Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) skipped any reference to structural economic reforms, such as changes to labour and land laws, in its manifesto ahead of elections, Citi economists said in a note on Monday. The BJP promised to create jobs, boost infrastructure and manufacturing and expand welfare programmes such as low-ticket […]
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Pakistan will seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under two heads – extended fund facility (EFF) and additional climate financing – as Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb is in Washington to hold talks with the world’s top lender for a new bigger and longer programme, sources say. Islamabad is currently awaiting the release of $1.1 billion […]
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A rally in the US dollar is accelerating, as stubborn inflation sows doubts over how aggressively the Federal Reserve will be able to cut rates this year compared to other central banks. The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, is up 4.6 per cent this year and […]
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European governments are weighing the introduction of tougher rules on cigarette makers’ new zero-tobacco heat sticks, moving to close the loopholes they were designed to exploit just months after their launch. Big tobacco companies including Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco announced the launch of the sticks, made from nicotine-infused substances like rooibos tea, […]
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Untimely rainfall and hailstorms have battered winter-sown crops, including wheat, rapeseed, and chickpeas in India’s main producing areas, delaying harvesting, industry and government officials told Reuters. Adverse weather could limit growth in wheat production and complicate the government’s efforts to build stocks. This year’s wheat harvest is critical for India, the world’s biggest producer of […]
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As Crown Price Mohammed bin Salman is leading the charge to make Saudi Arabia an economic and industrial hub by pursuing a strategy designed to minimise the country’s dependence on oil through economic diversification, a latest survey on Tuesday showed that non-oil business activity in Saudi Arabia rebounded in February – supported by the fastest […]
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A stronger-than-expected US economy is buoying the dollar, frustrating investors who had bet the currency would wilt under a barrage of interest rate cuts that have yet to materialise. The dollar index, which measures the buck against a basket of its peers, is up 2.4 per cent year-to-date. Net bets on the dollar in futures […]
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Ishaq Dar – a close aide of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif – was missing when Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a meeting of economic team on Monday soon after taking oath of his office for a second term. Certainly a huge news from several angles, if Dar isn’t the economic czar in the PML-N government […]
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Global energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) hit a record high last year, driven partly by increased fossil fuel use in countries where droughts hampered hydropower production, International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Friday. Steep cuts in CO2 emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels, will be needed in the coming years if targets to limit […]
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Chile wants to have three or four new lithium projects operational by 2026, the country’s Minister of Finance Mario Marcel said on Saturday. The South American country – the world’s largest copper producer and the second-largest producer of lithium – initiated a policy last year to increase state control of the strategic metal needed in […]
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