ASIA: India’s merchandise trade deficit in August widened to $27.98 billion from $11.71 billion a year earlier, revised data released by the government showed on Wednesday. India’s merchandise exports rose to $33.92 billion from $33.38 billion Japan ran its largest trade deficit in a month on record in August as imports surged amid high energy […]

ASIA: China’s central bank carried out 2-billion-yuan (about $289 million) worth of reverse repos on Wednesday to maintain liquidity in the banking system. The interest rate for the seven-day reverse repo was set at 2 percent, according to the People’s Bank of China. The aim of this step is to maintain stable liquidity in the […]

ASIA: India’s restrictions on rice exports have crippled trading in Asia, with buyers seeking alternative supplies from Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar, where sellers are delaying deals as prices rise, industry officials said. India, the world’s top grain exporter, on Thursday banned shipments of broken rice and imposed a 20% tariff on exports of various other […]

ASIA: The Biden administration plans to expand restrictions on US shipments to China of semiconductors used in artificial intelligence and chip-making tools next month, Reuters reported. The Commerce Department intends to publish new regulations based on restrictions announced earlier this year in letters to three US companies – KLA Corp, Lam Research Corp and Applied […]

Well, the Goldbugs are out in force claiming that Putin is creating a Moscow World Standard for gold. These people will never learn that their dream of some fixed gold standard has always collapsed throughout history. They have never played in the big leagues and consequently, they do not even understand the rules of the […]

ASIA: GSMA estimates that between 2022 and 2025, operators in India will invest around ₹1.6 trillion in their networks, underpinning opportunities in the consumer and enterprise segments. Fifth generation technology, or 5G, could benefit the Indian economy by ₹36.4 trillion ($455 billion) between 2023 and 2040, or more than 0.6% of forecast GDP per year, […]

QUESTION: Marty, is Steve Bannon another pre-election ploy to put a spike in the heart of Republicans for the elections? ZB ANSWER: Of course. Claiming that you raised money and then did not disclose you were paying salaries is really stretching it. You can put every charity in prison for the very same thing. How […]

ASIA: Japan’s economy grew more than initially reported in the second quarter, as the lifting of local COVID-19 restrictions boosted consumer and business spending. Gross domestic product (GDP) in the world’s third-largest economy expanded an annualized 3.5% in the second quarter, stronger than the preliminary estimate of annualized 2.2% growth, government data showed Thursday. The […]

ASIA: US Trade Representative Katherine Tai suggested on Wednesday that punitive tariffs on Chinese imports will not drop until Beijing adopts more market-oriented trade and economic principles. Speaking at a discussion organized by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Tai elaborated on US President Joe Biden’s economic strategy with regard to China, characterizing it as […]

ASIA: India’s dominant services industry grew faster than expected in August thanks to a solid expansion in demand and a continued easing in cost pressures, encouraging firms to hire at the quickest pace in more than 14 years, a private survey showed. Driven by strong growth in services and manufacturing activity, Asia’s third-largest economy expanded […]