Asia

Last week, Nepal became the third South Asian country in three years to see its government collapse under the weight of mass protests. On September 8, after the government banned twenty-six social media platforms, young Nepalis poured into Kathmandu’s streets, furious at what they saw as an attempt to silence criticism. The protests escalated, leaving more than seventy people dead and causing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage. Analysts have rushed to dissect the political intrigue behind the resignation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the appointment of former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as interim leader. But focusing only on the political aspects of these crises misses the bigger picture: economic despair fueled this...

Sri Lanka in 2022. Bangladesh in 2024. Indonesia in August 2025…and now Nepal, a month later. The past few years have been littered with youth-led uprisings in Asian countries, coming at a time when the headline growth numbers have not resulted in better lives for those entering the labour force. At the same time, the ruling elite and business class seem to have prospered. Over the last week, the children of Nepal’s political class have come under heavy fire for displaying their luxurious lifestyles on social media, with the phrase ‘nepo kids’ trending as the Gen Z’s ire over corruption took centre-stage. In 2024, Nepal was ranked 107 out of 180 countries in Transparency International’s corruption rankings. Bangladesh was ranked 151, Sri Lanka 121, and Indonesia 99. If politics ...

Large-scale riots, gunfire at protestors, the Parliament building set ablaze, the prime minister’s resignation: this is what Nepal is witnessing at the moment. A social media ban, which has now been lifted, was only the tipping point. Nepal’s economy has been reeling under internal stress for a long time. The unemployment rate has been consistently above 10 per cent for over three decades. It stood at 10.7 per cent in 2024. Meanwhile, it was 4.3 per cent for South Asia and 4.9 per cent for the world, according to the World Bank. The economic output of Nepal is weak, a fact that’s clearly visible in its low per capita GDP. In 2024, it was only Intl$5,737, nearly half of the South Asian average and one-fourth of the global average. A high unemployment rate and ...

China plans to boost domestic consumption by offering interest subsidies on loans to households and businesses, aiming to reduce borrowing costs and spur spending, Vice Finance Minister Liao Min said on Wednesday.Economists have long urged Beijing to switch to a consumption-led economic model and rely less on debt-fuelled investment and exports for growth. Pressures from higher U.S. tariffs have heightened calls for a shift in long-term strategy. The policy "will support domestic consumption to become a major driving force of the national economy," Liao said at a press conference.On Tuesday, China announced it would offer interest subsidies for businesses in eight consumer service sectors, as well as for individual consumers. Eligible businesses and consumers can receive an annual ...