Economic growth

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Growth equity investments in digital-centric companies have further accelerated during Covid-19, following the brief initial freeze in global M&A and growth financing activity in early 2020. Even when measured against what was then a high-water mark for private markets in the pre-pandemic period , the last two years have been remarkable. The widespread availability of liquidity driven by central banks setting historically low interest rates has pushed even more investor capital into higher-risk and higher-return asset classes like growth equity and venture capital, in a search for higher returns. Only in late 2021 did a tightening of monetary policy re-emerge as an imminent prospect. At the same time, homeworking and lockdowns during the pandemic led to certain digital business models like e-commerce marketplaces and online education platforms experience an upward swing in demand for their services. These in turn have … [Read more...] about Is The Pandemic-Era Surge In Growth Equity Investing Sustainable?

Facade of the Senate of the Philippines building. FILE PHOTO MANILA, Philippines — Over 60 groups of farmers, fishers, workers, civil society organizations and 186 mayors oppose the Senate’s concurrence to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement. Among these groups include the Federation of Free Farmers, the Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines, the United Broiler Raisers Association, and members of the League of Organic Agriculture Municipalities, Cities and Provinces of the Philippines, according to a briefer from Dr. Teodoro Mendoza. Mendoza is a retired professor of the Institute of Crop Science at the College of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the University of the Philippines, Los Baños. According to the briefer, the groups and mayors held an online meeting last Jan. 17 and raised their opposition against the trade agreement. The proposed Senate concurrence on the agreement is still being deliberated on the plenary floor. The … [Read more...] about Groups, mayors oppose RCEP trade agreement

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Just before Thanksgiving, we learned that Alabama sought to spend $400M of COVID relief on new prisons —five times as much as it plans to spend on hospitals. And now as we kick off a new year, it's clear that it’s not just Alabama who wants to pass off prisons as COVID relief—but almost half the country. At least 17 states across the US are angling to use at least $830 million of their federal Covid relief funds to build new jails and prisons, ranging from tiny $8,000 projects to the hundreds of millions. These funds would all come from the near party-line passage of The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The Treasury has now released guidance to states essentially saying, “not so fast…” making it clear that new prison construction is not a sanctioned use of COVID relief funds. Their new policy states, “Treasury presumes that the following capital projects are generally ineligible: Construction of new correctional … [Read more...] about Jails In Jeopardy Following New Treasury Rule: Federal Covid Relief Must Help People

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) maintained its overnight policy rate (OPR) at 1.75% in its first monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting for the year. The central bank in a statement on Thursday (Jan 20) said the MPC considers the current stance of monetary policy to be appropriate and accommodative. "Fiscal and financial measures will continue to cushion the economic impact on businesses and households and provide support to economic activity. "The stance of monetary policy will continue to be determined by new data and their implications on the overall outlook for inflation and domestic growth," it elaborated. BNM added that headline inflation averaged 2.3% for the period of January-November last year and expected average headline inflation in 2022 to remain moderate as the base effect from fuel inflation dissipates. Meanwhile, underlying inflation as measured by core inflation is expected to edge upwards as economic activity … [Read more...] about BNM maintains OPR at 1.75% in first MPC meeting for 2022

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Manulife Investment Management (Manulife IM) says Malaysia’s accelerated vaccination rates, which was faster than what the market had anticipated, combined with increased government spending ahead of the next general election could support domestic demand amid the lingering effects of the pandemic. At a media briefing on Thursday (Jan 20), Manulife IM’s Head of Macro Strategy (Asia), Sue Trinh said the outlook for Asian countries in 2022 is a mixed bag as the cyclical macro conditions are favourable for reopening and recovery in Taiwan, select Asean countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, as well as Japan. “Structurally, the Asian region has a lot of work to do to recoup lost output due to the pandemic. The biggest concern remains weak consumer demand which will be exposed by the looming downturn in export growth. “On the other hand, Asia’s milder inflation expectation comes down to one simple factor — … [Read more...] about Accelerated vaccination rates, higher govt spending to support domestic demand, says Manulife IM

