China’s economy is still growing. but the recovery is slowing down
China’s economy is still growing, but the pace of its recovery slowed in the second quarter as the country contended with surging commodity prices and supply chain disruptions.
GDP grew 7.9 percent in the April-to-June quarter compared with the same period a year ago, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.
That rate of growth was significantly slower than the 18.3 percent year-on-year increase China registered in the first quarter — though that record-breaking figure largely reflected how much the economy slumped in early 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was taking hold.
The latest figure was also a bit weaker than expected. Analysts polled by Reuters predicted that China’s economy would expand 8.1 percent in the second quarter.
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Adani sees Indian economy growing to $15 trillion in two decades
Billionaire Gautam Adani on Monday said the Indian economy is at the start of a virtuous cycle and on the path to becoming a USD 15 trillion economy over the next two decades.
The Indian economy was worth USD 2.89 trillion before the pandemic, which wiped off over 7 percent of the total economy.
Addressing the shareholders of his port-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group, he said while questions are being raised about India’s target of becoming a USD 5 trillion economy in the next four years, he has no doubt that India will achieve it.
“I personally see it as an inconsequential question,” Adani, 59, who is Chairman of the Group, said.
“India will be a 5 trillion-dollar economy and then go on to be a 15 trillion-dollar-plus economy over the next two decades,” he said.
He went on to state that India will emerge as one of the largest global markets, both in terms of consumption size and market cap.
“There will be bumps along the road, as has been the case in the past, and is expected to be the case in the future.
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Indonesia’s covid-19 surge has nervy traders recalling India stock rebound
Indonesian investors are understandably worried about the potential impact of the spreading pandemic on their holdings. If the experience of India is any guide, they should have some reason for confidence.
India’s bonds, currency and stocks were all beaten down earlier this year as the outbreak raged across the nation — but rebounded once an inflection point in cases was reached. Favorable positioning suggests Indonesia, which is now seeing daily infections exceed India’s, may be even better placed to bounce back once numbers level off.
The spread of the virus took a heavy toll on Indian assets, especially once the tally of new cases jumped to nearly 400,000 a day in April from about 50,000 at the end of March. The rupee was Asia’s worst-performing currency that month, sliding 1.3 percent, with declines exacerbated by concern the central bank’s bond-buying plans would add to a liquidity glut. The benchmark Sensex slid as much as 4.7 percent in April by the time it reached its intraday low on April 22.
India bonds slipped 0.4 percent during the month, weighed down by expectations that higher Covid-19 relief spending would exacerbate the fiscal deficit, and the disruption of supply chains would push up inflation. Bonds would have performed even worse without the debt-purchase program and Federal-Reserve-style “Operation Twist.”
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Russian companies scramble to meet mandatory vaccination deadline
Businesses across Russia are racing to inoculate their employees against the coronavirus in order to meet new rules on mandatory vaccinations.
Moscow’s service sector firms — from supermarket chains and bank branches to restaurants and bars — have until Friday to ensure at least 60 percent of their employees have received a first dose of one of Russia’s homemade vaccines, or face being fined or shut down by the authorities.
Another 21 of Russia’s 85 regions have introduced similar requirements, with deadlines falling before the end of the month.
But companies say they face a host of difficulties in meeting the deadline — imposed only last month as a Delta-fueled third wave took hold across the country — including vaccine shortages, difficulties vaccinating migrant workers, the summer holiday season and opposition from employees.
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Japan: stop real estate project in Myanmar
Japanese business entities should stop their participation in a commercial real estate project involving Myanmar’s abusive military, Human Rights Now, Human Rights Watch, Japan International Volunteer Center, Justice For Myanmar, and Mekong Watch said. The proposed Y-Complex in Yangon is being constructed on land leased from the country’s armed forces, the Tatmadaw, whose long record of abuses has worsened since the February 1, 2021, military coup.
One participating company, Tokyo Tatemono, stated that they have suspended operation of the Y-Complex project since the coup. However, project participants, including publicly-funded Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN), Fujita Corporation, and Tokyo Tatemono, have not publicly disclosed the duration of the suspension or the conditions for resuming operations.
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U.S. business groups urge trade chief to forgo Vietnam tariffs
The U.S.’s biggest business organizations in areas from food to fashion asked the nation’s trade chief to refrain from resorting to tariffs as a remedy in its trade disputes with Vietnam.
“If the administration has concerns about elements of the U.S. trading relationship with Vietnam, then engagement is required — not more tariffs,” 76 groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Retail Federation and the Internet Association — whose members include Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google — said Wednesday in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
The USTR has been investigating imports of timber from Vietnam that it suspects are illegally harvested or traded, while the U.S. has also been considering whether to move forward on imposing tariffs over currency actions. In January, it labeled Hanoi’s currency actions as unreasonable, paving the way for punitive tariffs under section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act. The U.S. has until October to decide on whether to impose duties.