Asia

Asia, China, Market, World

Economic Survey 2024 Updates: CEA Nageswaran advices more FDI from China to boost India’s exports

Economic Survey 2024 Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2023-2024 on Monday, ahead of the highly anticipated Union Budget 2024-25 set to be unveiled the following day. The Union Budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 will be introduced in Parliament this Tuesday by Sitharaman, marking the first budget of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term. The Monsoon session, which begins today, will feature 19 sittings until August 12. During this session, the government plans to present six bills, including one to replace the 90-year-old Aircraft Act, and seek Parliament's approval for the budget of Jammu and Kashmir, which is currently under central rule. Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran has expressed confidence in achieving the 7 perce...
Asia, China, Market

China’s third plenum – watch what they do, not what they say

When trying to understand China’s economy, it’s worth remembering that the gulf between what Chinese policymakers say and what they do can be vast. Let’s call that a ‘Type 1 problem’. But sometimes they just don’t say very much at all, and this one might call a ‘Type 2 problem’. Last week’s third plenum, a five-yearly top-level meeting which on occasion has delivered important signals of Beijing’s grand economic strategy, served up a Type 2 problem. Unless you attribute a great deal of significance to Beijing’s ‘Five-Sphere Integrated Plan’ or the ‘Four-Pronged Comprehensive Strategy’, the plenum’s communique was long on slogans and short on substance. A lack of clarity To be fair, many of these slogans do genuinely reflect deep thinking about policy. When Beijing offic...
Asia, Market, World

Who are the protesters demanding an end to job quotas in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh has been rocked by student protests for nearly three weeks. Since July 1, university students have been protesting across the country to demand the removal of quotas in government jobs after the High Court reinstated a rule that reserves nearly one-third of posts for the descendants of those who participated in the country’s 1971 liberation movement. Following the High Court’s ruling in June, 56 percent of government jobs are now reserved for specific groups, including children and grandchildren of freedom fighters, women, and people from “backward districts”. Student protesters have clashed with police and members of Bangladesh Chhatra League, a student wing of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s governing Awami League party. Six people have been killed and hundreds of ...
Asia, Market, World

Emirates opens its first travel store in East Asia

Emirates has opened its first travel store in the Far East, in Hong Kong. The opening comes as part of a plan to roll out the airline’s retail blueprint in phases across the wider East Asia region and the airline’s global network. Located in the Nexxus Building, the concept store aims to provide a reimagined retail travel experience that makes its products, services, and signature hospitality more easily accessible to customer in the city, in an interactive and intimate environment. The store offers customers a comprehensive range of premium services including flight reservations, ticketing, and personalised customer assistance. The store was officially inaugurated by Orhan Abbas, Emirates’ senior vice president of commercial operations for the Far East, in the presence of Shaikh Sa...
<strong>Uncertainty and insecurity in job markets contribute to China’s economic slowdown</strong>
Asia, China

Uncertainty and insecurity in job markets contribute to China’s economic slowdown

Unemployment and growing job insecurity in China have seen a sharp increase, becoming a major contributor to the ongoing slowdown in the Chinese economy. The real estate crisis is another factor that is being cited for the dip in China’s GDP, which is however a fallout of declining confidence among property buyers amid the disturbing unemployment situation in the country. In the previous financial quarter, the growth rate of the Chinese economy shrunk to 4.1 percent, missing the expectations of 5.1 percent. While the fresh graduates are struggling to find jobs, those already employed are scared of being sacked anytime or forced to work at lower salaries. Joblessness in China is still high, with the youth unemployment rate remaining at 13.2 percent in June. The Chinese job market is ...
Asia, Market

Pakistan’s Many Economic Challenges

Managing a household and a nation share striking similarities. Both thrive when there is wealth, education, health, and sufficient daily amenities. However, these provisions are intricately tied to financial stability. When finances are in order, operations run smoothly; if not, internal strength and resilience against external pressures are compromised. Currently, Pakistan is grappling with severe economic challenges. Achieving economic prosperity is now the top priority, critical to our national security and survival. To chart a path forward, we must first identify the primary economic issues facing Pakistan. First of all, for decades, Pakistan has been heavily reliant on debt. According to the latest data shared with the Senate Committee on Economic Affairs, Pakistan’s external d...
Asia, Market, World

Press Conference: World Economic Outlook Update, July 2024

DE HARO:  So good morning everyone, and welcome to this virtual Press Briefing.  I'm Jose Luis de Haro with the Communications Department here at the International Monetary Fund, and we are gathered here today for the launch of the World Economic Outlook Update.  I hope that by this time you all have access to the document.  If not, I will encourage you to go to imf.org.  There you will find the flagship, but also Pierre-Olivier’s blog and other assets that might be helpful for your reporting.  And to discuss the World Economic Outlook Update today, we are joined by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas.  He is the Chief Economist and the Director of the Research Department.  Next to him are Petya Koeva Brooks, she is the Deputy Director of the Research Depa...
Asia, Market, World

The ‘Second China Shock’ and its Implications for Southeast Asia

The term ‘second China shock’ has been coined to describe China’s changing role in the global economy.  China’s aggregation of global manufacturing capacity and progress up technological ladders appears increasingly not as a passing phase in transition to a consumption and services-led economy. Rather, it is a lasting phenomenon that is reshaping the world economy and politics. Few countries will be more impacted by this than those in ASEAN, whose economies are already closely entwined with China’s. The guiding thread in Chinese economic and industrial policy is to develop ‘new quality productive forces’, based on advancing domestic capacities in science and technology (S&T). The government work report delivered at China’s last legislative session earlier this year priori...
Asia, China, Market, USA, World

Will China ever overtake the US economy?

The idea of China's outstripping the United States to become the world's largest economy has been a fixation for policymakers and economists for decades. What will happen, they argue, when the US — one of the most dynamic, productive economies — is usurped by an authoritarian regime with a workforce of 750 million? Predictions of when exactly China would steal the US's crown have come thick and fast ever since the 2008/9 financial crisis, which hampered growth in the United States and Europe for many years. Before what became known as the Great Recession, China saw double-digit annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth for at least five years. In the decade following the crisis, China's economy continued to expand by 6%-9% annually. That is, until COVID-1...
Asia, Market, USA, World

India beckons UK and France after Europe’s election earthquakes

Seismic election upheavals in Britain and France have redrawn the political landscape of Europe, and the ripple effects could reshape trade dynamics with Asian growth engines like India and Southeast Asia in the months ahead. Voters’ economic anxieties propelled the UK’s Labour Party to a landslide win, toppling the Conservatives after 14 years in power. Across the English Channel, the left-wing New Popular Front coalition secured the most seats in France’s hung parliament. For Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer, resetting ties with the European Union will top his agenda. But his “pragmatic” government will also be keen to engage with Asia’s emerging, surging economies, analysts say. “They see Asian tiger economie...