RIYADH: Softbank-funded 2TM, owner of the largest cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America, has launched a venture capital unit focusing on blockchain companies around the world, Arab News reported. Brazil-based 2TM, valued at roughly $2.2 billion after the latest $50 million fund-raise, is the holding company of Mercado Bitcoin, with 3.2 million customers as of October 2021. During … Read more
PARIS: A growing number of countries are taking on gig economy giants like Uber, Bolt and Deliveroo by giving their workers, who are routinely treated as freelancers, full employment rights. With the European Union executive tabling new proposals on Thursday to clear up the grey area, here is a snapshot of recent decisions shaking up the … Read more
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order to make the federal government carbon-neutral by 2050, aiming for a 65 per cent reduction in planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and an all-electric fleet of car and trucks five years later, Arab News quoted AP as saying. The White House said the order shows how the government … Read more
WASHINGTON: The US employers posted 11 million open jobs in October, nearly matching a record high reached in July and a sign that companies were confident enough in the economy to expand, Arab News reported. The government report on Wednesday also showed that the number of people quitting their jobs dropped slightly in October to 4.2 million, … Read more
RIYADH: Bahrain’s parliament on Wednesday approved plans to increase value-added tax to 10 per cent from the current 5 per cent, according to Reuters. The Cabinet referred last September a draft law to the parliament, to decide on increasing VAT starting Jan. 1, 2022. The legislators discussed earlier this year the options of reducing wages or social … Read more
ADDIS ABABA: The African Union (AU) warned that travel and entry bans in connection with the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant limit the free movement of people and goods, imposing immediate and significant impact on African countries. The 55-member pan African bloc, in a statement issued late Tuesday, called for the urgent rescinding of … Read more
BEIJING: As Chinese real estate behemoth Evergrande reportedly prepares for a government-backed mega-restructure, here is an explainer on what Beijing’s bid to limit a contagion could mean for the wider economy: What happened to Evergrande? The Chinese government sparked a crisis in the property industry when it launched a drive last year to curb excessive debt … Read more
BEIJING: Export growth in China lost some steam in November, as holiday demand from abroad faded, official data showed on Tuesday, but the demand for overseas fuel pushed up imports to spike above expectations. Strong exports have helped boost growth in the world’s second-largest economy since the middle of 2020, with China containing domestic outbreaks through … Read more
BEIJING: China’s economy is expected to grow around 5.3 per cent in 2022, bringing the average annual growth rate forecast for 2020/22 to 5.2 per cent, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a top government think tank, said on Monday. The advisers to the government will recommend that the authorities set a 2022 economic … Read more
KARACHI: The Pakistan Yarn Merchants Association (PYMA) officials have expressed concern over the increase in the interest rates by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), despite the demands of the business community. They said the central bank has increased the interest rates by 150 basis points, and the news is circulating for another increase in … Read more
LAHORE: The Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has suggested a three-pronged strategy for strengthening the economy, a statement said. Referring to heavy fall in the KSE-100 Index, LCCI president Mian Nauman Kabir said that it was temporary and the investors should not worry and expressed the hope that the stock exchange would start … Read more
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is set to experience strong economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2021, thanks to oil production hitting its highest level since April 2020, Arab News quoted a report from Capital Economics. Some 9.76 million barrels per day were produced in October, broadly in line with pre-virus levels of output, analysts at the London-based … Read more
BANGKOK: Laos is set to open a $6 billion Chinese-built railway on Friday, with debt concerns balanced against hopes it could boost the reclusive nation’s struggling economy. The 414km (260 mile) route took five years to construct under China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. Analysts have acknowledged the potential economic boost, but have questioned how … Read more
KARACHI: The National Incubation Centre Lahore (NICL) at LUMS collaborated with the Innovation-Acceleration Lab at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pakistan to host SolutionsFest 2.0: Reimagining our relationship with plastics in Pakistan, a statement said. The three-day event, which aimed at discussing, strategising and creating solutions for plastic pollution, was held from November 29 to … Read more
