Page 8 - Asia

Reliance wins IFR Asia's 'Issuer of the Year' award for record fourth time

Reliance Industries Ltd has been conferred on IFR Asia's 'Issuer of the Year' Award for 2023 for achieving most optimal pricing for super-sized funding deals while overcoming multiple market challenges. International Financing Review (IFR) is the pre-eminent financial publication globally for fixed income, capital markets, and investment banking news, analysis and commentary. In a two-page commentary on Reliance that was titled 'Blockbuster Producer', IFR said "the Indian blue chip firm balanced onshore and offshore funding to achieve optimal pricing results from supersized deals". In a tumultuous year for debt markets, it found increased demand from lenders as it reshaped its business to seize future opportunities. Reliance is now the only entity in Asia to have won this prestigious award four times -- 2006, 2015, 2018, and 2023. The financing deals in 2023 that enabled Reliance win the award were raising of USD 7.5 billion in syndicated loans -- this was the largest amount raised

India ranks 93 out of 180 countries in corruption perceptions index 2023

India ranked 93 out of 180 countries on the corruption perceptions index for 2023 as its overall score remained largely unchanged, according to a Transparency International report. The index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. In 2023, India's overall score was 39 while in 2022, it was 40. India's rank in 2022 was 85. "India (39) shows score fluctuations small enough that no firm conclusions can be drawn on any significant change. However, ahead of the elections, India sees further narrowing of civic space, including through the passage of a (telecommunication) bill that could be a 'grave threat' to fundamental rights," the report said. In South Asia, both Pakistan (133) and Sri Lanka (115) grapple with their respective debt burdens and ensuing political instability, it said. "However, the two countries ha

Top investment banker pay sinks below $1 million in Asia as bonuses vanish

Total compensation for many senior bankers in Asia ex-Japan fell to $700,000 to $800,000, well below the $1 million or more they have typically earned since the turn of the millennium

KKR, Warburg plow into Asia data storage centers amid AI, cloud boom

Demand in Southeast Asia and North Asia is expected to expand about 25% a year through 2028, according to Cushman & Wakefield data. That compares with 14% a year in the US

Who are the Global South?

A glimpse into basic data of the 50 most populous countries reveals distinct characteristics that define this grouping

Growth in Asia Pacific emerging markets to remain strong in 2024: Fitch

The economic growth in Asia Pacific will remain strong in 2024 and GDP is expected to grow by about 5 per cent in India and a host of emerging market countries, Fitch Ratings said on Wednesday. In its report titled 'APAC Cross-Sector Outlook 2024', Fitch said the outlooks for the banking sectors in India and Indonesia, as well as APAC emerging markets as a whole, move to improving in 2024, partly reflecting the robust economic backdrop. "Economic growth in APAC will generally remain strong in 2024, especially in emerging markets (EMs), supporting sector outlooks across the region. We expect real GDP to expand by, or above, 5 per cent in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, and China's performance will still be strong by most other countries' standards," Fitch said. The Indian economy grew 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 fiscal year. India's GDP expanded 7.8 per cent and 7.6 per cent in the June and September quarters, respectively. Fitch had last month said it expects India to be

India registered 930,000 cancer deaths, second highest in Asia: Lancet

India registered about 12 lakh new cancer cases and 9.3 lakh deaths in 2019, becoming the second highest contributor to the disease burden in Asia for that year, according to a new study published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia journal. Researchers found that India, along with China and Japan, were the three leading countries in Asia in terms of number of new cases and deaths, where they say cancer has become a more significant public health threat with 94 lakh new cases and 56 lakh deaths in 2019. Of these, while China contributed the most with 48 lakh new cases and 27 lakh deaths, Japan recorded about 9 lakh new cases and 4.4 lakh deaths, the international team of researchers including those from the National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur and Bathinda, said. "We examined the temporal patterns of 29 cancers in 49 Asian countries between 1990 and 2019 using estimates from the Global Burden of Disease, .

Tsunami hits Japan after 7.5 magnitude quake, India issues helpline numbers

Japan earthquake update: According to media reports, a tsunami of 1.2 metres was confirmed to have hit Wajima city in Ishikawa prefecture

Asia lags behind pre-pandemic levels of food security, UN agency says

Hunger remains a chronic problem in Asia, with 55 million more people undernourished in 2022 than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation says in its latest assessment of food security in the region. Most of those living without enough to eat are in South Asia, and women tend to be less food secure than men, the report says. The FAO's study focuses on food supply, consumption and dietary energy needs and is designed to capture a state of chronic energy deprivation that stunts growth and saps productivity and quality of life. The share of people in the region suffering from such undernourishment fell to 8.4 per cent in 2022 from 8.8 per cent the year before. But that's higher than the 7.3 per cent of people who were undernourished before the pandemic began, sending some economies into a tailspin and depriving millions of people of their livelihoods. Natural disasters and disruptions to food supplies, often linked to climate change, have added to those

Saudi Aramco forecast to cut oil price to Asia as competition heats up

The state-owned Saudi Arabian producer will reduce the official selling price of Arab Light by $1.05 a barrel for January from the previous month, according to the median estimate

