Singapore’s PayNow links up with India’s UPI for real-time cross-border payments

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SINGAPORE: Singapore and India on Tuesday (Feb 21) launched a real-time link to facilitate cross-border fund transfers between bank accounts or e-wallets, using mobile phones. This is possible through a tie-up between Singapore’s PayNow facility and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). Customers of participating financial institutions can transfer funds using just their mobileContinue Reading

China’s reopening still more boomlet than boom

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Has investor bullishness about China’s post-Covid reopening trade run ahead of economic reality? Yes, say a growing number of global investment banks and asset management firms. “Overhyped,” is how Wang Qi, CEO of MegaTrust Investment, puts it. Strategist Arthur Budaghyan at BCA Research is using the same word in meetings with clients. “We expect the Chinese economy to recover, but the issue is how much is already priced in,” he says. To be sure, China’s return as a growth engine is a plus for the global economy. Its rapid reopening from its previous “Zero Covid” lockdowns has prompted economists everywhere to revise 2023 prospects. But Goldman Sachs reports that onshore clients have real questions about the pace and durability of China’s economic rebound. Xi Jinping’s economy “is still not firing on all cylinders,” says strategist Julia Wang at JPMorgan Private Bank. “Housing sector-related data is still quite weak. Income growth will likely recover with a lag. It still continues to be a question of confidence in the sector.”

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A Russia-backed coup in Moldova

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Moldova has been sliding into yet another crisis following the resignation of its prime minister, Natalia Gavrilita, and fears that Russia was plotting a coup to overthrow the pro-western president, Maia Sandu. At a press conference in the Moldovan capital Chisinau on February 13, Sandu confirmed earlier accusations made by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, […]Continue Reading

Adani allegations put a dent in India’s image

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Business tycoon Gautam Adani smiles after addressing the media in Ahmedabad. Photo: AFP/ Sam Panthaky

“In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.” – Nobel laureate Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) On January 24, while the rest of India was busy preparing for Republic Day (January 26), a report by US-based short-seller firm Hindenburg Research shocked the nation. In the report, Hindenburg […]Continue Reading

Ueda the right choice for BOJ’s post-QE era

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TOKYO – Global markets are experiencing two firsts for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. One, Kishida surprised the investment world for the very first time in 16 months leading Asia’s No 2 economy. Second, he appears to be making a smart staffing choice by favoring Kazuo Ueda to lead the Bank of Japan (BOJ). By […]Continue Reading