WASHINGTON: The US economy continues to struggle with the supply issues that have pushed the prices higher in recent weeks, but there are signs the strains may be easing, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday. Businesses in several areas of the country noted that “despite strong demand, growth was constrained by supply chain disruptions and labour … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Rupani Foundation in partnership with Reenergia, Pakistan Institute of Economic Development (PIDE), and Karakorum International University (KIU), has formally inaugurated the GB Invest Initiative on November 29, 2021 in Islamabad and Gilgit, simultaneously. The launching ceremony was held at the National Press Club, Islamabad. This private sector-led GB Invest Initiative aims at mobilising the … Read more
FRANKFURT: Germany’s new government has pledged to spend big on the economy, climate change and social security, but without raising taxes or taking on more debt, leaving many asking where the money is going to come from. “We have decided that this will be a decade of investments,” future chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Wednesday as … Read more
KARACHI: The Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (Kati) has expressed concern over the strike call by a petroleum dealer, a statement said. Kati president Salman Aslam said that non-supply of petrol would affect the supply of finished products in the local and export goods, which could harm the industrialists and the economy. The price … Read more
DUBAI: Dubai’s economy is rebounding faster-than-expected, as property sales are rising and restaurants are busy, at a time when Europe is experiencing a surge in the Covid cases and tightening restrictions again, Bloomberg reported “The recovery has been faster than we expected,” said Scott Livermore, chief economist for Oxford Economics Middle East in Dubai. “Expo has played … Read more
WASHINGTON: The sharp rise in the US inflation even as the labour market rapidly improves means the Federal Reserve should remove stimulus from the economy more quickly, a central bank official said. The Fed this month began slowing the pace of bond purchases it started early in the pandemic to provide liquidity to the economy but … Read more
Pakistan’s left-arm pacer, Usman Shinwari has announced his retirement from the longest format of cricket in order to play more matches in shorter formats. Shinwari has suffered from a lot of injuries during his cricketing career which has limited his appearance in domestic matches and has moved down the pecking order for the national team … Read more
LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday said fixing inflation and economy was not Prime Minister Imran Khan’s priority. In a tweet, Marriyum Aurangzeb said placing name of Pakistan Muslim League-N President Shehbaz Sharif on the Exit Control List (ECL) was the prime minister’s priority, however he would not fix the economy and … Read more
WASHINGTON: The Chinese economy, weighed down by electricity shortages and a vast real estate crisis, has lost its lustre recently, to the point where economists are starting to question its impact on the global growth it has helped drive for more than 20 years. The difficulties of the real estate sector in China triggered by … Read more
GLASGOW: The 65 most vulnerable nations will see GDP drop 20 percent on average by 2050 and 64 percent by 2100 if the world heats up 2.9 degrees Celsius, according to a report released Monday at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. Even if global temperature rises are capped at 1.5C, in keeping with the most ambitious … Read more
JAKARTA: Indonesia’s economy expanded again in the third quarter, official data showed on Friday, thanks to a pick-up in exports but the rate slowed from the previous three months as the pandemic continued to take its toll. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy grew 3.51 per cent on-year in July-September, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said, though that … Read more
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has huge trade and investment opportunities in the $3 trillion economy of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for increasing the bilateral trade and economic ties. With Asean’s $3 trillion economic power and a large market of 650 million people in the region, the mutual $7 billion trade between Asean and Pakistan … Read more
ROME: Climate change and the relaunch of the global economy will top the G20 agenda as leaders of the world’s most advanced nations meet Saturday, the first in-person gathering since the pandemic. Looming over the two-day talks in Rome is pressure to make headway on tackling global warming, ahead of the key COP26 summit kicking … Read more
TRIPOLI: Libya’s only operational oil refinery was “severely” damaged after gunmen battled for three hours around the complex, the National Oil Corporation said. “The Zawiya Oil Complex was severely damaged as a result of skirmishes by armed groups,” Libya’s state oil company NOC said late Tuesday. “Those involved held no regard for the lives of workers … Read more
