Asia

Pakistan Budget 2020-21: CPEC placed in cold storage due to influence from West
17Jun By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

Pakistan Budget 2020-21: CPEC placed in cold storage due to influence from West

Economist Dr Kasier Bengali has said that Pakistan’s economic policies are being made in Washington and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has sent its people to sit in major institutions, which is why there is no mention of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the budget 2020-21.Speaking during a webinar organised by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler) on Sunday, he said due to the influence from the West the government had placed CPEC in cold storage.“Pakistan’s economy is mainly relying on foreign loans, so the economic managers are trying to appease the IMF and other international lenders by not mentioning the CPEC,” Dr Bengali said.Pakistan’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the year 2020-21 has allocated Pakistani Rs 21 billion f...
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Defence Budget: Pakistan’s misplaced priorities
17Jun By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia

Defence Budget: Pakistan’s misplaced priorities

For a country suffering through a pandemic and whose economy is crashing, putting more money for defence seems illogical. But this is exactly what the Imran Khan government has proposed in a grim reminder of how much Islamabad’s priorities are misplaced.The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government has proposed 11.9 per cent increase in the country’s defence budget.The budget document shows that the defence outlay for 2020-21 would be Pakistani Rs 1,289 billion as compared to Pakistani Rs 1,152 billion earmarked for the ongoing fiscal year.A closer look at the budget details revealed that Rs 1,289 billion figure does not include Pakistani Rs 369 billion allocated for pensions of retired military personnel and Pakistani Rs 324 billion for the armed forces development programme.“The defence budget...
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Ministerial Committee set up to guide digital adoption, create jobs in digital economy
17Jun By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

Ministerial Committee set up to guide digital adoption, create jobs in digital economy

To accelerate Singapore's adoption of digital technology in the times of Coronavirus, the country has set up a high-level committee to create jobs for its people, help small businesses go online and ensure no citizen is left behind by technology.The Ministerial Committee for Digital Transformation’s key focus is to work with companies and the labour movement to create jobs in the info-communications and technology (ICT) sector and to place Singaporeans in these jobs, Communications and Information Minister S. Iswaran said in an interview.With small and medium enterprises employing some 65 per cent of the workforce in Singapore, one of the committee's prime aims is to help them survive and thrive through the use of technology.The badly hit retail and food and beverage sectors will get speci...
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PoK activist blames army as Pakistan registers first ever negative economic growth
17Jun By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia

PoK activist blames army as Pakistan registers first ever negative economic growth

Exiled rights activist from PoK, Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza, has blamed Pakistan's deep state of the army for the negative growth the country has registered for the first time ever in its history. Mirza asked how a country could flourish or register a positive growth if its annual budget couldn't be unveiled without the blessings of the army. "This budget has Rs 650 Billion allocated for the development purpose, while the military has been allocated a sum of Rs 1.3 Trillion. This simply means that the budget has been presented after the approval of the army," said Mirza. He also said that there was a prevailing sense of fear amongst the legislators of Pakistan and they were forced to respect the army. "Hammad Azhar, the minister who presented the budget expressed his government's gratitude to the...
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IMF may further cut global growth outlook in June as Covid-19 crisis drags on, says chief economist
13Jun By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

IMF may further cut global growth outlook in June as Covid-19 crisis drags on, says chief economist

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Friday said that it may again downgrade its already pessimistic outlook for the global economy in June given the possibility of a further decline in consumption, more job losses and the risk of a fresh wave of bankruptcies.The IMF in April predicted a 3% contraction of the world economy this year. It also warned at the time of the possibility of a deeper crisis which could result in a 6% decline in 2020 and 0% growth in 2021."We are putting out new numbers on June 24 and they will likely be worse than what we had in April," said IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath in a virtual address to the Seventh Asian Monetary Policy Forum on Friday.Gopinath noted that there is still profound uncertainty about how long the Covid-19 pandemic will persist and what w...
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COVID impact: Economy to contract even more than estimated earlier, says World Bank
10Jun By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

COVID impact: Economy to contract even more than estimated earlier, says World Bank

