PM: investment key to high-income economy

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Phu Thom cites accomplishments made since taking office and claims that much more must get accomplished.

PM: investment key to high-income economy
Srettha Thavisin addresses a gathering held on Friday by the decision Pheu Thai Party at party office. ( Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill )

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin stated on Friday that the government intends to grow Thailand into a high-income nation through a number of tasks that may enhance people’s quality of life.

Mr. Srettha stated at a party gathering that the state had wasted no time and had worked tirelessly to solve the country’s issues.

The design of the occasion was” 10 Month Without Waiting, Moving Forward to Achieve 10 out of 10″. The Move Forward and Pheu Thai parties were attempting to form a partnership after the election next year when the” 10 Month” were mentioned. Some people suggested that waiting until the military-appointed Senate’s expiration date in May 2024, since it was opposed to Moving Forward, be a consideration. Pheu Thai disagreed, ditched Move Forward and safely formed a new partnership.

Mr. Srettha cited a number of issues the government has attempted to address since taking office, including better management of water resources to stop flooding, a new strategy to combat turmoil in the deep north, opening borders to encourage commerce, regulating agricultural product prices, and tackling fog pollution.

The state emphasizes more than just the fundamental laws. We’re giving our best and I am convinced investment may follow”, he said. ” We’re not only aiming to increase farmers ‘ income, but we also want to create a high-income society, and we need to draw in foreign investment.”

Mr Srettha reaffirmed the government’s dedication to reduce people’s debt issues, while admitting its efforts to tackle casual loan have yet to bear fruit. He said the decision by Thai banks to cut the minimum retail rate ( MRR ) for loans was a result of the government’s efforts.

Following a meeting between Mr. Srettha and the country’s four largest institutions, commercial lenders agreed to reduce the MRR by 25 basis points for six weeks to lessen the financial burden on vulnerable customers. The Bank of Thailand made a number of unsuccessful attempt to lower its benchmark interest rate as a result of the discussions. &nbsp,

Mr. Srettha emphasized that he entered elections because he wanted to improve the standard of living for Thai citizens rather than because he had political interests. He claimed that there are still plenty of time for the authorities to accomplish its objectives.

Srettha Thavisin, the president of Pheu Thai, and Pheu Thai head Paetongtarn Shinawatra arrive at the party’s headquarters on Friday. ( Photo: Pattarapong Chatpattarasill )

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the head of Pheu Thai, claimed at the same time that the party made the right choice when it agreed to take the helm of the coalition government.

Nevertheless, she criticised the Bank of Thailand, saying its independence from the government was posing an “obstacle” to work to handle a boat of pressing financial difficulties.

She said the nation has heavily relied on fiscal policy to boost the economy, which has led to a high public debt and finances deficit.

” If the BoT does n’t understand and cooperate with the government]in its efforts to tackle economic problems], we ca n’t ]win ]”, she added.

She claimed that since the country’s military coups have caused it to lose prospects for almost 20 years, but that Pheu Thai may change its riches before the upcoming election.

She explained that the government change was just one more reason for the praise. There is no way for things to get worse than this, he says.” Everyone is moving forward.” We are aware that our work is” thankless and unlimited,” but we are willing to do it.

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CNA Explains: Fed rates on hold – how will this affect Singapore savers and borrowers?

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SINGAPORE: Attention rates in the United States may be unchanged&nbsp, because prices has hardly improved much.

Jerome Powell, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, stated that it would probably take longer than recently anticipated to gain the “greater confidence” required to begin rates reductions.

Singapore’s interest rates are determined by international levels and foreign exchange market objectives. That includes generally following another central bankers ‘ directives, particularly the US Fed.

Does the interest rates in savings accounts continue to be great?

Not always, according to authorities.

Standard Chartered Bank and UOB have now reduced the interest rates on their flagship saving transactions.

Businesses pay attention to those who deposit money with them and, conversely, create interest money from those who borrow funds from them.

Some banks do n’t make as much interest income because they have more money than their customers want to borrow.

Because property transactions have slowed down, Mr. Alfred Chia, CEO of SingCapital Financial Advisor, said,” They have challenges lending this money out .”

They have to make substantial interest repayments at the same time.

Businesses that lower interest rates may be attempting to reduce expenses.

Banks may continue to face the problem of having more money than they can lend out, according to Mr. Chia as interest rates continue to be higher in the US.

