Asia

Plummeting iron ore prices on the basis of China’s property crisis might wipe out $3 billion from the government budget.
19Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, China, World

Plummeting iron ore prices on the basis of China’s property crisis might wipe out $3 billion from the government budget.

Plummeting iron ore prices could cost the federal government $3 billion in revenue, which is likely to push the budget further into deficit this financial year. China's property market is in a precarious state, which has seen demand for iron ore — the key component for making steel – drop significantly. Australia has done exceptionally well riding the boom in the Chinese economy. But the political and economic uncertainty surrounding the world's two biggest economies — the US and China — points to tougher times ahead. But that decline has accelerated in recent weeks, with prices now sitting around $82 per tonne, which is below the price the Treasury had anticipated at this point. It had forecast the iron ore price gradually declining to settle at $60 per tonne by the first qua...
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Sri Lanka strengthens ties with India: Wickremesinghe
18Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia

Sri Lanka strengthens ties with India: Wickremesinghe

Colombo, Aug 18 (PTI) Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe has emphasised the importance of strengthening economic cooperation and regional integration with Japan to India, with a special focus on deepening ties with New Delhi, as his country seeks to emerge from bankruptcy. Wickremesinghe's comments came as he was virtually addressing the Head of State Session of the 3rd Voice of Global South Summit, held under the theme "An Empowered Global South for a Sustainable Future." From the north-central town of Anuradhapura yesterday. The conference, chaired by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, brought togetherheads of state from various countries. Reflecting on Indo-Sri Lankan relations, the President emphasised the "vision"statement shared between the two nations, which celeb...
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15Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

China’s Economy at a Glance – August 2024

Overview There was nothing in China’s latest data release to fundamentally change our views around its economy – authorities continue to prioritise the supply side of the economy, which, in the face of subdued domestic demand, is expanding export volumes and leading to growing trade tensions with other major economies. Our forecasts are unchanged – we see growth at 4.7% this year (below the full year target) and easing further to 4.6% in 2025 and 4.4% in 2026. Growth in industrial production has trended lower in recent months, down to 5.1% yoy in July (compared with 5.3% yoy in June and 6.7% yoy in April). While conditions in construction related sectors remains weak, output in the electronics sector remains comparatively strong. There was a noticeable slowing in real investment...
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13Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, Market, World

Asset Management: Monthly Macro Insights – August 2024

Weakening business confidence indices continue to cast doubts on the global economy’s resilience. Although core inflation remains above central banks’ targets, the cooling of labour markets has not gone unnoticed, prompting a major shift in policy rates projections. China’s economy disappoints Chinese GDP grew a mere 0.7 per cent q/q in Q2-2024, the weakest since early 2022, showing activity is struggling to maintain a tepid recovery. What’s more, weak July PMIs signalled a poor start to Q3 — a worrying development given the undershoot in the previous quarter. Manufacturing confidence edged down to 49.4 and remained in contraction territory for a third month straight. The non-manufacturing gauge inchedlower to 50.2, marginally above the 50-threshold, thanks solely to the constructio...
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How Bangladesh’s turmoil may affect its economic growth: Explained
8Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, World

How Bangladesh’s turmoil may affect its economic growth: Explained

As Bangladesh faces regime change, an expert warned that one of the tasks before the new government will be "to stop the free fall of the economy." It is now feared that the damage from mass violence, unemployment, persisting inflation, and "slowed real GDP [Gross Domestic Product] growth" may impact Bangladesh's economy. Saad Hammadi, a fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, told Al Jazeera on Monday, “The job of the interim and subsequent government will be extremely challenging to stop the free fall of the economy and recover the state at a time when even the global economic and political orders are extremely chaotic.”Thousands of protesters stormed and looted prime minister's residence. Several police stations, buildings and public assets were vandalised and set o...
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Bangladesh’s economy is recovering from the epidemic, but it still faces chronically high inflation.
7Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, World

Bangladesh’s economy is recovering from the epidemic, but it still faces chronically high inflation.

Bangladesh’s economy, which has been in recovery mode since the Covid-19 pandemic’s outbreak, has faced persistently high inflation that hit close to 10% in recent months. The resignation of Sheikh Hasina as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the subsequent takeover by the military could lead to further troubles for the economy that is also facing problems of liquidity and forex reserves. Even before the current political crisis, international agencies have called for structural reforms to help it take forward growth and maintain economic stability. However, the country has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world with high GDP per capita. As per its Budget, which was passed on June 30, the country is targeting an inflation rate of 6% and GDP growth rate of 6.75%. Th...
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2Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

How Chinese loans trapped Pakistan’s economy

After cash-strapped Pakistan secured a new $7 billion (€6.5 billion) bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, Islamabad has started talks with Beijing on reprofiling billions in Chinese debt as it seeks to enact economic reforms. On the table are proposals to delay at least $16 billion in energy sector debt to China, along with extending the term of a $4 billion cash loan facility due to depleting foreign exchange reserves. Last week, Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb was in Beijing to present proposals on extending the maturity of debt for nine power plants built by Chinese companies under the multibillion-dollar Pakistan China Economic Corridor (CPEC). On Friday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif told a feder...
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Japan’s stock market plunges due to worries about the US economy.
2Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia

Japan’s stock market plunges due to worries about the US economy.

Japanese stocks have taken a dramatic plunge after Wall Street shares tumbled over concerns about the US economy and a stronger yen. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 5.81 percent on Friday, or 2,216.63 points, at 35,909.70 – the second-biggest points drop in history, and the largest fall in percentage terms since March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. The broader Topix index lost 6.14 percent, or 166.09 points, to 2,537.60 “The chain of stock market declines did not stop,” IwaiCosmo Securities said following US and European index falls. Most Tokyo shares faced selloffs from early trade on Friday, having ended sharply lower the previous day, it added. On Wall Street, all three major indices finished decisively lower as weak manufacturing data led to worries about...
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2Aug By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, China, Market

China’s Service Sector Is an Underutilized Driver of Economic Growth

China’s economic development over the last several decades has been remarkable amid rapid growth. We project growth will remain resilient at around 5 percent in 2024, despite the continued property sector adjustment. At the same time, China has relied too much on investment as opposed to consumption. Diminishing productivity and an aging population risk restricting growth, which we expect to slow significantly in coming years, to around 3.3 percent in 2029. Addressing these challenges requires a comprehensive and balanced policy approach. Given these circumstances, the country’s service sector is an underexploited driver of growth—which was also recognized at the Third Plenum. Reallocating resources to services has helped boost productivity over the past two decades. And i...
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31Jul By TheGreenZoneNo Comments
Asia, Market

Why protest by ethnic Baloch has put Pakistan’s key port of Gwadar on edge

Islamabad, Pakistan — Tensions are high in Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar in the southwestern Balochistan province where an ethnic Baloch group has been protesting for days, following the arrests of some of their members and deadly clashes with security forces. Gwadar is Pakistan’s only deep-sea port on the Arabian Sea, and is a key route of the $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The latest tensions in the port city began on Friday after the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) gave a call to demonstrate against alleged human rights violations, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of people in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and poorest province. Home to approximately 15 million of Pakistan’s estimated 240 million people, according to...
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