Saturday, January 22 2022 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
TAIPEI -- Lawmakers from Taiwan, Japan and the US participated in the inaugural meeting of a trilateral strategic dialogue on July 29. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said the trilateral strategy forum aimed at deepening co-operation and strengthening ties between Taiwan, Japan and the U.S.
SINGAPORE -- Companies across the globe are ramping up their spending, with S&P Global Ratings forecasting corporate capital expenditure (capex) to rise 13% for the year. S&P says global capex from nonfinancial companies fell to US$3.3 trillion in 2020 from US$3.5 trillion in 2019, and it is set to rebound to US$3.7 trillion in 2021.
GENEVA - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on governments to take action to address the high cost of COVID-19 tests in many jurisdictions, and urged flexibility in permitting the use of cost-effective antigen tests as an alternative to more expensive PCR testsIATA also recommended that governments adopt recent World Health Organisation (WHO) guidance to consider exempting vaccinated travellers from testing requirements.
JAKARTA -- Bank Indonesia (BI) has kept its policy rate unchanged at 3.50% as widely expected as it strikes a balance between supporting growth and maintaining currency stability. Although the central bank downgraded its domestic growth forecast, it is more positive on global growth.
HANOI -- Vietnam's Q2 GDP growth quickened to 6.61% y/y in Q2, 0.6% weaker than market expectations of 7.2% y/y. But in an economic research note, ANZ Bank points out that the result marks an improvement from 4.65% y/y growth in Q1 (revised upward from 4.48% y/y earlier).
NEW DELHI --India's inflation in May surged past the 6% ceiling of the official target range. The price increase was broad-based, with both headline and core components touching recent highs, ANZ Bank said in a research note. Various State-level lockdowns and rising health costs likely added to the inflationary impulse in the month, ANZ said. "We expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to not react to this data point, but to monitor if it is sustained."
SYDNEY -- Businesses across Australia are feeling the pinch following a full year of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by credit insurer, Atradius. A Payment Practices Barometer survey of both large and small businesses shows dramatic changes in B2B customer payment behaviour.
SINGAPORE -- Asia-Pacific's recovery is mostly on track, with early stumbles during the vaccine rollout giving way to redoubled efforts to vaccinate and open up, according to a report published today by ratings agency Standard and Poors, titled "Asia-Pacific's Recovery Regains Its Footing."
BANGKOK -- The Bank of Thailand, Thailand's central bank, is now forecasting 2021 and 2022 GDP growth at 1.8% and 3.9% respectively, compared with 3% and 4.7%
previously, crystallising its earlier warning that shortfalls in tourist arrivals and vaccinations could depress GDP growth.
HONG KONG - The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) Export Index has risen for the fifth consecutive quarter, from a record low of 16.0 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic last year to 48.7 in the second quarter of 2021. That is close to expansionary territory.
HONG KONG - China is likely to maintain above-average economic growth relative to other middle-income economies in the next few years, partly due to its effective containment of the COVID-19 pandemic and rapid vaccine rollout, according to ratings agency Standard and Poors.
HONG KONG - A research report identifying synergies and collaboration opportunities between the San Francisco Bay Area and China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) has been published by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, based in San Francisco, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).
SYDNEY - The economic consequences for Australia of a US-China conflict over Taiwan would be severe, according to a study released by the Australian Strategy Policy Institute (ASPI).
NEW DELHI -- India received US$64 billion in Foreign Direct Investment in 2020, the fifth-largest recipient of inflows in the world, according to a UN report which also says the second COVID-19 wave weighs heavily on India's overall economic activities but strong fundamentals provide "optimism" for the medium term.
SINGAPORE -- S&P Global Ratings said today that Malaysian banks will continue to be an Asian outlier in their recovery path. "The path to normalisation is likely to be protracted due to the flare-up of new COVID-19 waves and inevitable disruptions in near-term economic prospects," it said. "The six-month blanket moratorium revealed by the Malaysian government on June 28 should further delay the timeline for banks' return to normal."
SINGAPORE -- Indian banks face systemic risk as the country sorts through the aftermath of the COVID second wave. Ratings agency Standard and Poor's says lenders struggled with a high level of weak loans well before the pandemic struck and, clearly, conditions have deteriorated.