According to Mr. Glenn Thum, older research scientist at Phillip Securities Research, the decision to cut costs may not be due to the Fed or business objectives, but rather for UOB.

Instead, he speculated that the banks” too violently at the beginning” increased rates.

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They said it could save my child: Parents speak up about cord blood banks’ marketing tactics

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THEY USED “SUCCESS STORIES”: Family

Other parents who CNA spoke to had related encounters with cord blood banks workers in hospitals and even during trips to gynecologists.

When his wife gave birth to their first child in 2021, researcher Nathaniel Koh went through this “borderline” bossiness. &nbsp,

” They often approach. When you’re at the gyne, they come up to you and sell their goods,” said Mr. Koh, 41.

” But you are at the office. Because of that, you are less likely to abandon the office. But ( I had no choice but to ) listen”, he said. Mr. Koh did not register. &nbsp,

One family, who gave birth to her son next year, claimed vendors approached her both before and after her hospital check-ups. &nbsp,

She did not mind it at first as she “genuinely wanted to know more”, said the 29- yr- ancient, who wanted to remain private. She actually included their phone number.

But it felt” a little aggressive” when she kept receiving names. The mommy- of- one, who works in marketing, recalled how the sales reps tried to persuade her to sign up for their services.

” After I voiced out that the price was a little high, they would try to push for the ( cheaper ) packages, saying that it could really save my child or future children if anything happened”, she said. &nbsp,

Although she decided not to shop or donate her child’s cable heart, she too, like Ms Tan, felt that her baby may be losing out. &nbsp,

” It felt ( as though ) if I did n’t do it and if anything happens to my baby, I might look back and regret that I did n’t buy their product”.

Priscilla Goh, the mother-of-two, recalls how cord blood banking workers were present at her gynecologist’s office in the same way. They frequently provided expecting parents with labeled freebies, such as a child mat or a bib.

Ms Goh, who works in the press, said she was “pretty company” in declining them. &nbsp,

They used” success stories” of sisters using one another’s cord heart, and what would happen if the cord blood was n’t saved, she said, remembering feeling annoyed at their frequent and repeated sales pitches. &nbsp,

The 34-year-old and her husband decided to donate the cord blood to the Singapore Cord Blood Bank after doing some study and speaking with a professor friend. They decided it may one day save somebody else’s life, and they were less likely to use their own wire blood, particularly if there were genetic conditions. &nbsp,

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More than S0,000 recovered after banks, Singapore and Hong Kong police foil scam

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SINGAPORE: &nbsp, More than S$ 370, 000 ( US$ 271, 000 ) have been recovered after the Singapore Police Force ( SPF), together with two banks and the Hong Kong police, foiled a scam targeting a 70- year- old victim.

According to a news release released on Wednesday ( May 1 ), DBS on Tuesday reported that suspicious transactions of approximately S$ 180, 000 were being made from the boy’s account to a bank accounts in Hong Kong.

The victim’s bank alerted SPF’s Anti-Scam Centre ( ASC ) and immediately stopped further transactions from the victim’s account.

ASC then” swiftly notified” Hong Kong’s Anti- Deception Coordination Centre ( ADDC ) about the beneficiary account.

According to the news release, officers were called in after the ASC was unable to reach the person. Although the soldiers went to his house, he was not.

” The ASC tried various methods and managed to reach the victim’s family companion, who disclosed that S$ 240, 000 was missing from the victim’s UOB banks bill”, said SPF.

The ASC “immediately collaborated with UOB to transfer money from a bank accounts in Hong Kong to the victim.” &nbsp,

SPF continued, adding that the ASC and ADCC worked together to return the entire balance from the Hong Kong lender account.

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Yen’s plunge raises specter of new Asia currency crisis – Asia Times

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Tokyo — Dealers are pondering whether the Group of Seven may be experiencing a dollar crisis as a result of the Japanese yen’s 12 % decline this year.

The good news: no already. The terrible news, though, is that there are still seven weeks left in this year of harmful living for Japan’s money. especially when you consider Tokyo leaders ‘ lack of urgency in allowing the yen to flow.

This unsettling Asia has given the country’s markets a 1997-like feeling as central banks work to maintain exchange rates. The conflict with currency traders is raging, from the Malaysian ringgit’s 26-year lows to Indonesia’s main bank’s surprise price increase next week.

