Country Financial News

Investing.com-- Oil prices rose slightly in Asian trade on Thursday as the prospect of tighter supplies helped traders look past concerns over rising U.S. inflation, while focus remained on more upcoming economic data from the U.S. and China. 

BEIJING — China's real estate problems have again drawn attention to the world of shadow banking and the risks it poses to the economy.

Indian startups got their first big push with global investors starting to chase companies like Flipkart, Ola and Oyo, as the world sensed a massive opportunity in the country’s market. This was on the back of a much-ballyhooed IPO of ecommerce behemoth Alibaba and investors in China wanting to get a beachhead in the next big market. Investors lined up, betting on tech startups, especially in the consumer internet sector, seeking to tap the young demographic of a country of over 1.2 billion people at the time. It was not only the financial investors but large strategic players like Amazon declared India as a big market, deploying billions of dollars, as the rush of capital began. This was when this newspaper instituted what’s become the most celebrated set of awards for the startup ecosystem — the Economic Times Startup Awards— with the idea to propel entrepreneurship in the country.

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have the potential to replace cash in the coming decade, according to a report by venture capital firm Blume Ventures shared with ET. The report, titled ‘Future of Money’, said CBDCs have the capacity to boost financial inclusion by offering a safe and affordable means of making transactions for people with no access to traditional banking services.

ET Startup Awards 2023 jury meeting, as the members contemplated how much weight should be given to public good, impact and financials. Their final choice was FIA Global, a platform that helps people in some of the most remote areas of the country avail of formal financial services, from opening a bank account and taking a loan to investing in mutual funds and buying digital gold.

National Australia Bank will shut down its office in Hong Kong after deciding that Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo are the preferred regional centres to support its institutional banking clients in Asia.

Home-grown renewable energy investor Lighthouse Infrastructure is preparing to raise more than $400 million for its energy transition strategy, scouring the country for more solar and wind power assets.

Geneva: WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang said developing countries need to think about development from a broader perspective and look at inclusiveness to encourage small businesses and women empowerment. At the ongoing WTO Public Forum in Geneva on Wednesday, he said development goes beyond special and differential treatment (S&DT). S&DT allows developing and poor countries benefits such as taking longer time to implement agreements and binding commitments. Emphasising that S&DT is a core principle of the WTO, he said it is required because of asymmetries in capabilities and knowledge among countries and that «discussions on specific S&DT provisions in WTO agreements are continuing in the house». «Meanwhile, development goes beyond S&DT.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday said food security, reform of the multilateral trade watchdog, development agenda, moratorium on ecommerce transactions, and fisheries subsidies agreements are the deliverables for the ministerial conference (MC) next year. She also said that work is on to introduce «deliberative sessions» at the MC13 for ministers to discuss issues related to carbon taxes, climate, MSMES, women, industrial subsidies and trade. «For MC13, we're trying to get a breakthrough in food security and agriculture but the issues are tough. Some members want to look at trade distorting subsidies and others want to work on stockholding (issues) like India,» she said. Public stockholding is a policy tool used by governments to purchase, stockpile and distribute food when needed.

NEW DELHI : Medical technology giant GE HealthCare plans to scale up manufacturing in India and has chosen the country as part of its strategy to diversify beyond China, a top executive said. An official announcement on the manufacturing boost is expected soon. “India for India makes sense.

NEW DELHI : Real estate assets hidden abroad may come under scrutiny after a global framework of real-time data sharing by national authorities takes effect, marking the next frontier in governments’ efforts to combat tax evasion and money laundering. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) report to the leaders of G20 nations at the New Delhi summit has made proposals with far-reaching implications for tax compliance related to overseas property holdings.

NEW DELHI : Monin, a French syrups company, is set to expand its production in India with a ₹300 crore investment in a new plant in Telangana. Although the company announced the plant in 2018, its groundbreaking is happening this week, said Olivier Monin, chairman, Georges Monin SA. The investment into Monin India Pvt.

Indian tourists annually before the pandemic, South African Tourism anticipates a large resurgence in Indian travellers due to a new e-visa pilot programme. Neliswa Nkani, hub head for the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and Australasia (MEISA) for the tourism board, said the introduction of a direct flight by Air India could boost tourism, potentially transforming how Indians travel to South Africa. Nearly 100,000 Indians travelled to South Africa every year before the pandemic began in 2019.

NEW DELHI : India will introduce an import management system to permit the import of laptops, servers and other IT hardware products from trusted jurisdictions, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of electronics and IT, said. Imports from non-trusted jurisdictions—read China—will be limited to a certain number of units. The framework, expected to be put in place this month, aims to exit the ‘non-sustainable’ model of relying on imports, the minister said in an interview.

ARPOB) per day and declining average length of stay (ALOS) of the patients. Improving operational performance have helped them gain valuations on the bourses. For the patients, however, these parameters mean an increase in the cost of treatment — even on shorter hospital stays. Medical inflation in India was estimated to be 14% in 2021 and continues to remain high post the pandemic. For instance, Apollo Hospitals, country's largest hospital chain, has posted steady increase in its ARPOB from ₹ 37,397 in FY20 to ₹57,760 for the first quarter of this fiscal. The company, in its June quarter earnings call, has held that it could sustain the improvement in ARPOB to ₹60,000 in the near term.

National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA), are stepping up focus on bolstering an «effective two-way communication» process between auditors and those charged with governance of a company in a bid to ensure IL&FS-like scandals don't recur, people close to the development said. The idea is to ensure early detection of corporate fraud or stress and enable the company or authorities concerned to take swift remedial measures, they told ET.

Japan’s Inpex has taken another public swipe at the Albanese government’s gas strategy, telling a conference in Darwin the country is a “global outlier” on energy policy and accusing Canberra of “moving the goal posts” on multi-billion-dollar gas investments.

Indian commerce minister, Piyush Goyal revealed Wednesday that the country is in the process of drafting a new policy aimed at enticing electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers and fostering increased investment in the industry.

The head of the United Nations says all countries, including Russia, must abide by resolutions that ban arms exports from North Korea

A renaissance for the nuclear-power industry has run into a problem: Prices have soared for the radioactive uranium required to fuel reactors in the decades ahead. New reactors have connected to the grid in the U.S., Asia and Europe, while the lifetime of existing plants has been extended. Japan is bringing power stations that were closed after the 2011 Fukushima disaster back online.

border issues between Assam and Meghalaya. Sarma, along with his Meghalaya counterpart Conrad Sangma, inaugurated a Karbi Hemtun, or Karbi Bhawan, built at a cost of Rs 21.5 crore by the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council, in the Meghalaya capital of Shillong on Wednesday. The duo also took part in the foundation stone laying ceremony for the construction of a 100-bedded Karbi students' hostel cum commercial complex, with a project cost of approximately Rs 22 crore, in the pine city. Sarma exuded confidence the newly inaugurated Karbi Hemtun in Shillong would be of great help for residents of Karbi Anglong district of Assam visiting the pine city for various purposes. Further, with the laying of foundation stone for the construction of the 100-bedded students' hostel today, a long step has been taken towards finding a solution to scarcity of suitable accommodation for students from Karbi Anglong pursuing their academic courses in Shillong, one of the most sought-after destinations for higher studies in the Northeastern region. Sarma also expressed hope the commercial complex in the hostel premises would help strengthen the financial health of the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council.