Sri Lanka inflation hits record 14pc

Sri Lanka consumer prices shot up a record 14 per cent in December, surpassing a previous high of 11.1 from a month earlier, official figures showed on Saturday as food and fuel shortages worsen.
22 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Airbus cancels Qatar Airways plane order

Airbus has taken the extraordinary step of cancelling a multi-billion-dollar order of 50 planes from Qatar Airways, a major customer, in an escalating feud over the airline’s grounding of A350 aircraft.
22 January 2022, 18:00 PM

US steps up pressure on Mexico over energy reforms

US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Friday she had raised the Joe Biden administration’s “real concerns” about Mexico’s planned energy sector reforms, stepping up pressure on the major trading partner.
22 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Biden hails Intel’s $20b chip plant investment

President Joe Biden on Friday praised Intel’s plans to spend $20 billion on a new US semiconductor facility, hailing the “historic” investment even as a global chip shortage fans the inflation wave weighing on his leadership.
22 January 2022, 18:00 PM

EU nations quarrel over whether nuclear, gas are ‘green’

Hours before the window for lodging objections closes, EU environment and energy ministers meeting in France Friday differed sharply on a European Commission provision that would classify nuclear and natural gas energy as “sustainable”.
22 January 2022, 18:00 PM

United Airlines reports Q4 loss

United Airlines reported another quarterly loss Wednesday on the lingering drag from Covid-19 but offered an upbeat outlook on a travel comeback later in 2022 and in future years.
20 January 2022, 18:00 PM

China cuts key rates, steps up monetary stimulus

China lowered mortgage lending benchmark rates on Thursday as monetary authorities step up efforts to prop up the slowing economy, after data earlier in the week pointed to a darkening outlook for the country’s troubled property sector.
20 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Canadian inflation hits 30-year high

Consumer prices in Canada exploded to a 30-year-high in December, partly due to supply chain disruption, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.
20 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka hikes interest rates

Sri Lanka’s central bank hiked interest rates Thursday in a bid to tame rampant inflation and discourage consumer spending as the country suffers a foreign currency shortage and teeters on the brink of default.
20 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Asian markets track Wall St losses as crude extends latest rally

Growing fears about the US Federal Reserve’s plans to fight surging inflation by ramping up interest rates hit Asian markets again Wednesday following a hefty sell-off on Wall Street, while oil prices extended their rally after a blast at a key pipeline.
19 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Pakistan’s economic woes put PM Khan’s future in doubt

Housewife Maira Tayyab has considered begging for money to feed her family in inflation-hit Pakistan, while shop owner Mohammad Hanif finds his thoughts turning to crime.
19 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Oil hits seven-year high

Oil prices hit their highest levels in more than seven years Tuesday, driven in part by hopes of a global economic recovery that would ramp up demand.
19 January 2022, 18:00 PM

BoJ lifts inflation forecast

Bank of Japan (BoJ) revised its inflation forecast on Tuesday and adjusted its view of price risks, while leaving its monetary easing policy in place in a nod to lingering pandemic uncertainty.
18 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Pandemic still taking heavy toll on jobs: UN

The Covid-19 crisis is continuing to hit jobs hard around the world, the United Nations said Monday, warning it could take years for employment levels to reach pre-pandemic levels.
18 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Ozone pollution costs Asia billions in lost crops

Persistently high levels of ozone pollution in Asia are costing China, Japan and South Korea an estimated $63 billion annually in lost rice, wheat and maize crops, a new study says.
18 January 2022, 18:00 PM

China’s digital yuan wallets swell but usage lags

China’s digital currency has debuted on app stores with fanfare, with online wallets for the electronic yuan seeing mass adoption in the two weeks since a public launch, yet its actual use in transactions has been far less impressive.
17 January 2022, 18:00 PM

US-Bangladesh economic ties strong despite pandemic

The economic ties between Bangladesh and the US are stronger than ever now even despite the severe fallout of Covid-19, according to a top official of the US embassy in Dhaka.
17 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Turkey’s inflation seen dropping to 27pc by 2022

Already rampant inflation in Turkey will rise further in the coming months before declining to around 27 per cent by the end of the year, a Reuters poll showed on Monday, as forecasts soared after a currency crisis in 2021 sent prices rocketing.
17 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Singapore moves to discourage crypto trading

The Monetary Authority of Singapore on Monday issued guidelines that limit cryptocurrency trading service providers from promoting their services to the general public, as part of a bid to shield retail investors from risks.
17 January 2022, 18:00 PM

Indonesia to improve coal delivery checks

Indonesia’s state utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) said on Friday that together with the energy ministry it was strengthening a coal delivery monitoring system to ensure enforcement of domestic sales rules and energy security.
17 January 2022, 18:00 PM