In Manila and Bangkok, northern banks are shelving price- reduces programs. In Seoul, Governor Rhee Chang- young says the Bank of Korea is ready to “deploy stabilizing methods” amid “excessive” won techniques. In Beijing, authorities are mulling their possibilities as negative forces complicated China’s view.

China, of training, is the biggest problem. Does the market of President Xi Jinping and the yen collide in a downward spiral that will lead to a new currency war?

” They probably should — to boost exports, help deflation and help domestic growth” ,&nbsp, says Brad Bechtel, global head of foreign exchange at Jefferies Financial Group Inc.” But I do n’t think they will”.

We see the chance for further near-term failure, according to Khoon Goh, mind of Asia study at ANZ Bank, as the authorities have been steadily allowing the inland spot to change.

The Taiwanese renminbi is now trading at 7.24 to the US dollar. Devaluation that resembles a 2015 seems out of the problem because it would waste taxpayer-funded money on expanding global faith in the yuan. And the more the yuan falls, the more difficult it becomes for big house builders to pay off-shore bonds, raising the risk of default.

In the meantime, making the yuan a major election hot button as Democrats devoted to Donald Trump and Democrats led by US President Joe Biden battle it out on various fronts ahead of the November 5 vote.

Will China’s renminbi follow the yen? Photo: Asia Times Files / Reuters / Jason Lee

But the longer Tokyo keeps Asia in anticipation, the greater the risk of a local panic ala the 1997- 98 Asian financial crisis. Money traders, for instance, are convinced Japan is constantly intervening to block the yen’s fall. In reality, though, officials are generally winking at earth industry.

The going- through- the- movements vibe is on distinct show. Yes, it seems fairly obvious that the Bank of Japan made an action to support the renminbi on Monday. The BOJ’s first venture into foreign exchange markets since October 2022 appears to have been led by the unexpected$ 48.2 billion decline in its current account.

Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki would be at the speaker shortly and frequently making the case if this were a move to improve the renminbi for actual. He may be working the devices with leaders in Washington, Berlin, London, Ottawa, Paris and Rome to get the G7 on board.

From the events of late 2022, when Tokyo last acted on the yen, Suzuki’s team knows full well that unilateral intervention does n’t work. It jolts the business for a few days, but then the dollar’s cut begins anyhow.

In some ways, this is the value of 25 years of creating your international brand, your financial design, and an underestimated exchange price.

A number of Asian finance ministers have been around since at least the end of the 1990s. A G7 country has become addicted to an ultra-weak exchange rate, but what has endured is a beggar-thy-neighbor policy that resembles Argentina’s.

There are no noticeable changes that Tokyo is making. It’s more of a line in the sand for the yen-dollar exchange rate than a test of political virtue signaling.

Suzuki and his former boss, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, are merely telling China and the US that the yen is n’t moving up to 170 to the money or higher.

However, in the days and weeks to come, the renminbi might remain heading there as well. Not because Suzuki or Kishida do n’t want it to but because, well, they kind of do.

Tokyo authorities are beginning to notice the benefits of the yen hitting 160, which is the weakest since 1990, amid all the articles. For the third consecutive month in March, abroad shipments increased. The 7.3 % get in March season- on- season followed a 7.8 % rise in February.

It’s undoubtedly the best item Asia’s second-largest business has to offer as of the second half of an increasingly erratic 2024.

” The prospect for Japan looks fragile”, information Stefan Angrick, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics.

The local business, Angrick adds, “has been very poor as wage increases have trailed prices, which has kept homeowners reluctant to invest. This, in turn, has kept companies hesitant to invest. Continue a trend of upsetting gross domestic product releases by continuing a trend of slow economic growth in Japan’s first third of the year.

This considerably complicates the BOJ’s way ahead. Everything that Governor Kazuo Ueda’s group believed they knew about 2024 is going wrong. China’s economy is n’t bouncing back with great force, the Federal Reserve is n’t cutting interest rates and the dollar’s powerful rally is n’t losing momentum.

As the renminbi free-falls, Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda sat quietly. Image: Twitter / Screengrab

Japan’s market also has recession fears in the rearview mirror. At the same time, prices in the Tokyo region, a great proxy for national developments, is now rising at a&nbsp, 1.6 % season- on- year&nbsp, price, below the BOJ’s 2 % target.

Currency traders are aware that Ueda’s BOJ may have missed its window for a significant rate increase or two. The yen is slowly but surely returning to the levels it was before officials were alleged to have intervened.

