World

During the first four months of the year, investment in real estate development fell by 2.7% from a year ago. Pictured here is a project in Qingzhou, Shandong province, on May 15, 2022. CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images BEIJING — The Chinese government faces a growing shortfall of cash, analysts say, as they predict an increase of debt to fill the gap. "The latest wave of Omicron and the widespread lockdowns in place since mid-March have resulted in a sharp contraction in government revenue, including land sales revenue," Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura, and a team said in a report last week. They estimate a funding gap of about 6 trillion yuan ($895.52 billion) — roughly 2.5 trillion yuan in decreased revenue due to tax refunds and weaker economic production, and another ...

Already, businesses are feeling ripple effects. More than half of the large companies and 60 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) polled by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) last month said they have been negatively hit by the ongoing Ukraine war. The top two areas of impact were in the form of rising business costs and supply chain disruptions. “Businesses entered 2022 with greater optimism for recovery and growth. However, the war in Ukraine, as well as rising inflation and interest rates, have somewhat dented business outlook,” SBF’s chief executive officer Lam Yi Young said. Watson EP Industries noted that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has raised the price of plastic resins by as much as 20 per cent, given how the price of the raw material – a byproduct of petr...

HONG KONG :Some of Sunac China's bondholders had not received coupon payments from the property developer on a $750 million offshore bond by the close of Asia business on Wednesday when a month-long grace period ends, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Failure to make $29.5 million in interest payments on the October 2023 bond that had been due last month could represent the first offshore default on a public bond by the nation's third-largest developer by sales. The sources declined to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media. Sunac declined to comment. A default could trigger the cross-default provisions on all of the developer's $7.7 billion worth of bonds in international capital markets. Sunac has missed four dollar coupon payments totalling $104 ...

In late 2021, the United Nations’ (UN) Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a major report detailing the latest scientific assessments of climate change. The report warned of the need for immediate and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions made, as the world trends towards concerning surface temperature shifts. Today, more so than ever before, the spotlight has been placed on the environmental impact of organisations around the world. Governments and businesses alike are placing a keener emphasis on sustainable development, whether it means investing in environment, social and governance (ESG) talent to create change from the inside out, or by investing in technologies to drive greater resource efficiency and lower carbon output. The need for progress on...

SINGAPORE: The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) building on Kallang Road was a hive of activity on Thursday (May 12) amid a rush for passports, with security guards “screening” visitors and directing them. Among those who turned up was Mr Ad Maulod, who waited three hours before collecting his new passport, a day before he was due to travel to Malaysia. "I have a backache now (from standing in line)," he said on the situation inside the building. He leaves for a family trip to Kuala Lumpur on Friday, and it was the second time queuing up for his passport in as many days, said the 38-year-old research fellow. On Wednesday, he waited four hours in the hope of having the process expedited. He applied for a passport on Apr 2, but with an old photo. When it was rejected on Apr 2...

BUDAPEST: A second-half penalty from Dominik Szoboszlai earned Hungary a shock 1-0 win over England in the Nations League on Saturday - their first victory against Gareth Southgate's side in 60 years. Looking to get their preparations for the Qatar World Cup, which begins later this year, up and running, England were surprisingly second best from the off in Budapest, and were fortunate to go into the break all square. The hosts kept coming and made their pressure count as Szoboszlai converted from the penalty spot in the 66th minute after Zsolt Nagy was fouled by Chelsea defender Reece James - a decision which incensed the England players. England pressed as they looked for a leveller, but they could not create that killer chance as their Nations League campaign got off to a disappointi...

LONDON: The dollar rose to fresh two-decade highs on Thursday (May 12) as concerns that tighter monetary policies to tame surging inflation will hurt the global economy dampened risk sentiment and drove investors into the safe-haven currency. Data on Wednesday showed US consumer price growth slowed sharply in April, suggesting that inflation had probably peaked, though it was likely to stay hot. The dollar benefited as the data confirmed expectations for further aggressive hikes in interest rates by the Federal Reserve and investors fretted that central bank tightening could slow global economic growth. Asian stocks fell to an almost two-year low, European shares tumbled and oil prices were down 2 per cent. Against this backdrop, the dollar index, which measures the greenback's strengt...

TOKYO: Nippon Steel Corp, the world's No 5 steelmaker, expects its seamless pipe business will return to a profit this year from a loss last year as gas drilling activity is on the rise to meet higher demand for non-Russian fuel. "We are getting an increasing number of inquiries for seamless pipes as demand for non-Russian gas is growing," Takahiro Mori, executive vice president, told Reuters on Wednesday (May 26), citing the Middle East as an example of where demand is coming from. "Our seamless pipe business will definitely turn to black ink this financial year as the weak yen also helps," he said. Japan's leading steelmaker is among the world's top makers of high-end seamless pipes used for drilling oil and gas. The once highly-profitable business had been hit in recent years both b...

SINGAPORE: Business associations in the services industries have banded together to appeal for a concerted effort to tackle the manpower crunch they face in a policy paper published on Thursday (May 12). The paper, published by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF), represent various sectors including lifestyle services, environmental services, and estate & facilities management services. It outlines ways in which businesses, trade associations and chambers, government agencies, unions and educational institutions can work together to address manpower challenges faced by the industries, said the SBF in a press release. SBF said that the reopening of borders and resumption of activities are opportunities for companies in the services industries to grow. Nine key actions have been devel...

HANOI : The chairman of Vietnam's Vingroup conglomerate said on Wednesday that an initial public offering (IPO) for the company's auto unit, VinFast, may be delayed until next year due to market uncertainty. The IPO is currently slated for the fourth quarter of this year. Vingroup Chairman Pham Nhat Vuong also told the company's annual general meeting the conglomerate was prioritising spending on VinFast and gave an aggressive car sales target. "We are eyeing a Q4 IPO, but there are lots of ongoing market uncertainties now... If necessary we may delay it to next year," Vuong said. "The IPO is not just for fundraising. It's also about marketing and claiming VinFast's position globally," he said. VinFast's Singapore-based holding company had filed for an IPO with the U.S. securities regu...