Headlines

Vietnam is planning to limit its crypto exchange pilot program to just five licensed operators, pointing to a cautious regulatory approach despite the country's status as a global crypto adoption leader, Decrypt reported. The framework would allow for only five licensed exchanges to operate during the pilot as the Ministry of Finance develops detailed regulations for taxation, compliance, and operational standards, Deputy Finance Minister Nguyen Duc Chi said at a government press conference on Monday, according to a VnEconomy report, a local media publication.

By 2010 almost 1 in 5 companies limped along because of bailouts and other financing relief, rather than tackling their fundamental problems, Bloomberg News reported. In 2008 three economics professors, one from Japan and two from the US, coined a term for these enterprises: “zombie companies.” Now the country’s financial landscape is changing. In March 2024 the Bank of Japan increased interest rates for the first time in 17 years, reflecting an improving economic climate and rising prices.

Prime Minister Mark Carney is set to head to Washington early next week to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump – his second visit since becoming prime minister, BNN Bloomberg reported. Carney will leave for Washington on Monday evening and will meet with Trump on Tuesday, in what the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is describing as a “working visit and meeting.” Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Industry Minister Melanie Joly and Canada-U.S. Trade Minister Dominic LeBlanc will accompany Carney.

Japan's jobless rate rose to its highest in over a year, signaling a slight loosening of the labor market as speculation swirls over a Bank of Japan rate hike in the near term, Bloomberg News reported. The unemployment rate rose to 2.6 per cent in August from 2.3 per cent in the previous month, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported Friday, against a median economist expectation of 2.4 per cent . Separate data from the labor ministry showed that the job-to-applicant ratio ticked down to 1.20 from 1.22.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said inflation was on track to durably hit the bank's target but warned of global uncertainties that could discourage firms from raising wages, leaving himself a free hand on whether to raise interest rates in October, Reuters reported. Ueda reiterated the central bank's resolve to continue raising still low interest rates if the economy and prices move in line with its forecasts.

It may be 17 years since Brian Cowen’s government guaranteed the Irish banking system to stave off its collapse. And it’s only a matter of months before the wind-down of the successor company to Anglo Irish Bank (Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, or IBRC) is completed and outstanding matters are handed over to a unit in the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). But the ghosts of Anglo’s past continue still linger in some long-forgotten places, according to a commentary in the Irish Times.

French industrial production unexpectedly fell back again in August in a sign that the country’s political deadlock is weighing on activity, adding to pressures on wider European industry, the Wall Street Journal reported. Output was 0.7% lower on month, figures from France’s statistics office Insee showed Friday. After a revised 0.1% fall in July and against economists’ expectations for a rebound, August’s decline is the fourth in five months, underscoring the challenges facing French industry.

More countries are seeking to reshape their economies using public support for specific firms and sectors, but subsidies and other industrial policies can be costly and may not be effective unless carefully utilized, the IMF said on Friday, Reuters reported. The International Monetary Fund, in a chapter of its forthcoming World Economic Outlook, said industrial policies can help countries bring production onshore and catch up with other global players in a targeted sector, but they can also drive up consumer prices and lead to a misallocation of resources.

A slump in ocean shipping demand since U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a raft of new tariffs on trade partners earlier this year has helped send ocean container rates to their lowest since January 2024, threatening profits at major carriers including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, Reuters reported. The Drewry World Container Index (WCI), which tracks the off-contract "spot" rate to transport a 40-foot cargo container on major shipping lanes, dropped to roughly 20-month low of $1,669 per 40-foot container as of Thursday.