China’s Economy Grows By 4.5% in Q1 China's National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday reported that the country's GDP grew by 4.5% in the first quarter. The growth is the highest since the first quarter of last year and beat expectations of a 4% rise. The economy expanded 2.2% quarter-on-quarter. Economic conditions & trends
Japan Approves Plan to Open its First Casino A group that includes US-based MGM Resorts and Japan's Orix Corp. won approval from Japanese officials on Friday to build the country's first-ever casino, a 5.3 million-square-foot resort in the city of Osaka that's estimated to cost ¥1.08T ($8.2B) by 2029.... Japan
Japan, India, and France Create Common Platform for Sri Lanka Creditors Japan, India, and France on Thursday announced a common platform for bilateral creditors to coordinate restructuring Sri Lanka's debt. The three nations hope the move will be a template for restructuring other middle-income economies in the future.... Economic conditions & trends
US Inflation Eases to 5%, Lowest Since 2021 The US Labor Dept. reported Wednesday that the consumer price index (CPI), a key measure of US prices, rose 0.1% in March and 5% since last year, less than Dow Jones estimates and its slowest pace since 2021.... Economic conditions & trends
IMF: Interest Rates to Drop Once Inflation is Under Control The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts that increased interest rates in major economies are likely temporary and will reduce once rising prices, caused by factors including the Ukraine War's impact on energy costs, are halted and reverted downwards.... Economic conditions & trends
Protesters in France Storm BlackRock Building As protests over pension reforms continued to grip French cities, demonstrators forced their way into the building of US investment giant BlackRock in Paris on Thursday.... France
US Market Added 236K Jobs in March US employers added 236K jobs in March, while the unemployment rate decreased to 3.5%, the Labor Department reported on Friday.... Labor
Iraqi Govt Signs Internal Deal to Resume Oil Exports Through Turkey Iraq's federal government and its Kurdistan autonomous region signed an accord Tuesday to restart oil exports through Turkey after oil shipments were halted 10 days ago.... Russia
Asian Development Bank: Asia Set for Strong Growth The Asian Development Bank (ADB) stated in its latest growth outlook — published Tuesday — that the Asia-Pacific is expected to have strong economic growth this year following China's reopening after Beijing scrapped its strict 'zero COVID' strategy.... Economic conditions & trends
Oil Prices Surge After OPEC+ Surprise Output Cuts Fuel prices rose sharply after Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ countries announced a surprise round of output cuts on Sunday. The 1.16M barrel-per-day ('bpd') cuts could potentially spell trouble for global inflation, which was slowing down just days after an optimistic report on US price data.... Russia
Study: China Spent $240B Bailing Out 'Belt & Road' Countries An international study published Tuesday claims that China spent $240B bailing out 22 developing countries between 2008 and 2021, with the figure rising in recent years as they have struggled to repay loans spent building 'Belt & Road' infrastructure.... Sri Lanka
UK: Sunak Unveils Plans to Address 'Anti-Social Behavior' The UK government is set to introduce new plans to reduce anti-social behavior, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stating that he hopes the new measures will 'crack down' on social issues — such as graffiti and vandalism — 'once and for all.'... Mali
France Pension Protests: Bordeaux City Hall Set on Fire In France's southwest city of Bordeaux, the front door of the town hall was set on fire as nationwide protests over pension reforms gripped the country on Thursday.... France
First Republic Secures $30B Rescue From 11 Banks First Republic Bank on Thursday received a lifeline from 11 of America's largest banks, who pledged to deposit $30B in order to shore up lenders' concerns at a time of crisis for the US banking industry, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last week.... Money
Sri Lanka Secures $2.9B Bailout From IMF Sri Lanka has reportedly obtained a [nearly] $3B bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it endures a crippling economic crisis. [Editors Note - widely reported as 2.9B in multiple sources.]... Money
UK Budget 2023: Economy Set to Avoid Recession Following UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's announcement of the 2023 budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast that the UK won't enter a technical recession this year, with inflation reportedly set to drop to 2.9% — a reduction by more than half its current rate — by the end of 20... Taxation
Report: Extreme Poverty Could be Eradicated by 2050 According to a new report from the Center for Global Development (CGD), titled Scenarios for Future Global Growth to 2050, extreme global poverty could be eradicated by 2050.... Economic conditions & trends
Powell: US Interest Rates May Increase More Than Expected On Tuesday, US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the Fed may increase the size of its interest rate hikes and borrowing costs to higher-than-projected levels if the economy continues to be robust amid persistently high inflation.... Economic conditions & trends
China Announces Military Spending Increase Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has announced a rise in the nation's military spending by 7.2% and an official GDP growth target of about 5% for 2023. The news opened the Chinese Communist Party-led parliament's annual meeting on Sunday.... China
Report: Half of Sri Lankan Families Are Reducing Children's Food Intake Child rights charity Save the Children published a report on Thursday urging the Sri Lankan government and the international community to immediately take action to prevent the country's children from 'becoming a lost generation.' It found that half of the nation's families have had to reduce chi... Economic conditions & trends
Report: India's Modi Allowed ‘Inappropriate’ Adani Coal Deals According to an investigation conducted by the nonprofit The Reporters Collective and published by Al Jazeera on Wednesday, Indian PM Narendra Modi’s admin. granted favor to Adani Enterprises Ltd. to mine from a block holding more than 450M tons of coal, despite ruling that giving coal blocks t... Headlines
Bank of America Warns US Fed Could Raise Policy Rates to 6% The US Federal Reserve may raise interest rates to nearly 6%, Bank of America (BofA) Global Research reported on Monday. BofA believes that a combination of strong consumer demand and a tight labor market mean inflation will continue to be a problem for longer than expected, resulting in the Fed ... Economic conditions & trends
US Warns China Against Arming Russia As US officials report China is considering supplying the Russian military with artillery and ammunition for its war in Ukraine, US Pres. Biden's admin. is warning China that there would be serious consequences if it provided military assistance.... South Africa
India's Modi Asks G20 to Focus on 'Most Vulnerable' Nations In a video message at the start of the two-day top-level financial meeting of Group of 20 (G20) nations on Friday, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked the delegates to focus on the world's most vulnerable citizens and the soaring debt of developing nations.... Headlines
IMF Unveils Crypto Plan, Advises Against Legal Tender Status The International Monetary Fund (IMF) rolled out a nine-point action plan Thursday concerning how countries should deal with crypto assets, stressing that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin shouldn't be given legal tender status.... China
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