That’s not to say strategists are n’t baffled by the yen. The yen is regarded by Global Dragonomics as” the biggest anomaly in global financial markets,” with its value estimated to be 40 % below purchasing power parity measures.

As such, Gavekal writes,” the yen’s weakness is having wide- ranging global repercussions, from fueling a carry trade that boosts emerging market debt, to weighing on US exports and thus President Biden’s re- election prospects. Markets are on the lookout for direct foreign exchange interventions to strengthen the yen because the BOJ is yet to find the weak currency reason enough to change its monetary policy position.

Or not. As Asia’s second- biggest economy loses momentum, inflation recedes and Kishida’s approval numbers flatline, is the BOJ really about to slam on the monetary brakes?

Again, Tokyo policymakers ‘ lack of urgency speaks louder than intervention threats. As Richard Katz, author of” The Contest for Japan’s Economic Future”, notes, Japan “has plenty of ammunition” to stop the yen from falling too far.

” Even though it now runs a trade deficit most years, Japan still runs a&nbsp, surplus&nbsp, in a broader measure, the international current account”, Katz explains. ” That’s because it earns so much from its investments abroad, and those earnings keep growing”.

In 2023, net income on these investments&nbsp, totaled 34 trillion yen ( US$ 215 billion ), amounting to 6 % of nominal GDP.

The most important thing, Katz says, is not to panic over a yen in freefall. ” If it looked like capital flight was beginning”, he explains,” Japan could use its currency reserves to shore up the yen. However, it’s very unlikely that it would need to do so.

Katz points out that Japan and other nations have experienced currency shocks, such as Asia’s 1997-98 crash or the 2010 European debt crisis. ” They”, he adds, “had run year after year of current account&nbsp, deficits&nbsp, and, as a result, were big international&nbsp, debtors”.

For now, though, the “yen is weak because Japan’s economy is weak and its exporters are increasingly uncompetitive”, Katz says. So, intervention can primarily delaying the unavoidable for a short while or preventing markets from reaching too far.

This area of weakness is fundamentally bigfooting. The economy’s underperformance is a key reason why Kishida’s approval ratings are in the low- to- mid- 20s. In the weeks to come, the BOJ’s deliberations will be affected by this dynamic.

Although the BOJ technically is independent, its scope of independence is more limited than that of the US Fed or the European Central Bank.

For example, a government representative attends BOJ policy meetings. What truly sovereign monetary institution maintains rates at or close to zero for 25 years?

For Ueda, the lessons from 2006 probably loom large in his own deliberations. Governor Toshihiko Fukui successfully fought against quantitative easing and other board members to force two additional official rates increases in 2006 and 2007.

Yet Fukui’s attempt to normalize rates failed. The Tokyo establishment reacted strongly, complaining that Japan Inc. was n’t ready for tighter credit. Soon after, the economy slid into recession. Once Masaaki Shirakawa replaced&nbsp, Fukui&nbsp, in 2008, he quickly cut rates back to zero and restored QE.

Bank of Japan does n’t want to shortcircuit the Nikkei 225’s rally. Image: Twitter

Then, in 2013, Haruhiko Kuroda joined him to increase BOJ stimulus efforts even more and ultimately end deflation. In 2013 alone, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average&nbsp, surged 57 %. Today, it’s rallying to the point where the benchmark is now trading near its all- time 1989 high.

Finding a way to normalize rates without putting an end to the Nikkei’s bull run is Ueda’s balancing act. And without being the most recent BOJ leader to suffer the consequences of a recession, falling stock, or both.

All of which explains why Tokyo is less eager to reverse the yen’s decline. And why Asia has little choice but to rely on Japanese officials to understand how to handle the yen’s pounding.

Follow William Pesek on X at @WilliamPesek

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India’s economy: The good, bad and ugly in six charts

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Commuters walk along platforms at the Churchgate railway station in Mumbai on January 31, 2024. (Photo by Punit PARANJPE / AFP)Getty Images
By Nikhil Inamdar
BBC Business Correspondent, Mumbai

In January, thousands braved the freezing cold at Delhi’s Red Fort to hear Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak.

His message was “Viksit Bharat 2047”, a promise to make India a developed nation by 2047.

It’s the latest catchphrase from a man known for his penchant for catchy taglines.

“Developed India” is an imprecise pledge, but in the 10 years since Mr Modi first stormed to power, he has been trying to lay the foundations for a period of economic boom.

