exceeding 30% growth in China’s exports overall, Bernstein analysts found. Yi Fan | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s latest Covid lockdowns are a greater risk for global inflation today than they were in 2020, Bernstein analysts said. […]
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European stocks rise as ECB confirms end of bond buying; Ericsson down 5%
The pan-European Stoxx 600 nudged 0.5% higher by mid-afternoon, with travel and leisure stocks gaining 2.5% while telecoms dropped 0.4%. The ECB kept its monetary policy unchanged but confirmed it will end its bond buying in the third quarter. Once the bond buying program is completed, the ECB is expected to begin hiking interest rates, following […]
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India’s central bank pivots focus from growth to fighting inflation as prices rise
Customers browsing through goods at a store on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, in February as prices continue to rise, with inflation figures for March nearing 7%. Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Inflation in India is up sharply and signs point to a continuing upward trend, analysts […]
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After buying cheap Russian oil, India is now setting sights on its coal
Even as the world shuns Russian goods, India is setting its sights on Russian coal. India’s coal imports from Russia jumped in March 2022 to highs not seen in more than two years, according to commodity intelligence firm Kpler. Ritesh Shukla | Getty Images News | Getty Images India’s hunger for coal is growing. Even […]
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South Korea’s central bank unexpectedly raises rates as prices surge
Signage at the Bank of Korea headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday, Nov. 22, 2021. South Korea’s central bank raised its policy rate to the highest since August 2019 on Thursday in an unexpected move. SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images South Korea’s central bank raised its policy rate to the highest since […]
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