Sugar prices rising worldwide after bad weather damaged crops in Asia

Skyrocketing sugar prices left Ishaq Abdulraheem with few choices. Increasing the cost of bread would mean declining sales, so the Nigerian baker decided to cut his production by half. For scores of other bakers struggling to stay afloat while enduring higher costs for fuel and flour, the stratospheric sugar prices proved to be the last straw, and they closed for good. Sugar is needed to make bread, which is a staple for Nigeria's 210 million people, and for many who are struggling to put food on the table, it offers a cheap source of calories. Surging sugar prices an increase of 55 per cent in two months means fewer bakers and less bread. It is a very serious situation, Abdulraheem said. Sugar worldwide is trading at the highest prices since 2011, mainly due to lower global supplies after unusually dry weather damaged harvests in India and Thailand, the world's second- and third-largest exporters. This is just the latest hit for developing nations already coping with shortages

China's Xi calls for Asia-Pacific regional peace as he wraps up US trip

"The fundamental goal of China's development is to improve the well-being of the Chinese people, not to replace anyone," the state-run Xinhua News Agency cited him

US likely to press India on countering China more in Asian waterways

The US wants India to share some of its burden in the Indo-Pacific by increasing its diplomatic and military presence in the region, Indian officials aware of the details said

Asia largely spared from global job cuts, says Barclays CEO Venkatakrishnan

"It is a reduction in workforce generally speaking," CEO C.S. Venkatakrishnan said in a Bloomberg TV interview Thursday in Singapore"

Biden nominates top adviser on Asia to be State Department's No. 2 diplomat

President Joe Biden is nominating a top adviser on Asia to serve as the State Department's second-ranking diplomat, the White House said Wednesday, elevating one of the architects of the administration's efforts to develop a more Asia-focused foreign policy. Kurt Campbell currently is deputy assistant to the president and coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs on the National Security Council. He has played an important role in helping Biden reinvigorate the diplomatic grouping of the United States, Japan, Australia and India, and has helped to ease historic tensions between South Korea and Japan and shape America's approach to China. If confirmed, he would replace Wendy Sherman, who retired in July, as deputy secretary of state. Kurt is a tremendous asset, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. His passion and commitment to our alliances and partnerships is unquestionably strengthening America's strategic position in the world and improving our abili

Asian factories grapple with rising costs amid ongoing Israel-Hamas war

The data are a discouraging sign for the global economy, which has seen its bid for recovery threatened by uncertainty over the Israel-Hamas war and the prospect of wider conflict in the region

One in four people in Asia, Pacific will be above 60 by 2050: UNFPA

One in four people in Asia and the Pacific will be above the age of 60 by 2050 and more than half of them will be women, UNFPA Asia-Pacific Regional Director Pio Smith said on Tuesday. Asia and the Pacific refer to a vast and diverse region that encompasses Asia and the Pacific Islands, which are scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean. Addressing a press briefing, Smith said along with ageing populations, countries are also witnessing low fertility rates as women are having fewer babies. "This means that while people are living longer, the working population is also shrinking," Smith said. By 2050, it is estimated that one in four people in Asia and the Pacific will be about the age of 60 and more than half of them will be women, he said. Smith said it is easy to hear alarm bells ring if the focus is only on the numbers. "We really do have to understand that population ageing and low fertility are not problems to be solved. They are demographic transitions that the human populati

West Asia's China syndrome

Chinese warships in the region raise threat perceptions

India to surpass Japan, be second largest Asian economy by 2030: S&P Global

India, the world's fifth largest economy in the world, is likely to overtake Japan to become the world's third-largest economy with a GDP of USD 7.3 trillion by 2030, S&P Global Market Intelligence said in its latest issue of PMI. After two years of rapid economic growth in 2021 and 2022, the Indian economy has continued to show sustained strong growth during the 2023 calendar year. India's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow 6.2-6.3 per cent in the fiscal year ending in March 2024, being the fastest-growing major economy this fiscal year. Asia's third-largest economy grew by a stellar 7.8 per cent in the April-June quarter. "The near-term economic outlook is for continued rapid expansion during the remainder of 2023 and for 2024, underpinned by strong growth in domestic demand," S&P Global said. The acceleration of foreign direct investment inflows into India over the past decade reflects the favourable long-term growth outlook for the Indian economy, helped by a

Three Indians secure medals at Badminton Asia U17 and U15 Junior C'ships

Indian shuttlers Jagsher Singh Khangurra, Bornil Aakash Changmai and Tanvi Sharma advanced to the semifinals of the Badminton Asia U-17 and U-15 Junior Championships to assure themselves of a medal on day 4 of the tournament in Chengdu, China on Friday. In the boys' U15 singles category, Jagsher defeated China's MA Chu Xuan 21-14, 21-13 in just 28 minutes, while Bornil emerged victorious in a closely-contested match against Korea's Park Jung Bin, securing a 21-19, 22-20 victory. Tanvi Sharma overcame a first-game loss to register a 20-22, 21-15, 21-15 win over Liao Jui-Chi of Chinese Taipei in the girls' U17 singles quarter-final match. In the girls' U17 doubles match, Tanvi and Reshika Uthayasooriyan faced a 10-20, 20-22 defeat against the Chinese pair of Fu Xin Yi and Qin Shi Yang. Jagsher and Bornil will face off in the boys' U15 singles semi-finals on Saturday, while Tanvi will face second seed Anyapat Phichitpreechasak of Thailand in girls' U17 singles semi-final tie.