Asia

On Saturday, President Ranil Wickremesinghe emphasized the need of reevaluating Sri Lanka's national security policy in order to avoid being entangled in rising global rivalries and to preserve the country's neutrality in the Indian Ocean. Wickremesinghe, speaking to a Naval gathering in the southern district of Galle, stated that the study would consider a wide variety of issues, developing economic patterns, and the implications of climate change.The President has already created a committee to formulate modern security strategies, headed by a former Major General who would report to the National Security Council. According to him, the current landscape's dynamics show the expansion of international power battles into the Indian Ocean."Across the vast Pacific Ocean, the United Sta...

It has become a common trope in the commentariat to liken the collapse of China's real estate market to the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. However, financial equities in the United States lost 50% of their value while Chinese financial stocks gained 20% in the 10 months from November 2008 to August 2009. The following figure compares the performance of the financials sub-index of the Shenzhen 300 Index over the same months in 2022 and 2023 with that of the S&P 500 in the run-up to the GFC (October 31, 2007, through August 15, 2008).

AUGUST 17 (REUTERS) - TOKYO Concerns of a global recession as demand in important countries like China weakens have contributed to a decline in Japan's exports in July for the first time in over 2 and a half years. Ministry of Finance (MOF) statistics released on Thursday showed a 0.3% year-over-year decline in Japanese exports in July, compared to the 0.8% drop predicted by analysts in a Reuters poll. It came after a month of growth of 1.5%. An important indicator of capital spending increased in June, according to separate figures from the Cabinet Office. However, producers anticipate a drop in core orders for the current quarter, in part because to sluggish offshore demand. Overall, the data set highlighted the fragility in Japan's export engine, which underpinned better-than-...

One of China's largest real estate firms, Country Garden, is having financial difficulties, which might have repercussions in Australia's real estate market since its subsidiary, Risland Australia, is building two major housing complexes on the outskirts of Sydney and Melbourne. The quantity of new homes coming into the market during a severe affordability crisis would be significantly impacted by delays in the projects or a company collapse. On Friday, bonds and shares issued by Country Garden Holdings Co plummeted after the business missed payments. For the next 30 days, it won't be regarded late. The severity of the company's financial difficulties was apparent late Thursday when it was announced that the first half of this year would likely result in a net loss of 45-55 billi...

The World Bank reports in its semiannual regional update that South Asia's economic prospects have dimmed as a result of tighter financial conditions, with considerable downside risks in most countries owing to limited fiscal flexibility and dwindling reserves. The research emphasizes the need to reverse pandemic-era market distortions and rectify the widening socioeconomic gaps that limit opportunities in South Asia. The newest South Asia Economic Focus, Expanding Opportunities: Toward Inclusive Growth, released today predicts the region's average growth will slow to 5.6% in 2023, down slightly from the 5.7% prediction made in October of last year. After a rapid 8.2 percent growth rate in 2021 after the pandemic, modest growth of 5.9 percent is predicted for 2024. Both positive and...

Chittagong in Bangladesh, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, and Gwadar in Pakistan are the three Chinese-run ports in South Asia, and they form a "triangle of death" around India. By offering energy and military hardware agreements, New Delhi hopes to pull Dhaka and Colombo back into its camp and preserve strategic control in its immediate neighborhood. India is building a port in Sri Lanka and has offered to maintain Bangladesh's Russian military gear in exchange for better transportation links and power purchase agreements. The Bangladesh Air Force is reportedly more interested in European fighter planes than in the Indian indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas for its fleet modernization efforts. Bangladesh's Power Struggle Submarine base BNS Sheikh Hasina will open at Cox's B...

In July 2022, when Sri Lanka was experiencing its biggest economic and political crisis since independence in 1948, Ranil Wickremesinghe became president. Protests over 12-hour power outages and ongoing gasoline and food shortages led to the ouster of his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapakse. It was a bankrupt country. Wickremesinghe has prioritized achieving macroeconomic stability and pursuing harsh but necessary structural changes since bringing in the International Monetary Fund. Sri Lanka has a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reestablish stability and advance sustainable development as it begins its 17th IMF programme. President Wickremesinghe should begin by establishing an autonomous central bank, reorganizing state-owned businesses, broadening trade liberalization, and enhancing the bu...

Transitioning to a circular economy has been advocated by academics and policy professionals as a means to sustainably address the world's rising waste and pollution issue for some time now. The goal is to swiftly transition away from the linear "take-make-waste" economic paradigm and toward the circular "reuse, repair, refurbish, and recycle" one. Zero waste would be the perfect outcome. But how can forward-thinking businesspeople and corporations make sense of the circular economy beyond the phrases now circulating in the media? In what ways may corporations utilize this approach to lessen their environmental impact and maximize their utilization of recycled materials? And, particularly in developing countries, where capital is scarce, where do small enterprises who are testing out n...