Pandemic Financial News

Canada’s economy is stalling, the unemployment rate is rising and housing costs are crushing some households. The country’s banks are exposed to all of that, yet their shares are surging.

China's Huawei will start building its mobile phone network equipment factory in France next year, a source familiar with the matter said, pressing ahead with its first plant in Europe even as some European governments curb the use of the firm's 5G gear. The company outlined plans for the factory with an initial investment of 200 million euros ($215.28 million) in 2020, but the roll-out was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the source said on Monday. They declined to be identified because they are not authorised to comment on this matter.

followed by kitchen staples, household care products and food and beverages, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) along with industry body CII said in a report. The report said that the price increase has led to pressure on volumes of fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG, as the quantum of price hikes remains firm. FMCG volumes reported a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4% between 2007 and 2023 and 1.5% in the 12 months ended July 2023, as factors such as the covid-19 pandemic, high inflation and lower emphasis on innovation as well as category development weighed heavily on volume growth.

Workers in Paris would quit or demand a pay increase if they’re asked to return to the office on a full-time basis. According to a survey by Bloomberg Intelligence, only 28% of the French capital’s workforce would choose to stay in their job at their existing level of pay if they’re told to work in the office five days a week, suggesting Parisian employers have little leverage in the matter. The survey, conducted from November 15-16 with 250 employees of companies with offices in Paris, found that 34% would rather find a new job than stay at their existing one if they lost their right to work from home.

Reserve Bank of India’s latest policy tone suggests that it could tolerate funds flowing to the system through government spending as long as durable liquidity keeps reducing, in line with the central bank’s inflation targeting aim. “Should govt spending pick up in Q4 and lead to system liquidity improving then that could see overnight rates falling back towards Repo rate. As long as that process is coterminous with a fall in durable liquidity RBI should allow the reset in overnight rates to play out,” economists from ICICI Securities Primary Dealership wrote in a December 11 note. An easing call rate indicates lower cost of borrowing in the economy as a host of financial instruments are linked to the interbank rate of borrowing and lending. The economists pointed out that in the RBI’s latest monetary policy statement on December 8, governor Shaktikanta Das had emphasized that factors such as a rise in currency in circulation had mopped up a portion of durable liquidity surplus in the banking system in the ongoing quarter. Moreover, Das also alluded to a compression in the RBI’s balance sheet from pandemic highs, indicating that a large part of the excess liquidity sloshing around the system during the pandemic had already been tackled by the central bank.

NEW DELHI : In 1937, Amrita Sher-Gil, an Indo-Hungarian artist, painted The Story Teller. The oil-on-canvas painting depicts an intimate rural scene, with village women huddled together in a courtyard, their faces relaxed and smiles easy. The cosy setting also features cows and a calf, a dog lazing under a charpai, a little boy, and a man in a doorway. That November, Sher-Gil sold the work to Badruddin Tyabji Jr., a diplomat bearing the same name as his grandfather, the third president of the Indian National Congress, at an exhibition in Faletti’s Hotel, Lahore.

India's bio-economy has grown eight times in the last eight years from USD 10 billion to USD 80 billion, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Monday, underlining that in the coming times, biotechnology will become the biggest foundation for medical treatment. The Indian biotech industry aims at growing to USD 150 billion by 2025 and USD 300 billion by 2030, he noted while virtually addressing an event «Biotechnology: The Path of Innovation and Wellness for Viksit Bharat» held at the at Vigyan Bhavan in Ahmedabad.

Neelkanth Mishra, Chief Economist, Axis Bank & Head of Global Research, Axis Capital, says the turn in the capital injection cycle has become visible. Now we are seeing cement volume growth picking up. We are starting to see early signs of shortages in the power generation sector, which gives us some comfort that trend growth as we think about the next five years is going to be well above 7%. Those are the reasons why growth numbers will be upgraded.” Your report talks about a positive surprise as far as India’s growth is concerned. In fact, it is not just you. RBI Governor too this time around raised the outlook on GDP growth and why not? The last reading on quarterly GDP was a big surprise. What are the elements of this outperformance on growth which you are talking about going forward? There are three major points here. The first is that I think the capital injection slowdown or rather the slowdown in capital formation that happened pre-Covid has already brought down trend growth assumptions and that I think was a mistake. Most people thought this means that India's economy is no longer capable of growing even at 7% and that it should be more like 6-6.5%.

NEW DELHI : India’s travel and tourism industry is poised for significant growth this financial year as more people travel overseas or make time for short getaways despite rising airfares, as per a new study. Collectively, revenue is expected to increase by about 30% in the ongoing financial year, and by about 18% over pre-pandemic peaks, ratings agency Crisil said in a statement.

Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent as expected and raised the FY24 GDP forecast to 7 percent from 6.5 percent earlier. However, it retained the FY24 CPI inflation forecast at 5.4 percent. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank also retained its stance of remaining focused on “withdrawal of accommodation." Apart from Friday's policy decision, continued foreign investor inflows, strong macro data, state election results and fall in crude oil prices as well as supporting global market trends have also lifted the index to its peak.

The Indiana secretary of state is appealing a ruling that a law stipulating voting requirements for a candidate’s party affiliation is unconstitutional

At a small rural Missouri high school, two English teachers shared a secret: Both were posting adult content on OnlyFans, the subscription-based website known for sexually explicit content

The solid hiring revealed in Friday’s jobs report for November, along with a raft of other recent economic data, is boosting hopes that the U.S. economy will achieve a “soft landing” next year rather than a widely feared recession

President Joe Biden goes into next year’s election with a vexing challenge: Just as the U.S. economy is getting stronger, people are still feeling horrible about it

Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines are saying no to a contract offer hammered out by their union and the airline

New Delhi: Amid a consistent rise in power demand and inadequate domestic coal supplies, the Union power ministry is set to review its current policy of mandating power generation companies to blend 6% imported coal. The review, likely in January, will determine whether to continue the blending requirement beyond March and consider increasing the blending percentage in response to growing demand and fluctuating coal stocks, said two people in the know of the development. "The coal stock position and demand situation would be looked into and if the demand seems to be rising, the blending quantum may even be increased," said one of the persons on condition of anonymity.

Here is your Pro Recap of the top takeaways from Wall Street analysts for the past week: upgrades for GM and First Solar and downgrades for Albemarle, PayPal, and Take-Two Interactive.

The future of Canada’s military colleges is at a crossroads, say two veterans of the school and the military.

Federal Reserve will cut interest rates early next year. The acceleration in payrolls is at odds with recent reports that have depicted a softer hiring pace, an outcome favoured by the Fed as it will help rein in demand and tame price pressures. Officials are still expected to leave rates unchanged when they meet next week. Elsewhere, Japan’s economy contracted in the third quarter by more than initially reported, while Brazil’s barely expanded in the period.

Canada is turning into a battle for survival for many immigrants due to the high cost of living and rental shortages, as rising emigration numbers hint at newcomers being forced to turn their back on a country that they chose to make their adopted home. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made immigration his main weapon to blunt Canada's big challenge of an aging and slowing population, and it has also helped fuel economic growth. That drove Canada's population up at its fastest clip in more than six decades this year, Statistics Canada said. Want to know if you qualify for immigration? Click here But now a reversal of that trend is gradually taking hold.

Deanna Thompson says she often feels like she’s screaming as loud as she can in a room full of people and no one can hear her.