On Friday (Jan 21), US President Joe Biden praised Intel’s plan to spend US$20 billion on a new US semiconductor facility. This facility was hailed by the president as the “historic” investment as a global chip shortage fans the inflation flames weighing on his leadership. The president was seen urging the manufacturers to bring their production back to the country. The nation was once a leader in making the chips key from vacuums to television to cars, everything that became scarce due to the pandemic. Biden said, “This is a truly historic investment in America and American wor
Official figures showed on Saturday, Sri Lanka’s consumer prices show a new high of 14 percent in December. The current high surpassed the previous high of 11.1 percent from a month earlier as food and fuel charges are worsening in the country. According to the Census and Statistics Department, the National Consumer Price Index (NCPI) for December, year-on-year inflation reached its highest level since the index was established in 2015. Food inflation has seen a new record high of 21.5 percent which is up from 16.9 percent in November and 7.5 percent a year ago. Vegetables and fruits cro
New Zealand's first foreign aid Hercules aircraft carrying emergency supplies arrived in Tonga. The military plane landed after the workers cleared ash from the Tonga airport. Hundreds of volunteers and the rescue team desperately worked for days to clear the thick layer of ash at the Nuku’alofa airport runway that prevented planes from landing. They used wheelbarrows and shovels, to which New Zealand’s commander of joint force Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour called it a “mammoth effort”. New Zealand's Defence Force confirmed the arrival of Hercules C-130 at 16:00 local time (03:00 GMT
On Wednesday, the Turkish Central Bank announced a currency swap deal between Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Both the nations have agreed to a currency swap of 4.74 billion to build and boost Turkey’s foreign exchange reserve. With the possibility of extending the deal further, currently, the nations swapped 65 billion Turkish lira and 18 billion UAE dirham for three years. According to the agreement, the central bank sold foreign currency to prop up the lira during a currency crisis in order to increase reserves in Turkey. The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey’s statemen
On Tuesday, India announced a $500 million credit line to help Sri Lanka purchase fuel (petroleum products). The island nation is currently struggling with massive fuel and energy crisis. According to the Indian High Commission, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar agreed to offer critical support along with a $500 million credit line through a letter written to Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G L Peiris. The nation started to lose its currency value, making imports costly. It is also grappling with a shortage of almost all essential commodities including fuel. The power cuts are imposed
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has junked the Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) request to open the Afghanistan Relief Fund and requested to review its decision. According to the local media, the Central Bank is afraid that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) can impose sanctions against Islamabad. On Saturday, the bank advised them to review the action in light of Pakistan’s commitments under international covenants and the FATF action plan. Since 2018, Pakistan is on the Paris-based FATF’s grey list for anti-money laundering and for deficiencies in its counter-terror
The US economy is facing the greatest threat since the Great Depression, as inflation jumped at its fastest pace in nearly four decades last month. A 7% spike from one year earlier that's increasing household expenses, eating into wage gains, and putting pressure on President Joe Biden and the Federal Reserve. 2021 saw a sharp rise in gas, cars, food, and furniture for rapid recovery from the pandemic recession. To help spur the demand for goods, the government provided vast infusion aid and ultra-low interest rates. The fast pace vaccination rate provided residents the confidence to dine
According to the world bank report, the new emerging COVID-19 variants lead to rising inflation, debt, and income inequality and cause a drop in overall GDP to 4.1% in 2022 from 5.5% in 2021. Global Economic Prospects report suggests after a strong rebound in 2021, the new COVID variant can threaten the global economy and might face a slowdown. World Bank Group President David Malpass said, “The world economy is simultaneously facing COVID-19, inflation, and policy uncertainty, with the government spending and monetary policies in uncharted territory. Rising inequality and security chall
French economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas has been named as the next chief economist for The International Monetary Fund (IMF). He will succeed Gita Gopinath by joining as the First Deputy Managing Director with the IMF management team. Gourinchas said on Twitter, “I am deeply honored to be appointed as the IMF’s new Economic Counselor and Director of Research. I look forward very much to working with the new IMF colleagues”. He is due to take over his role as the Fund’s chief economist on January 24. As soon as he finishes his teaching obligations, he will begin serving as chief
On Tuesday, the United Nations launched its biggest appeal ever for $5 billion. This appeal is made to aid 22 million Afghans by preventing them from ‘catastrophe’. The nation is currently on the brink of a humanitarian crisis along with economic collapse. Martin Griffiths, UN humanitarian chief calls this “the largest ever appeal”. It said that it was “encouraging” as there is a high degree of consensus for the increasingly desperate needs of the people of Afghan. The United Nations has announced a pledge conference to follow the appeal. There were indications that other mo