The prime minister and his government inherited an economy that was teetering on the precipice. Growth was slowing and investor confidence was low. A dozen Indian billionaires had gone bankrupt, saddling the country’s banks with enormous unpaid loans that had crippled their capacity to lend.

Now, 10 years on, India’s growth is outpacing other major economies, its banks are strong, and the government’s finances are stable despite a painful pandemic. India surpassed the UK as the fifth largest economy last year and according to analysts at Morgan Stanley, it’s on track to overtake Japan and Germany and hit the third spot by 2027.

GDPs of India and the UK in 2023

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There is undoubtedly an air of optimism in the country. It successfully hosted the G20, became the first to send a rocket near the Moon’s south pole, and has birthed a few dozen unicorns. The soaring stock markets have also had a trickle-down effect on the wealth of its middle class.

On the face of it “Modinomics” – the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s economic vision for India – appears to be working. But dig deeper, and the picture is more complex. For a vast swathe of the country’s 1.4 billion people who live on the margins of sustenance, it’s not boomtime just as yet.

So who are the winners and losers of Modinomics?

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Digital revolution

Mr Modi’s push for digital governance has begun to transform the lives of some of the country’s poorest people.

Today, Indians in the remotest corners of the country can buy many daily goods without cash, paying as little as 20p for a packet of bread using a QR code on their phone.

India's digital payments growth

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Underpinning this digital revolution is a three-layer system of governance, which includes universal identity cards, a payments infrastructure that enables click-of-a-button money transfer, and a data pillar that gives people access to crucial personal documents like tax returns.

Linking hundreds of millions of bank accounts to this “digital stack” has cut red tape and corruption.

Estimates suggest that up to March 2021, an equivalent of about 1.1% of GDP was saved due to digital governance, allowing the government to dole out a volley of social subsidies, cash handouts and also spend on infrastructure building, without running high deficits.

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Cranes, cranes everywhere!

Everywhere you go in India there are cranes and JCB machines at work giving its creaky public infrastructure a shiny makeover.

Take a look at this slick first underwater metro in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata.

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There’s no doubt this country is getting a facelift.

Building new roads, airports, ports and metros has been the centrepiece of Mr Modi’s economic policy. He spent over $100bn annually in infrastructure spending (capital expenditure) in the past three years.

Capital expenditure of the government over the last few years

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Nearly 54,000 km (33,554 miles) of national highways were built between 2014 and 2024 – which is twice the length of the preceding 10 years.

The government has also considerably eased up the bureaucracy, which has been a major bugbear of India’s economy for decades.

But Mr Modi’s policies haven’t delivered for all.

The brutal lockdowns imposed during the pandemic, the lingering after-effects of a cash ban in 2016, and faulty implementation of a new goods and services tax – a long pending reform meant to streamline the country’s welter of indirect taxes – have had far-reaching structural consequences on India’s economy.

Migrant workers who arrived from Maharashtra state travel on a mini truck to go back to their hometowns, after the government eased a nationwide lockdown imposed as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Allahabad on May 15, 2020.

Getty Images

The country’s vast unorganised sector – small enterprises that form the backbone of this country – are still reeling under the impact of some of these decisions.

And the private sector is not committing big investments. As a proportion of GDP, private investments slumped to barely 19.6% in 2020-21 from a peak of 27.5% in 2007-08.

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Jobs blues

In January, thousands gathered outside government recruitment centres in the northern city of Lucknow to go to Israel for jobs in the construction industry. My colleague Archana Shukla was on location.

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The desperation of these workers showed India’s jobs crisis is real. And it is crushing aspirations everywhere.

“I’m the first master’s degree holder in my family,” says Rukaiya Bepari, a 23-year-old graduate in the town of Miraj in western India.

“But there’s no industry where I live. So I’m now taking tuitions. It doesn’t pay much.”

Neither Rukaiya nor her brother have had full-time work for the last two years. They’re not alone.

India's labour force participation rate

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Unemployment among educated youth has doubled from 35.2% to 65.7% between 2000 and 2022, according to latest figures by the Indian Labour Organization, a human rights group.

There’s also been no significant growth of real wages in India since 2014, according to numbers computed by noted developmental economist Jean Dreze.

India “risks squandering its demographic dividend” – the economic growth potential from a big working-age population – the World Bank’s regional economist said in an interview to the Financial Times recently.

Job creation is a problem Mr Modi has been unable to solve.

