World

Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as president of Sri Lanka in July 2022 when the country was in the middle of its worst economic and political crisis since independence in 1948. His predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapakse, had been forced out of power after facing mass protests prompted by 12-hour power cuts and persistent fuel and food shortages. The nation was bankrupt. Wickremesinghe brought in the International Monetary Fund and has focused on reaching macroeconomic stability and driving tough but much-needed structural reforms. Today, as Sri Lanka embarks on its 17th IMF programme, it has a unique opportunity to restore stability and push forward sustainable growth. President Wickremesinghe should start by creating an independent central bank, restructuring state-owned enterp...

Belarus's application to join the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) grouping in the midst of New Delhi's resistance to the group's expansion and Pakistan's accusation that India is preventing its participation in a BRICS-related meeting has put the spotlight on New Delhi's role, which is viewed as having a Western 'tilt.' India and the opposing factions view each other, so to speak, as a "PRIC" in their respective divergent foreign interests. According to a report by RIA Novosti, Belarus's May application was "absolutely logical in the context of… expanding cooperation in multilateral formats with traditional partners and friendly states." Meanwhile, at the end of June, Pakistan accused India of attempting to isolate it internationally by preventing its parti...

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) adopted a $3 billion assistance package for Pakistan on July 12. The first half of this year was filled with apprehensions and forecasts of Pakistan's debt default. While the IMF agreement has ensured that Pakistan avoids default, at least for the time being, it has triggered a vicious cycle that has been repeated dozens of times in Pakistan's history.Immediately after the IMF agreement, Saudi Arabia deposited $2 billion in the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), while the UAE had already pledged $1 billion. China refinanced a $2.4 billion loan on Thursday, in addition to the $600 million deferred the previous week. Commitment to an IMF program functions as the guarantee that lending states require, in this case saving Pakistan from record-high 38 percent i...

he brilliant and late economic historian Angus Maddison estimated that India was the world's largest economy for a staggering one and a half millennia. China surpassed India by 1820 but they remained the world’s two largest economies until 1870, when the twin effects of the Industrial Revolution in the West and European colonization were more fully felt. Britain then emerged as the world’s foremost economic power; that economic title passed to the U.S. by 1900. Yet amid increasing talk of Asia’s rise, is the world economy now poised to return to its old normal? Prospects for such an outcome can hardly be overestimated. With its economy already 70% of the U.S. and growing at more than twice the latter's rate, China is poised to become the world’s largest economy between 2035 a...

Because of the country's aging population and the difficulty young people have finding employment, China's labor force is also shrinking. According to official Chinese statistics, the country's young unemployment rate hit a new high of 21% in the most recent quarter. Krugman said that China's demand has been slow to recover after the epidemic because of the country's imbalanced economy. Real estate, which accounts for approximately a fifth of China's GDP, and manufacturing both shrank in May. Because of these issues, analysts are worried about China's future. In particular, Krugman warned that the country risked falling into the "middle income trap," a pattern common to rising nations in which economic growth peaks and then levels off. The key issue is whether or not China can ac...

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi predicted that by 2028, India's economy will be the third biggest in the world, after the United States and China. He did not only make this claim. What it means for the economy to reach $5 trillion over the next five years is multifaceted.The biggest bank in the nation, SBI, predicts that economic growth would be between 6.5% and 7% during the next five years. With this kind of velocity, the nation may become the world's third biggest economy. Furthermore, SBI predicts that by 2047, when India celebrates its centennial of independence, the country's economy would have grown to $20 trillion. Foreign investment in the stock market and manufacturing in the nation will contribute to the growth of the economy to a point where its GDP is five trill...

In its economic outlook, Deloitte India predicts that India's economy will expand by between 6% and 6.3% in the current fiscal year ending on March 31, 2024, with growth exceeding 7% over the next two years if global uncertainties subside. Several economic indicators, such as constrained labor markets and reduced risk spreads in the aftermath of the US banking crisis, suggest that downside risks to global development are diminishing as the likelihood of a recession in major industrialized nations this year decreases. According to the economic prognosis, there are still significant uncertainties surrounding the actions of the central banks of major economies and the movements of energy prices. "Despite ongoing global uncertainties, India's economy remains robust," the report state...

Pakistan's finance minister announced on Thursday that China has extended a $2.4 billion loan for the cash-strapped Islamic nation by two years in an effort to assist the country in overcoming one of its most severe economic crises. The most recent extension of loan maturities by Beijing bolstered Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves, which are still insufficient to cover import costs for two months. Ishaq Dar stated in a post on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, that the Chinese EXIM Bank carried over for two years the "principal amounts" of the $2.4 billion loan that Islamabad was supposed to repay in 2024 and 2025.China is a longstanding ally of Pakistan, and it played a crucial role in Pakistan's avoidance of a default this year, although there was concern in Pakistan a...

US officials will meet Taliban representatives and "technocratic professionals" from key Afghan ministries during a visit to Doha this week, the State Department said on Wednesday, adding they will discuss economic issues, security and women's rights. Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West and Special Envoy for Afghan Women, Girls, and Human Rights Rina Amiri will travel to Astana, Kazakhstan, and Doha, Qatar, from July 26 to July 31, the State Department said in a statement. In Astana, they will meet with officials from Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to discuss Afghanistan, said the statement, which added the US officials will also meet civil society members focused on women's rights. The US officials will meet the Taliban de...

S&P Global Ratings has lowered Bangladesh's long-term outlook from stable to negative, citing concerns that the country's external liquidity position could deteriorate over the next year while foreign exchange reserves continue to be under pressure. Tuesday, the ratings agency projected that the economy will grow between 6% and 6.4% annually between 2024 and 2026.Bangladesh enterprises are hampered by the dollar crisis. After publishing a report on rising food costs, a Bangladeshi journalist is detained. Bangladesh under fire for Adani power agreement Ten years after the Rana Plaza tragedy, how secure is the Bangladeshi garment industry? The growth of Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to 6.03 percent in the fiscal year ending in June 2023. Moazzem stated ...