Mxn peso exchange rate

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on June 20, 2022 - June 26, 2022. - A + A IF Bank Negara Malaysia’s eight-member monetary policy committee (MPC) raises the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points (bps) at its next scheduled meeting on July 6, it will mark its first back-to-back increase since mid-2010, when interest rates were normalised following the recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis. It will not be the first central bank to do so. Compared with just a month ago, more economists now (at the time of writing) reckon that a 25bps hike will happen in July, but many still think a pause is possible in July ahead of the Hari Raya Aidiladha celebrations. In any case, at least one more rate increase (if not two) is expected to take place by the conclusion of the Sept 8 meeting to bring the OPR to at least 2.25% (if not 2.5%), consensus data show. “Our house has also shifted expectations for Bank Negara to frontload … [Read more...] about The State Of The Nation: What the Fed’s 75bps hike and near 4% terminal rate mean for the OPR

- A + A BANGKOK (June 27): A tightening of Thai monetary policy will be conducted so it does not disrupt the recovery of Southeast Asia's second-largest economy, central bank officials said on Monday, reinforcing market expectations of interest rate hikes later this year. Thailand's economy will continue growing this year and next, driven by domestic demand and tourism, and could beat forecasts despite a risk that inflation will be higher than expected, Bank of Thailand (BOT) officials told an analysts' meeting. The BOT will try to prevent the economy from overheating, which would cause demand-driven inflation, by gradually shifting from the current very accommodative policy, assistant governor Piti Disyatat told the meeting. The BOT's task was to help the economy take off smoothly, he said. "It's a challenge for monetary policy to release the accelerator pedal appropriately and timely so that the recovery has good momentum," Piti said, referring to the current … [Read more...] about Thai central bank says policy tightening will not disrupt economy recovery

- A + A (June 27): The People’s Bank of China pledged to maintain a supportive monetary policy to aid the economy’s recovery from Covid outbreaks and lockdowns and other stresses. “The monetary policy will continue to be accommodative to support economic recovery in aggregate sense,” Governor Yi Gang said in an interview with state broadcaster China Global Television Network , according to a transcript released by the central bank on Monday. The central bank’s “high priorities” are to maintain stable prices and maximize employment, Yi said. It will also continue to focus on structural policies such as those supporting small businesses and green projects, he said. China’s “real interest rate is pretty low” after taking inflation into account, Yi said. The inflation outlook is stable, he said, with consumer prices rising 2.1% in May and producer prices increasing 6.4%. The PBOC has taken a modest approach to easing this year, as weak borrowing demand in the face … [Read more...] about PBOC to keep policy supportive for China economy, Governor says

- A + A KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): The government is subsidising 13.81 sen for domestic users and 8.11 sen for non-domestic users for every kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity consumption in Peninsular Malaysia in the second half of 2022 (2H22). This is as the cost of fuel and other electricity generation costs in 1H22 rose to RM7 billion, equivalent to 11.81 sen/kWh, in imbalance cost pass-through (ICPT) surcharge, as revealed by the Energy Commission (EC). This compares with two sen/kWh rebate for domestic users, and 3.7 sen/kWh surcharge for industrial and commercial users that will remain in place through 2H22. These ICPT amounts were first revealed in February to reflect the generation and fuel costs in 2H21. The surcharge and rebate are applied on the base electricity tariff of 39.45 sen/kWh. Of the RM5.8 billion previously announced by the government to fund the electricity surcharge subsidy, the EC said RM2.3 billion goes to cover the domestic user portion. … [Read more...] about Govt to subsidise up to 13.81 sen/kWh for electricity in 2H22

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on June 20, 2022 - June 26, 2022. - A + A THE momentum to adopt environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria and sustainability practices in the capital market has picked up significantly in the past few years. By the third quarter of 2021, assets in global sustainable funds hit a record high, according to investment research firm Morningstar. At the same time, more than 70 countries — including the biggest polluters — have set a net-zero target and over 1,200 companies have put in place science-based targets to reach net-zero emissions, according to the United Nations. In Malaysia, at least 44 out of the 54 Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) funds approved by Securities Commission Malaysia were launched in the last two years. As at December 2021, 94% of the top 50 listed companies in Malaysia had ESG strategies and 68% had emissions reduction policies, according to PwC’s research. … [Read more...] about HONOURING MALAYSIA’S BEST PERFORMERS IN ESG EXCELLENCE: The Edge to roll out Malaysia’s first ESG awards

