Category: Economy

Myanmar is combatting a low-hanging local currency amid an unprecedented dollar shortage that drove up the cost of imports. It has aggravated the economy’s struggle with dual challenges of the pandemic and post-coup financial isolation.

Myanmar’s national currency kyat has tumbled nearly 60% since the military seized power this February. It triggered a freeze on the key sources of foreign currency supplies of Myanmar’s foreign reserves held in the US, and suspension of multilateral aids. The safety of money in banks is fueling worries as the restriction on cash withdrawals is seen in the country.

The money chargers have pulled down their shutters after the shortage of dollars was seen. As pressure mounted on the exchange rate, the Central Bank of Myanmar abandoned its attempts to fix the kyat at 0.8% on either side of its benchmark rate against the dollar.

According to the World Bank, it predicts Myanmar’s economy to witness a slump of a further 18% this year majorly due to the pandemic. This could lead to the biggest contraction in employment in the nation and the number of poor in the country would rise.

A senior executive at a Myanmar bank said, ”the worse the political situation is, the worse the currency rate will be.”

On Sunday, the UAE’s Economy Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al-Marri announced the agreement that The United Arab Emirates and Syria have agreed to expand their economic cooperation and explore new opportunities.

According to the ministry’s data, the value of non-oil trade between the two countries in 2021’s first half was one billion dirhams ($272 million). The decision came after the economy minister of UAE met with his Syrian counterpart. In an informal meeting outside Dubai Expo 2020, UAE’s economy minister and Syria’s counterpart discussed ways to expand their relationship, according to a news agency.

The UAE reopened its mission to Damascus in late 2018 as a means of countering the influence of non-Arab actors such as Iran and the Turkish government, both of which support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Despite UAE’s support, the Syrian army recaptured most of the territory from the opposition, the UAE and other Arab nations made openings in favor of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

As per UAE, the US sanctions imposed on war-torn country Syria earlier this year made it more challenging for them to return to the Arab league. The US attempted to prevent any reconstruction efforts or trade deals from being made without first enacting human rights reforms.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi will launch the “Azadi@75- New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape” conference-cum-expo. The conference and Expo will be held in Lucknow that will showcase and launch many development projects.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued a statement where they said that Mr. Modi will interact with everyone virtually. He is scheduled to hand over the keys of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY-U) houses, virtually to 75,000 beneficiaries in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Modi will lay the foundation stone and launch 75 urban development projects of the state under Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT.

The project will include; the flag of 75 buses under FAME-II for seven cities; Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, and Ghaziabad. It will release a coffee table book encompassing 75 projects. The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs will publish a coffee table book encompassing 75 projects implemented as part of its flagship missions.

The expo will be organized between October 5-7 as a part of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav” which will be themed on transforming the urban landscape with a definite aim on the transformative changes brought about in UP.

Last year, when the pandemic took hold and threatened to destroy the economy, Australia came up with the solution of an innovative A$90 billion (S$88 billion) scheme. The scheme gave the money to the employers to keep their staff employed.

A stunning success at first glance at least, the scheme was called JobKeeper. According to the data, the scheme has saved 7,00,000 jobs and avoided a surge in unemployment. Nearly 3.8 million workers benefited along with one million businesses. In July last year, lockdown caused unemployment to increase to a peak of 7.4%. However, the jobless rate has fallen to 4.5%. This was lower than the pre-pandemic level of 5.1%.

According to the latest survey, it was found that 71% of Australians support companies being forced to refund the JobKeeper grant if they did not need it. It also found that 68% of Australians asked for the government to reveal the top 10,000 companies that received public funding and the amount they received, compared to 8% who objected and the remainder who did not make a commitment.

It has been labeled as one of the largest wastes of taxpayer money in Australian history by the opposition Labor party.

The Indian government’s defense ministry has dissolved the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) with effect from October 1. According to an official, the ministry has transferred its assets, employees, and management to the 7 public sector units (PSUs).

On May 16, last year the Central Government had announced that it will provide autonomy, accountability, and efficiency in ordnance supplies by the corporatization of the OFB, as part of the “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. The order came on September 28 where the defense minister said that the Government of India has decided to transfer the management, control, operation, and maintenance of these 41 production units and identified non-production units to the 7 wholly-owned government companies of India from October 1, 2021.

The 7 PSUs also called as DPSUs are Munition India Limited, Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Troop Comforts Limited, Yatra India Limited, India Optel Limited, and Gliders India Limited.

Currently, the OFB is an entity within the defense ministry that supplies essential arms and ammunition to the government’s three armed forces and paramilitaries. Within a period of two years, all the PSUs should seek an option for a fixed acceptance for the employees on deemed deputation to that respective PSU.

On Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakon unveils Malaysia’s 12th biggest five-year development Malaysian Plan. In the Parliament, this first major policy that was introduced by the administration can prove as a litmus test for the bipartisan cooperation between Yakob’s government and the opposition.

This is the largest five-year road map with RM 400 billion (S$129 Billion) allocated for the new and existing projects. This project is 54% bigger than the 11th Malaysia’s plan that was unveiled in 2016 that had RM260 billion.

The new plan that aims to turn Malaysia into a high-income economy by 2025, has been delayed for more than a year due to the COVID-19 crisis. It focuses on eradicating poverty and increasing the contribution of small businesses to the total economic output.

The new plan will have nine main areas of focus with the theme “Prosperous, Inclusive and Sustainable Malaysia”. It also focuses on closing the income gap and development in some of Malaysia’s least-developed states like Sabah and Sarawak in Borneo.

Mr. Ismail said, ”The average annual Growth Domestic Product (GDP) under the 11th Malaysia Plan was 2.7%, lower than what was targeted, due to the contraction in 2020”.

Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs Saifuddin bin Abdullah said Malaysia and Singapore are discussing the possibility of reopening their borders soon. After the plight of several people, the minister assured the lawmakers in Dewan Rakyat.

He commented that he is aware of the issue as it is not only about the COVID-19 but also about those who have been separated from their loved ones even before the start of the pandemic. He is trying his best to find the solution to overcome this situation together. Abdullah also confirmed the news of a telephonic conversation between the Health Minister and his Singaporean counterpart. The discussion was regarding the procedure on how the borders can be reopened between the two nations.

On Thursday, Foreign Affairs mentioned that the matter has been brought to the attention of the head of the committee to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the country Mr. Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

The opening of the borders would pave the way for the country to open through the air routes with other countries like Thailand. The issue was raised by Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Ind-Muar) who received numerous pleas from Malaysians who are eager to see their loved ones.

On Tuesday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping appeared in a prerecorded video at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He said that China will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad as part of its efforts to slow climate change.

No details were provided by President Xi, however, based on how the policy is implemented, the move could significantly limit the funds of coal plants in the developing world. To meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce carbon emissions, China was under heavy diplomatic pressure. The nation was asked to put an end to its coal funding overseas as it could make it easier for the world to stay on course.

Earlier this year, Xi’s announcement followed a similar gesture by South Korea and Japan. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US climate envoy John Kerry recommended China to obey the lead of its Asian counterpart.

In Jinping’s prerecorded video he stressed China’s peaceful intentions in international relations at the UN Gathering. He said that China will set up support for other developing countries and help them develop green and low-carbon energy and the nation will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.

On Friday, the government unveiled a package of initiatives to attract high-growth, high-tech local and regional companies that will get listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

With an initial tranche of $1.5 billion, the biggest initiative is to set funds that will assist promising high-growth companies to raise capital from public listing in SGX. The funds will be co-invested by the Government and Temasek. The cash flow of firms that are growing fast usually exceeds the growth of the overall economy. In contrast, most companies do not pay dividends to stockholders, instead choosing to reinvest profits into their business expansion. It is likely that EDBI, the investment arm of the Economic Development Board, will set up this IPO fund – with an initial tranche of $500 million. It will mainly be focused on future technology innovators and market leaders.

Additionally, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will improve its Grant for Equity Market Singapore (Gems) scheme, launched in early 2019, to help companies seeking listing as well as to build the equity research ecosystem in Singapore.

Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry said that the nation will make a concerted push to establish itself as the listing destination of choice for the local and global market leader.

The United Arab Emirates seeks to grow its economic ties with Israel over $1 trillion in the coming decade. On Monday, Economy Minister Abdulla Bin Touq said that strengthening a year-old relationship with Israel has already produced billions of dollars worth of business.

Since normalizing its relationship in 2020, UAE has signed nearly 60 memorandums of understanding with Israel. They plan to expand an “influx” of trade in a coming couple of years. In a virtual conference from the US, Bin Touq said that he is leading a high-level business delegation where the USA was looking at sectors including defense, energy, and food security. He said that they have $600 to $700 million of bilateral trade happening. They have billions of dollars of funds that have been announced mutually between the two nations. They are moving in many areas of economic opportunities and are willing to create over $1 trillion of economic activity in a decade.

In the economic activities, Mubadala Investment Co.’s $1 billion purchase of Tel Aviv-listed Delek’s stake deal in the Israeli gas field was also included. Following the intense diplomacy from the US, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan also recognized Israel.