Right off the back of his victory in 2014, the prime minister launched an ambitious Make In India campaign to turn India into the world’s factory. In 2020, his government doled out $25bn in incentives to companies across sectors from semi-conductors to mobile electronics in order to enhance India’s manufacturing capabilities.

But success has been elusive.

Yes, the likes of Foxconn – which makes iPhones for Apple – are moving their supply chains to India as part of the global “China plus one” diversification strategy. Other major global giants like Micron and Samsung have also been enthused to invest. But the numbers are not significant yet.

Manufacturing’s share as a percentage of GDP has remained stagnant in the last decade despite these efforts.

India's manufacturing and export growth under NDA and UPA

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Growth in exports was also faster under Mr Modi’s predecessors.

“Even if India’s manufacturing grows 8% per year till 2050 and China’s stagnates at the 2022 level, India’s manufacturing size in 2050 will still not match that of China’s in 2022,” says Prof Vidya Mahambare of the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

Lack of a large scale industry means half of India’s population still depends on agriculture for their livelihoods – which is increasingly becoming unprofitable.

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Two speed recovery

A direct impact of this? Squeezed household budgets.

At 3%, the growth in overall private consumption expenditure – the money people spend on buying things – is the slowest in 20 years.

And household debt has touched an all-time high, even as financial savings plunged to their lowest levels, according to new research.

Many economists argue that the nature of India’s economic growth post pandemic has been uneven, or “K-shaped” – where the rich have thrived, while the poor continue to struggle. India may be the fifth largest global economy at an aggregate level, but on a per person basis, it still languishes at the 140th rank.

Chart showing GDP of Brics countries

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And inequality has widened to a hundred-year high according to research from the World Inequality Database. No surprises then that election campaign discourse recently has been rife with chatter around wealth redistribution and inheritance taxes.

A three day pre-wedding ceremony of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s son recently offered a glimpse into the country’s new gilded age. Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Ivanka Trump were in attendance. Rihanna shook a leg with Bollywood’s biggest celebrities, while the Ambani women flashed diamonds and jewellery once part of the Mughal empire’s collection.

Luxury brands making cars, watches and liquor have been growing faster than India’s more mass-market companies, according to Arnab Mitra, who researches Indian consumer brands at Goldman Sachs.

Viral Acharya, a professor at NYU Stern, says a handful of the biggest conglomerates have grown “at the expense of the smallest firms”.

The super-rich, he says, have benefited from sharp tax cuts and a conscious policy of creating “national champions” in which prized public assets like ports and airports have been preferentially given to a few companies to build or run.

Latest court revelations show many of them have also been India’s top political donors to the ruling BJP.

Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman of Reliance Industries, Isha Piramal, Rihanna, Shloka Mehta Ambani, Akash Ambani and Radhika Merchant react on the stage during pre-wedding celebrations of Anant and Radhika in Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, March 1, 2024.

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India’s decade?

All combined, this presents an inconsistent picture of India’s economy. But for all its problems, the country is on the runway for take-off, say experts.

“India’s next decade could resemble China’s path (of hyper growth) from 2007 through 2012,” analysts from Morgan Stanley wrote in a widely discussed paper.

They add that the country has many advantages – a young demographic, the geopolitics of global de-risking from China and a clean-up of sectors like real estate. Other megatrends like digitalisation, a transition to clean energy and growth in global offshoring will propel future growth, say experts.

The infra push is also something that will have long-term payoffs. By making improvements in roads, power supply and turnaround time at ports – India is finally “creating an environment in which manufacturing can flourish”, says DK Joshi, CRISIL’s India economist.

A drone view of the construction work of the upcoming coastal road in Mumbai, India, March 7, 2024.

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But along with the focus on “physical capital”, Mr Modi needs to pay heed to creating “human capital”, says Dr Raghuram Rajan, the former governor of India’s central bank.

Indian children aren’t learning as well as they should to face up to the world of artificial intelligence. A quarter of those aged 14 to 18 can’t read simple text fluently, according to a report published by the non-profit Pratham Foundation.

Covid-19 dealt a major blow to students, who couldn’t attend school for nearly two years. But the government has continued to underfund education, and healthcare.

In its first decade, Modinomics appears to have delivered for a select few. But for many the jar, as it appears, is still half empty.

“We will grow old before we grow rich” if growth isn’t faster and more equitable, says Dr Rajan.

