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April
Raytheon, Lockheed executives banned from China
Written by Nur Yasmin
China has banned senior executives of Raytheon Missiles & Defense and Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) from entering, working, staying and residing in the country since Feb. 16, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.
Raytheon and Lockheed Martin have been involved in arms sales to Taiwan for a long time, the ministry said.
China banned the two U.S. firms from carrying out import and export activities with Chinese enterprises in a bid to prevent Chinese products from being used in their military businesses.
Raytheon Missiles & Defense is a unit of Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N). (Reuters)
April
Australia, China agriculture ministers meet amid diplomatic thaw
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to improving agriculture ties with China after a ministerial meeting, as Canberra cheered progress made toward restoring trade in barley amid a thawing in diplomatic relations.
Australia last week said it had reached an agreement with China to resolve their dispute over barley imports which followed Beijing in January resuming purchases of Australian coal after almost three years, and a ramping of up beef imports.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said the resumption of normal trade was in the interests of both countries after a meeting with Chinese agriculture vice minister Ma Youxiang in Canberra on Monday.
"I reiterated our clear and consistent position that all trade impediments affecting Australian exports should be removed," Watt said in a statement. "We also discussed bilateral issues, including trade and consular matters."
Australia's diplomatic relations with its largest trading partner had been severely strained since 2018 when it banned China's Huawei from providing equipment during the rollout of its 5G network. Ties soured further after Canberra called for an independent investigation into the origin of COVID-19.
China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities including wine and barley.
But tensions have eased after the centre-left Labor government returned to power last year in Australia. Ma Youxiang's visit comes just days after vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu's trip to Australia.
Chinese officials are showing a "sincere desire for co-operation" to remove the punitive tariffs on Australian wine, Watt told The Australian newspaper. Australia expects to reach a deal with China in its dispute over wine tariffs after the agreement on barley.
Wine exports to mainland China, which was Australia's top market by value before Beijing imposed tariffs, plunged to about A$12 million ($8 million) in 2022 from A$1.3 billion in 2019, a report by industry body Wine Australia in February showed. (Reuters)
April
World Bank warns Fiji to cut debt urgently or risk stalling pandemic recovery
Written by Nur Yasmin
Fiji must take urgent action to reduce a debt burden that exceeds 90% of gross domestic product or put at risk its recovery from the COVID pandemic and plans for sustainable economic development, the World Bank said on Tuesday.
Debt has spiralled since 2019, as the tourism-dependent economy was hit by border closures against COVID-19 and tropical storms that lashed the Pacific island nation.
Despite authorities' spending restraint during the pandemic, however, the sharp contraction in output drove up public spending as a share of GDP, the bank said in a report.
"Levels of (debt at) around 90% (of GDP) leave the country with limited buffers to address future shocks and highlight the scale and urgency of the fiscal consolidation required," the bank said.
The comment came in a statement released along with the World Bank's Fiji Public Expenditure Report 2023, sought by the government.
"This situation, combined with emerging global economic risks, threatens Fiji's macro-fiscal stability, an essential foundation for sustainable economic and social development," the report said.
Fiji's government says its biggest lenders are the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, though it has outstanding loans from Chinese, Japanese and European Union lending institutions.
The World Bank report comes just as Fiji's new government strives to get it back on a path of fiscal sustainability, said Finance Minister Biman Prasad, who is also deputy prime minister.
"The findings ... will serve as an important consideration and input in this entire process of fiscal consolidation," he said.
Sovereign debt is in focus after a renewed push to overcome the logjams followed a "roundtable" at the recent IMF spring meetings in Washington.
That prompted pledges from the Fund and World Bank to share assessments of countries' troubles more quickly, provide more low-interest and grant funding, and set stricter timeframes on restructurings. (Reuters)
April
Soaring temperatures bring school closures in parts of India
Written by Nur Yasmin
Authorities in parts of India have shut schools for a week after they recorded sweltering temperatures of more than 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).
At least two states, Tripura in the northeast and West Bengal in the east, ordered schools to shut this week, as temperatures rose more than 5 Celsius above normal, state governments said.
Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, recorded temperatures of 40C (104F) on April 13 and and 41C (105.8F) on April 14, more than 5 degrees above normal for the time of year, said G K Das, an official at the state weather office, told Reuters.
India is likely to experience heat waves between March and May, the national weather office said in February.
Average maximum temperature in February across India was 29.54C 85.1F) the highest since 1901, when the IMD started keeping weather records.
Scientists have linked the early onset of an intense summer to climate change, and say more than a billion people in India and neighbouring Pakistan are in some way vulnerable to the extreme heat. (Reuters)
April
Landslide in Pakistan's Khyber Pass buries trucks, kills at least two people
Written by Nur Yasmin
A landslide during a thunder and lightning storm on the main road through northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pass buried more than 20 trucks on Tuesday, killing at least two people, with dozens more feared trapped, officials said.
"Twenty to twenty five containers are buried in the wreckage," Abdul Nasir Khan, deputy commissioner of the Khyber district, told Reuters. "The wreckage is quite extensive and our rescue operation is continuing with heavy machinery."
He said two Afghan citizens had been killed, and authorities were trying to recover the bodies. Three other people had been taken to hospital and the number of casualties could rise, he added.
The landslide took place in the early hours of Tuesday on the main route connecting Pakistan with land-locked Afghanistan, a major transit point for trade between the South Asian nations and into Central Asia.
Photos shared by officials showed truck containers mostly buried in huge piles of rocks. (Reuters)
April
World Bank warns Fiji to cut debt urgently or risk stalling pandemic recovery
Written by Nur Yasmin
Fiji must take urgent action to reduce a debt burden that exceeds 90% of gross domestic product or put at risk its recovery from the COVID pandemic and plans for sustainable economic development, the World Bank said on Tuesday.
Debt has spiralled since 2019, as the tourism-dependent economy was hit by border closures against COVID-19 and tropical storms that lashed the Pacific island nation.
Despite authorities' spending restraint during the pandemic, however, the sharp contraction in output drove up public spending as a share of GDP, the bank said in a report.
"Levels of (debt at) around 90% (of GDP) leave the country with limited buffers to address future shocks and highlight the scale and urgency of the fiscal consolidation required," the bank said.
The comment came in a statement released along with the World Bank's Fiji Public Expenditure Report 2023, sought by the government.
"This situation, combined with emerging global economic risks, threatens Fiji's macro-fiscal stability, an essential foundation for sustainable economic and social development," the report said.
Fiji's government says its biggest lenders are the Asian Development Bank and World Bank, though it has outstanding loans from Chinese, Japanese and European Union lending institutions.
The World Bank report comes just as Fiji's new government strives to get it back on a path of fiscal sustainability, said Finance Minister Biman Prasad, who is also deputy prime minister.
"The findings ... will serve as an important consideration and input in this entire process of fiscal consolidation," he said.
Sovereign debt is in focus after a renewed push to overcome the logjams followed a "roundtable" at the recent IMF spring meetings in Washington.
That prompted pledges from the Fund and World Bank to share assessments of countries' troubles more quickly, provide more low-interest and grant funding, and set stricter timeframes on restructurings. (Reuters)
April
UN predicts Afghan economy would contract if aid drops 30%
Written by Nur Yasmin
Afghanistan's economy will contract, inflation will rise and liquidity will fall if there is a 30% drop in international aid as feared, according to an analysis by the United Nations' development agency released on Tuesday.
International officials say aid to Afghanistan, the recipient of the world's largest humanitarian program, will drop sharply this year as donors assess global crises and because of restrictions on female aid workers imposed by the Taliban administration.
The United Nations' Development Programme (UNDP) analysed the impact of a 30% drop in aid and found gross domestic product for the already struggling economy would shrink 0.4% this year.
"This will cause an exchange rate devaluation, another contraction in liquidity, banks and informal credit will face more problems ... inflation will go up and domestic demands will go down, leading to more poverty and less growth," Abdallah Al Dardari, UNDP's Resident Representative for Afghanistan, told Reuters. "The country finds itself in a poverty trap."
Per capita annual incomes could fall to $306 in 2024 - representing a 40% drop since 2020 and placing the country among the poorest in the world.