Thai health officials are expected to gather more data in coming weeks as the highly transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron spread in Thailand. There is a new wave of the two Omicron sub-variant infections hitting a number of countries that had, until recently, seen a large drop in their Covid case loads. Germany, Italy, Australia, Taiwan, Brazil, UK, Mexico, the US states of Florida, Texas and New York, Chile and Greece are some of the countries which have seen sudden spikes and rises in hospital admissions. South Africa and Portugal both had sudden spikes of the new sub-variant area and are now in the decline phase. The UK, for example, is now going through what it describes as its third major wave of infections over the past 6 months. An estimated 1.7 million people in the UK were infected in the 7 days leading up to June 18, a 23% rise on the week before and a 43% jump from the previous week. With people out and about for the region’s summer, medical … [Read more...] about Thailand News Today | Police arrested for bribery over Chinese adult films

NEW YORK: U.S. stocks closed lower on Monday, with few catalysts to sway investor sentiment as they approach the half-way point of a year in which the equity markets have been slammed by heightened inflation worries and tightening Fed policy. The major U.S. stock indexes lost ground after oscillating earlier in the session, with weakness in interest rate sensitive megacaps such as Amazon.com AMZN.O , Microsoft Corp MSFT.O and Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O providing the heaviest drag. "The reason for lack of direction this week and next week is investors are looking for what’s going to happen in the second quarter reporting period," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist of CFRA Research in New York. All three indexes are on course to notch two straight quarterly declines for the first time since 2015. They also appear set to post losses for June, which would mark three consecutive down months for the tech-heavy Nasdaq, its longest losing streak since 2015. The S&P … [Read more...] about Wall Street ends down, pulled lower by growth stocks

- A + A NEW YORK (June 28): U.S. stocks ended a volatile trading session slightly lower on Monday after posting sharp gains the week before, while oil prices and Treasury yields rose. Oil climbed following last week's rout, as the Group of Seven nations promised to tighten the squeeze on Russia's finances with new sanctions that include a plan to cap the price of Russian oil. Investors have been hoping oil's slide from three-month peaks hit earlier in June could ease overall inflation concerns and allow the U.S. Federal Reserve to tighten policy less aggressively than initially feared. Still, data on Monday showed new orders for U.S.-made capital goods and shipments increased solidly in May, pointing to sustained strength in business spending on equipment in the second quarter. Stocks moved between gains and losses during the session on Wall Street, with big growth shares leading the way down. "It's not shocking given we're in a bear market that last week was a … [Read more...] about U.S. stocks fall after recent big gains; oil, yields rise

- A + A MUMBAI/MANILA (June 27): Signs of distress flashing in bond markets suggest the world's poorest nations are set to see a wave of debt restructurings. But a growing cohort of investors say that is a buying opportunity. Panic selling in the aftermath of Sri Lanka's economic collapse has sent the average yield in junk-rated emerging economies to almost 900 basis points above US Treasuries, the highest risk premium in 13 years except for the Covid-19-related rout in 2020, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co data. Yet, initial fears about a widespread default Armageddon across emerging markets is easing, and money managers are looking beyond the handful of countries that may reschedule their debt. This shift in perception means at least some smaller developing nations, called frontier markets, have been unduly punished in the recent sell-off and now offer highly attractive yields. Even in the event of debt restructuring, their bonds will offer greater recovery … [Read more...] about Frontier-debt buyers look past default risk in hunger for yield

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin When it comes to life expectancy, Okinawa prefecture and its semi-tropical islands off Japan’s south coast have long been referenced as the benchmark location for living a long life. According to the WHO , the global trend for how long we live increased by more than six years over the first 20 years of the 21st century, with the average global life expectancy increasing from 66.8 years in 2000 to 73.4 years in 2019. But in Okinawa that trend is in reverse. In 1980, it had the highest average life expectancy for both men and women, with men expected to live until at least 84 years and women averaging an amazing 90 years old. Yet in the 2020 census, it was discovered Okinawan men were living to an average age of 80.27 years and women 87.44 years. Gerontologists have long attributed those long lives to a combination of nutritious diet, regular exercise, a continued sense of purpose (known as the concept of ikigai in … [Read more...] about Live Long And Prosper: Five Countries Where People Live The Longest