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Multi-currency e-wallets can do more in fraud prevention and customer support, experts say

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SINGAPORE: Multi- money electronic- wallets have grown in popularity by touting ease and cost savings, but they can even do more to tackle concerns about fraud prevention and resolution, experts said.

A multi- money e-wallet allows users to change and hold various currencies on a mobile game, as its title suggests.

In the write-up- epidemic travel bubble, the likes of YouTrip, Revolut and Wise have seen more users, mainly due to their aggressive exchange rates compared with conventional banks or moneychangers. They are also cheaper to use than record accounts, with lower or zero fees for international purchases.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore ( MAS ) revised its cap on e-wallet purchases late last year, giving these e-wallets a boost.

Under the revised rules that took effect on Dec 15, users can hold up to S$ 20, 000 ( US$ 14, 700 ) in their e- wallets, up from S$ 5, 000. The annual saving reduce also went up from S$ 30, 000 to S$ 100, 000.

The primary travel budget to increase the user restrictions in accordance with the new regulations was YouTrip. In order to meet the authorities ‘ expectations regarding mitigating fraud threats, it also implemented new security measures, such as a “kill change” for users to defrost their account.

Different people have said they will follow suit.

However, authorities told CNA that despite having their own security measures and procedures for customer support in the event of scams, multi-currency e-wallets may still be less secure and effective than traditional financial institutions, which are subject to stricter requirements.

Aurobindo Ghosh, an associate professor of finance at Singapore Management University, said banks usually have huge teams monitoring user data and patterns to identify deceptive transactions in real time. These abilities are also being enhanced by advances in technology like artificial knowledge.

However, he claimed that these costs are” costly,” and that banks will have to pass some expenses on as fees to cardholders in order to maintain the features and safety that are offered.

On the other hand, multi- money cards mainly “act more like online wallets and bank facilities”. They typically operate with less workforce and are typically less regulated, according to experts, making them less expensive to run.

Asst. Prof. Ghosh explained that whenever we are choosing a multi-currency digital wallet, we sacrifice some of the increased security features for the less expensive option.

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They wanted us to sign up ‘right there and then’: Parents speak up about cord blood banks’ marketing tactics

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” NOT PERMITTED TO OVERSELL”

Companies StemCord and Cordlife confirmed to CNA that they take part in pregnancy- and baby-related events like girl fairs, talks, and workshops. According to them, the goal is to raise awareness among families and raise awareness of cord blood banking.

Relatives told CNA that they’ve even seen salespeople at secret gynecologists. &nbsp,

Valerie Wong, the CEO of StemCord, stated that the company uses its website and social media platforms to promote cord blood banks and areas brochures at gynecological and obstetric clinics.

All of our sales staff are trained to follow the guidelines set, and they are not permitted to overcharge or provide false data, she said.

She added that Stemcord’s technique is “educational”, and meets with the advertising and special rules set by MOH.

A Cordlife spokesman stated that the company” strives to maintain ethical business practices” in its advertising efforts, including being open and sincere.

We take care to ensure that all information provided to expecting kids about cord blood banks and our companies is based on reliable sources of facts and medical data, according to Cordlife.

According to its spokeswoman, parents are also informed about the risks associated with the selection of other sources of plant cells and care as well as the process of rope body selection and the retrieval of the necessary parental blood samples.

They can even” change their minds” before the delivery also after entering into an agreement, said Cordlife.

In StemCord’s event, anxious parents often mark up in their second or third as, said Ms Wong. They must sign up before giving birth so that they can take the cord blood selection box to the hospital on the day of the delivery, she continued.

The second secret cord blood banks in Singapore, Cryoviva, did not respond to CNA’s ask for feedback.

In response to CNA’s concerns, MOH stated that it looked into three 2021 to 2023 cases of cord blood bank licensed marketing.

In Singapore, the Healthcare Services Act of 2020 permits cable blood bank. When marketing their companies, owners are required to follow the rules of the Act regarding marketing.

These include making sure their ad is technically correct and appropriate, as well as ensuring that it does not contain any information that amounts to soliciting or encouraging the use of the company, according to MOH.

Cord blood banks is also simply advertise through online and print media, like as brochures and flyers.

” Before written acceptance of an individual must also be obtained before brochures, flyers, brochures or papers containing the contact details of a owner can get distributed to the individual”, MOH added.

Owners who breach the rules face a fine of up to S$ 20, 000 ( US$ 14, 700 ) and up to 12 times ‘ jail.

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