ASIA: Japanese retail sales rose at the fastest pace in five months in March as consumer demand recovered from the huge hit it took from the coronavirus pandemic last year. The world’s third-largest economy has emerged from last year’s slump on an export recovery, though a glacial vaccine rollout and a resurgence in infections […]

ASIA: China is set to report its first population decline since records began in 1949 despite the relaxation of the government’s strict family planning policies, which was meant to reverse the falling birth rate of the world’s most populous country. The latest Chinese census, which was completed in December but has yet to be made […]

ASIA: China will launch a series of promotional activities, including a new consumer goods expo in southern Hainan province, in May to boost spending as the Chinese retail sector recovers from COVID-19-induced consumer caution. Expanding domestic consumption is a priority in China’s “dual circulation” economic strategy, first highlighted by President Xi Jinping last year in […]

ASIA: India’s biggest oil refiner, Indian Oil Corp Ltd’s refineries are operating at about 95% of their capacity, down from 100% at the same time last month, Reuters reported. Coronavirus cases have surged in India, leading to curbs on movement across the country, a move analyst say could hit fuel demand in the world’s third-largest […]

ASIA: India has raised concerns over United States putting it on a monitoring list of currency manipulators. Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department put India along with 10 other economies including Singapore, Thailand and Mexico on the “Monitoring List” that it said required close attention to their currency practices. India’s trade ministry official said India’s […]

ASIA: China’s economic indicators for the first quarter of 2021 have been released. At an annualized rate, the economy grew 18.3% from January through to April, facilitating a complete economic recovery as the world deals with the disruption of COVID-19, and consumption reasserts itself, registering the highest tally since 1993. In line with the GDP […]

ASIA: China on Tuesday kept the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) unchanged at 3.85% and five-year LPR at 4.65%. That was in line with predictions from a majority of traders and analysts in a Reuters poll, who had expected no change to either the one-year or five-year LPR. India will waive its 10% customs duty […]

Bernie Madoff died on April 14, 2021, at the Federal Medical Center in the federal prison in Butner, North Carolina, of the US Bureau of Prisons. A cause of death was not released, but it was probably kidney failure. In February 2020, Madoff had petitioned the courts for an early release from prison, stating that […]

ASIA: Cai Fang, a member of China’s central bank’s monetary policy committee, said China’s population is set to peak in just four years and a significant downturn in consumer demand will mark the milestone. Cai, who joined the central bank’s advisory body last month after retiring from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the […]

ASIA: China just posted its strongest quarterly growth on record as the world’s second largest economy continued its robust recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. GDP growth of 18.3% year-on-year in the first quarter was the strongest since China began keeping records in 1992, and was driven by a surge in retail sales, industrial production and […]