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) has forecast a 17.9% growth in total industry volume (TIV) to 600,000 units for 2022 from 508,911 units recorded in 2021. President Datuk Aishah Ahmad said passenger and commercial vehicles are expected to record sales of 540,000 and 60,000 units, respectively, this year. The global economy is expected to rebound post-pandemic as economies worldwide have largely opened up, she said. “The sales tax exemption incentive for passenger vehicles till June 30, 2022 and ramping up of production and deliveries by automotive companies to fulfil backlog and new orders will be the main contributors to improving sales,” she told a media briefing at the MAA 2021 market review and 2022 outlook here, on Thursday (Jan 20). Bank Negara Malaysia is expected maintain its benchmark overnight policy rate at 1.75% on Thursday, which will provide additional stimulus for the sector, she said. “This may help … [Read more...] about Malaysian Automotive Association forecasts 17.9% rise in total industry volume to 600,000 units for 2022

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on January 10, 2022 - January 16, 2022. (Photo by Suhaimi Yusuf/The Edge) - A + A AS a technocrat, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz knows fiscal reforms are painfully overdue. He felt the financial strain firsthand as the government’s cash needs skyrocketed in the past two years due to the necessary spending to save lives and livelihoods hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. The ex-investment banker also knows Malaysia — whose direct debt burden will cross the RM1 trillion threshold this year — needs debt to be more productive in order to expand the economic pie and sustain growth towards the desired high-income status. As it is, interest payments on direct government debt alone take away more than RM18 out of every RM100 the government earns. This and the fact that RM49 out of every RM100 earned goes to paying civil servants’ salaries and public pension obligations are clear signs that the … [Read more...] about Cover Story: Making the right but unpopular moves

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on January 10, 2022 - January 16, 2022. The government has discussed flood mitigation plans and will have to come up with a long-term solution (Photo by Mohamad Shahril/The Edge) - A + A Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz looks none the worse for wear after two years in the political hot seat of overseeing the country’s finances. The former investment banker knows tough measures need to be made fast but admits that changes to the status quo will not be easy to push through. Below are excerpts from his interview with The Edge’s Cindy Yeap and Esther Lee. The Edge: It’s been only two months since the tabling of Budget 2022 but so many things have happened that it looks like you need to redo the budget or table a supplementary budget. Zafrul : Every year, there is a supplementary budget but, yes, only just now I told the cabinet that we have to relook and reprioritise to make … [Read more...] about Cover Story: Ensuring fiscal sustainability

- A + A TOKYO (Jan 20): Japan's Nikkei share average rebounded from a five-month low on Thursday (Jan 20), led by Sony and other video-game makers, after China ramped up its monetary easing measures to shore up a slowing economy by lowering a set of key policy rates. The Nikkei ended up 1.11% at 27,772.93, extending the morning's gains in the afternoon. About three stocks gained for every one that fell. The benchmark survived a sharp mid-morning dip, which pushed the index to its lowest intraday level since Aug 23. China's surprise interest rate cut initially stoked fears of an economic slowdown, but investors were cheered by the rally in shares in the rest of the region, market participants said. With the property downturn seen persisting into 2022 and the fast-spreading Omicron variant of Covid-19 dampening consumer activity, many analysts in China expect more easing measures will be necessary despite other major economies appearing set to tighten their monetary … [Read more...] about Nikkei rebounds from five-month low on China rate cut, game-maker rally boost

- A + A JAKARTA (Jan 20): Indonesia's central bank announced on Thursday a surprise 300 basis point hike in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks over the next eight months, in one of its first concrete signs of monetary tightening. At its first policy meeting of the year, Bank Indonesia (BI) kept its benchmark seven-day reverse repurchase rate steady at 3.50%, as expected. It also left two other main policy rates unchanged. But in a sign that BI has a keen eye on the US Federal Reserve's anticipated tightening and potential jolts to Indonesian financial markets, Governor Perry Warjiyo announced three RRR hikes, starting with 150 basis points in March, 100 bps from June and another 50 bps from September to contain liquidity. All 30 economists polled by Reuters poll had expected BI to stand pat on rates throughout the first half of 2022 and raise them in the third quarter, even though the Fed looks likely to start raising interest rates as soon as March. … [Read more...] about Indonesia’s central bank surprises with hefty RRR hikes, eyes Fed