Japan's factory output posted the biggest monthly drop in two years in May as China's COVID-19 lockdowns and semiconductor and other parts shortages hit manufacturers, adding more pressure on an economy struggling to mount a strong recovery, Reuters reported. The decline also highlights the challenge the world's third-largest economy faces in overcoming supply disruptions and persistently high prices of raw materials and energy that analysts say could weaken global demand.
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Resources Per Country
- Afghanistan
- Armenia
- Australia
- Azerbaijan
- Bangladesh
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- China
- Cook Islands
- Cyprus
- Fiji
- Georgia
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Maldives
- Mongolia
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- North Korea
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Turkey
- Uzbekistan
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
Sri Lanka’s economy fell back into contraction last quarter as the country battled its worst economic problems since independence, with emergency aid to stabilize the island nation proving elusive, Bloomberg News reported. Gross domestic product declined 1.6% in the quarter ended March from a year earlier, the Department of Census and Statistics said in a statement on Tuesday. That’s shallower than a 3.6% contraction seen by economists in a Bloomberg survey and compares with a revised 2% expansion in the previous quarter.
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Edible oil firm Ruchi Soya Industries Ltd on Tuesday said the name of the company has been changed to Patanjali Foods Ltd with effect from June 24, the Economic Times of India reported. In 2019, Baba Ramdev-led Patanjali Ayurved acquired Ruchi Soya for Rs 4,350 crore through an insolvency process.
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Embattled businessman Vijay Mallya, who is based in Britain for over five years, is pursuing appeals in the UK courts in an attempt to overturn a bankruptcy order imposed on him by the High Court in London in July last year, the Economic Times of India reported. At a case management hearing at the Chancery Division of the High Court in London on Monday, Justice Tom Leech concluded that a set of interlinked hearings in the matter would be heard together.
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After years of building their foreign-exchange reserves, central banks in Asia are tapping into their stockpiles to bolster their weakening currencies against a rising US dollar, Bloomberg News reported. Thai reserves slid to $221.4 billion as of June 17, in data released late last week. That was the lowest in more than two years. Monthly figures show that Indonesia’s stash is at the smallest since November 2020. Reserves in South Korea and India are at their lowest in more than a year. Malaysia’s stockpile, meanwhile, has fallen the most since 2015.
China's economy has recovered to some extent, but its foundation is not solid, state media on Tuesday quoted Premier Li Keqiang as saying, Reuters reported. China will strive to drive the economy back onto a normal track and bring down the jobless rate as soon as possible, Li was quoted as saying. "Currently, the implementation of the policy package to stabilise the economy is accelerating and taking effect. The economy has recovered on the whole, but the foundation is not yet solid," Li was quoted as saying.
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Sri Lanka abruptly restricted fuel supplies and told residents to stay home, raising the risk of more unrest as the government struggles to provide essential goods due to a crippling sovereign debt crisis that has rocked the country for months, Bloomberg News reported. The island nation’s cabinet of ministers Monday decided to limit distribution of fuel to essential services until July 10, spokesman Bandula Gunawardena said in a televised statement, adding that inter provincial public transport would likely come to a halt.
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Hong Kong's financial watchdog is tightening oversight on derivatives markets after the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, a senior official at the city's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Archegos, a U.S.-based family office of investor Bill Hwang which had $36 billion in assets, blew up last year when it was caught short on highly leveraged trades and left global banks with $10 billion in losses.
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Investment holding firm Top Shine Global Ltd has decided to file a winding-up petition against China Evergrande Group as the embattled property developer did not repurchase shares in its unit Fangchebao from investors, a senior executive said, Reuters reported. Top Shine filed the petition on Friday, a record at the Hong Kong High Court showed. Fangchebao is a Chinese online real estate and automobile marketplace owned by Evergrande. The unit was planning an IPO in Hong Kong.
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China’s economy showed some improvement in June as Covid restrictions were gradually eased, although the recovery remains muted, Bloomberg News reported. That’s the outlook based on Bloomberg’s aggregate index of eight early indicators for this month. The overall gauge returned to the neutral level after deteriorating for two straight months. Economic activity picked up in June after financial hub Shanghai lifted its lockdown, allowing businesses to restart and most residents to leave their homes.
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