Asia

China’s parliament is set to approve just over 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion) in additional sovereign debt issuance when it concludes a five-day meeting on Wednesday China is set to boost fiscal spending – and issue more debt – to shore up its shaky economic recovery. Some government advisers are recommending that financial policymakers lift the 2024 budget deficit target beyond the 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) set for this year. That will allow Beijing to issue more bonds to revive the economy, policy insiders and economists have said. The move would draw on a well-used playbook that relies heavily on debt and state spending but falls short on the deeper reforms called for by a growing number of analysts. The world’s second-largest economy grew faster than expected i...

People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng says risk monitoring will be stepped up, after debt problems manifested at major developers Evergrande and Country Garden Policymakers are also urged to tailor policies to the different market realities in various Chinese cities The cabinet’s finance work report to China’s top legislature over the weekend could signal that policymakers are racing to defuse widely watched risk points such as mounting debt in the world’s second-largest economy, analysts say as the woes of ailing developers and a local-level debt debacle continue to erode investor confidence. Chinese authorities will prioritise the tackling of key risks to defend their bottom line of no systemic risks, and this will include restructuring small financial instit...

In an interview, UAE ambassador to India Abdulnasser Alshaali said that India, Europe, and the Middle East MoU for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor could potentially reduce shipping costs and facilitate efficient trade in goods and services. NEW DELHI : India and the United Arab Emirates are looking to identify and incorporate commodities to diversify trade between the two countries, UAE ambassador to India 8said in an interview. The diversification of traded commodities can broaden the scope of economic cooperation and make local currency transactions even more versatile, Alshaali said in an email interview. He added that India, Europe, and the Middle East MoU for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) could potentially reduce shipping costs and facilitate...

Officials have inspected Foxconn sites in four provinces, while state media says founder Terry Gou has ‘responsibilities’ and should be pushing for peace with Beijing as he runs for president in Taiwan Officials in China have inspected factories in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces set up by Taiwan’s Foxconn, plus subsidiary businesses on the mainland for what state media says is a tax and land-use audit. Foxconn, which is the largest supplier of Apple iPhones, and some of its key subsidiaries are suspected of violating laws and regulations, Chinese media reported on Sunday. Officials from China’s natural resources department also conducted on-site investigations on the land use of Foxconn enterprises in Henan and Hubei provinces, the nationalist tabloid the Global Times repor...

Pakistan’s crisis-hit economy has failed to ‘energise’ despite doses of relief pumped in by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its Gulf allies, compounding its woes as its political class readies for fractious national elections.Media reports on just two days this week, October 17 and 18, indicate further fuel crunch, but no solution in sight and more problems ahead as the caretaker government appealed for more funds and long-term foreign investments in the energy sector. On the two days, the PIA cancelled 17 and 48 scheduled flights respectively due to aviation fuel shortage, disrupting domestic and international aviation and adding losses to those the state-run has piled up. “PIA is running on fumes, both literally and figuratively,” Dawn (October 18, 2023) commented, calling ...

The 17 websites were part of a scheme to evade sanctions and fund Pyongyang’s weapons programme; they followed the seizure of $1.5m obtained by scams undertaken by the same group, US officials say Some 17 website domains used by information technology workers from North Korea in a scheme to allegedly defraud businesses were seized by the United States this week. The domains were part of a scheme to evade sanctions and fund the country’s weapons programme, US officials say. The seizures took place on Tuesday authorized by a court order in Missouri, the US Justice Department said in a statement. The United States has alleged that North Korea oversees thousands of IT workers around the world, primarily located in China and Russia, with the aim of deceiving US and other busin...

Sources say the Modi government has become uncomfortable with using yuan for settlement, while refining sources said settlement in yuan also increases Indian traders’ costs Payment for at least seven shipments of Russian oil has been delayed because of India’s reluctance to let state refiners pay with Chinese yuan, sources say. But so far the row over settlement has not disrupted deliveries, because Russian energy groups such as Rosneft continue to supply state-controlled Indian refiners till they find alternative ways pay their bills. India emerged as the top importer of Russian seaborne oil this year, with refiners snapping up the crude sold at a discount after some western nations suspended imports from Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. But refiners often face ...

As part of President Xi Jinping's major infrastructure initiative, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which promised significant investments in infrastructure projects around the world, the airport's construction was a component of China's ambitious objectives In June, Pokhara, Nepal’s picturesque paradise in the shadow of the majestic Himalayas, received a Sichuan Airlines flight from China, ushering in a historic moment for the city. Finally open for business was the recently built international terminal at Pokhara’s airport, which was largely sponsored and carried out by Chinese businesses. The complex and frightening truth that lurked beneath this ceremonial opening, according to The New York Times, underscored China’s questionable influence over infrastructure and its geopolit...