Afghanistan's humanitarian aid plan is only 5% funded for 2023, with $251 million committed out of $4.6 billion requested.
"We may find ourselves in a larger drop in aid than 30%," said Al Dardari.
If aid continued at $3.7 billion, received last year, the economy was projected to grow 1.3%, making up some ground after plummeting since the Taliban came to power and foreign forces and development aid withdrew in 2021, but still failing to keep pace with more than 2% population growth.
The Taliban administration's order banning most female NGO workers in December followed by a decision to restrict Afghan women from working at the United Nations this month have exacerbated fears that donors would turn away from Afghanistan. The U.N. has told Afghan staff not to come to the office while it reviews its operations.
Taliban officials have said their decisions on female aid workers are an "internal issue" and that foreign governments should reduce restrictions and unfreeze central bank assets to alleviate the economic crisis. (Reuters)
April
Myanmar's junta pardons over 3,000 prisoners for New Year -statement
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's junta released 3,113 prisoners, including 98 foreigners, to mark the country's traditional New Year on Monday, according to a statement from the military government published on pro-military Telegram channels.
The military-led government has jailed thousands of opponents and pro-democracy activists since it seized power in 2021 and brutally put down protests, drawing global condemnation.
Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe, a state secretary of the junta, said in a statement the amnesty is a "celebration of Myanmar's New Year to bring joy for the people and address humanitarian concerns".
A junta spokesperson did not answer a phone call seeking comment and it was unclear who was included in Monday's amnesty.
Ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate and figurehead of opposition to military rule, is serving 33 years in prison after a marathon of trials condemned internationally as a sham.
The junta has also detained other senior members of her civilian government the military overthrew in the 2021 coup.
At least 17,460 people remain in detention and 3,240 have been killed by the junta, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an activist group.
The junta periodically grants an amnesty to prisoners, but the numbers this year and in 2022 have been a fraction of the 23,000 released during the same Buddhist holiday in 2021.
Human rights organisations and many world leaders have repeatedly called on the junta to release all political prisoners. (Reuters)
April
South Korea and Japan's finance ministers to hold first bilateral talks in 7 years
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea and Japan's finance ministers will hold a bilateral meeting early next month for the first time in seven years, heralding closer cooperation in economic policy that has been hampered by diplomatic conflict.
South Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told reporters during a visit to the United States that he has agreed to meet Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, according to a media pool report.
They will meet on the sidelines of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meetings, due to be held in Incheon, South Korea May 2-5, although other details have yet to be decided, Choo said.
"It is significant in that it will be the first step toward reviving regular bilateral meetings," Choo said, without elaborating.
Regular annual meetings between the two countries' finance ministers have been suspended since 2016 due to disputes over wartime history.
But last month at a summit between South Korea's Yoon Suk Yeol and Japan's Fumio Kishida, the two neighbours promised to put aside their difficult shared history and said they would work together to counter regional security challenges.
Financial markets will likely pay close attention to whether the finance ministers will discuss resuming a bilateral currency swap arrangement - one that had served as backstop against any potential currency crisis but which expired in February 2015. (Reuters)
April
North Korea celebrates building 10,000 modern homes in Pyongyang
Written by Nur Yasmin
North Korea held a ceremony on Sunday to celebrate the completion of 10,000 new modern homes in the newly built Hwasong District in Pyongyang, state media KCNA reported.
Leader Kim Jong Un took part in the ceremony, the report said, as well as a number of senior government officials including Kim Tok Hun, premier of the cabinet.
The milestone comes two months after Kim broke ground in February on another housing project that has been described as "another luxurious street of socialism full of the people's happiness" by KCNA.
In 2021, North Korea announced plans to build 50,000 new apartments in the capital over the course of five years.
Since then, North Korea said it has moved forward with a series of construction projects, some of which are still ongoing amid foreign suspicion of food shortages.
Kim said the housing project is a long-cherished plan being pushed forward as a "top priority" by the Workers' Party of Korea and the state and he reaffirmed his idea to make Pyongyang a "world-famous" city, according to KCNA. (Reuters)