Explore Business Standard
Uncertainties around the US trade policy will undermine business confidence and consumer sentiment, adversely impacting growth in Asian nations, including India, Moody's Ratings said on Sunday. US President Donald Trump has postponed by three months the imposition of reciprocal tariffs, with the exception of China on whom a 125 per cent tariff has been slapped. However, a 10 per cent additional duty on exports to the US will continue. "An escalation of US-Sino tensions and the spillover effects from a slowdown in China pose significant downside risks to the (Asian) region's growth prospects. Economies with large domestic markets, such as India, may benefit from companies seeking access to these markets but any major shift in investment flows would occur over several years," Moody's Ratings Senior Vice President, Credit Strategy & Guidance, Nicky Dang told PTI. Moody's Analytics, another Moody's firm, had last week cut India's growth forecast for the 2025 calendar year to 6.1 per ..
In a major relief for inflation-hit masses in cash-strapped Pakistan, the government has slashed the prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs 10.20 and Rs 2.33 per litre respectively ahead of the Eid ul Adha festival. The price cut, effective from Saturday, will bring the price of petrol to Rs 258.16 per litre while the price of HSD will be Rs 267.89 per litre, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted a statement from the Prime Minister's Office on Friday. The Finance Division, which usually reviews the fuel prices every 15 days, issued an official notification for the latest price cuts and said the new prices would be applicable for the next fortnight. The notification said that the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) had worked out the consumer prices, based on the price variations in the international market. The move to slash the prices of petroleum would benefit the Pakistani people who have been hit by double-digit inflation. Pakistan has been hit by inflation of ab