Due to COVID-19 outbreak, Pakistan’s economy would actually perform even worse than what previous estimates had warned about, The World Bank forecast said on Monday.In its latest report, ‘Global Economic Prospects’, the World Bank assessed that the country’s economy was likely to go into the red this fiscal year and would be unable to recover even next year.It forecast a negative GDP growth of -2.6pc for the current fiscal year (2019-20) and -0.2pc during the next (20-21).“Pakistan (-2.6pc in FY2019/20) and Afghanistan (-5.5pc in 2020) are both projected to experience contractions as mitigation measures are anticipated to weigh heavily on private consumption. Key labor-intensive export sectors are expected to contract sharply and recover only slowly”, the Bank said in its report.This would...
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Chinese cosmetic brands see rally despite global beauty downturn
8Jun By Mike TrudellNo Comments
Asia

Chinese cosmetic brands see rally despite global beauty downturn

With consumers staying at home for months and social gatherings banned across the world, the global cosmetics industry has been dealt a major blow by the coronavirus pandemic.Yet low-cost, online-savvy local beauty brands in China have seen their shares rally as investors spy an opportunity for the home-grown outfits to take market share amid the crisis.Hangzhou-based Proya Cosmetics Co has soared 88% this year, reaching a record high in May and is now trading at 68 times forward earnings, the highest among listed beauty companies worldwide and surpassing giants like Shiseido Co and Estee Lauder Cos.Another local make-up brand, Guangdong Marubi Biotechnology Co has surged 42% this year against a 3.9% decline in the Shanghai Composite Index and is now trading at 58.7 times forward earnings....
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China imports plunge, exports fall on virus hit to global growth
7Jun By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

China imports plunge, exports fall on virus hit to global growth

China's exports and imports fell in May as the economic slowdown abroad started to take its toll, and after a surprise jump driven by increased demand for anti-epidemic supplies, official data showed on Sunday.Exports from the manufacturing powerhouse fell 3.3% on-year last month, better than the 6.5 per cent slide expected by a Bloomberg poll of analysts.But the return to negative territory came after a surprise 3.5% jump in April, which was partly due to medical exports.Analysts have warned of signs that a larger downturn awaits.Customs data released on Sunday showed a larger than expected plunge in imports on-year, which were down by 16.7%.This was significantly higher than the 7.8% expected by analysts, and down further from the 14.2% drop in April."Export growth rebounded in March and...
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Reserves have allowed Singapore to deal with Covid-19 crisis: DPM Heng
6Jun By Michael SmithNo Comments
Asia

Reserves have allowed Singapore to deal with Covid-19 crisis: DPM Heng

While discussing the ‘Fortitude Budget’ in the parliament, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat on Friday said that unlike other countries, Singapore can depend on its national reserves and did not have to borrow or take on debt to fund its coronavirus stimulus packages.The MPs noted that Singapore was fortunate to be able to tap on the savings of past governments, built up since independence, to boost its Covid-19 war chest. But they also asked how long it would take to restore the sum.Vikram Nair (Sembawang GRC) likened the reserves to a "golden goose" to be protected, warning that the more it is drawn on, the less there will be for future generations to depend on.Tin Pei Ling (Macpherson) and Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok), meanwhile, said it has given Singapore a key strategic...
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Asia’s factory pain worsens as China’s recovery fails to lift demand
1Jun By Joe RodriguezNo Comments
Asia, China

Asia’s factory pain worsens as China’s recovery fails to lift demand

Asia’s factory pain deepened in May as the slump in global trade caused by the coronavirus pandemic worsened, with export powerhouses Japan and South Korea suffering the sharpest declines in business activity in more than a decade, surveys showed.A series of manufacturing surveys released on Monday suggest any rebound in businesses will be some time off, even though China’s factory activity unexpectedly returned to growth in May.The new coronavirus pandemic - which has killed more than 370,000 people around the world - has wreaked havoc with supply chains and quashed demand as government-imposed lockdowns forced businesses to close and citizens to stay home.China’s Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) hit 50.7 last month, marking the highest reading since January as...
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