ASIA: Chinese and US senior trade officials held a virtual meeting to ramp up trade talks. Chinese Vice Premier Liu He held a virtual meeting with US Treasury
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ASIA:
China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions, and warned investors against speculative crypto trading. Under the ban, such institutions, including banks and online payments channels, must not offer clients any service involving cryptocurrencies, such as registration, trading, clearing and settlement, three industry bodies said in a joint statement on Tuesday. China has banned crypto exchanges and initial coin offerings but has not barred individuals from holding cryptocurrencies.
Domestic sales of gasoline and diesel by Indian state refiners plunged by a fifth in the first half of May from a month earlier as lockdowns to curb coronavirus infections hit industrial activities and consumption, preliminary data showed on Monday. Indian fuel demand had recovered to near pre-COVID levels in March but has been declining since April given restrictions amid a staggering spike in infections
ASIA:
Moody’s Investors Service on Tuesday slashed India’s growth forecast for the current financial year to 9.3 per cent saying that the second wave of coronavirus infections hampers economic recovery and increases risk of longer-term scarring. With this, Moody’s has joined several analysts who revised their GDP forecasts for India in the face of a second wave of COVID-19 infections in the country. Revising its projections for India’s GDP growth, Moody’s said that the second wave of COVID-19 is expected to be less disruptive than the first wave. The rating agency also ruled out any chances of a rating upgrade in the near future. Instead, it warned against self-reinforcing economic and financial risks as they may put more pressure on the rating.
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U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said on Wednesday she expects to engage “in the near term” with Chinese officials to assess their implementation of the “Phase 1” trade deal between the two countries, with the outcome to influence the fate of Washington’s punitive tariffs on Beijing. Tai told that she respects the need for continuity in U.S.-China trade policy, including the two-year trade deal implemented last year by the Trump administration.
India’s oil imports in March rose from the previous month, buoyed by an upturn in economic activity that could take a knock again because of renewed lockdowns in the world’s third-largest crude importer. Crude imports rose 7.3% from February to 18.26 million tonnes, data on the website of the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) showed, although imports were still down about 6.5% year on year. India’s annual crude imports fell nearly 13% in the fiscal year 2020/21 to 198.11 million tonnes,
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ASIA:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) raised its FY22 growth forecast for India to 12.5% from 11.5% estimated earlier in January, even as a resurgent Covid spread threatens to undermine the country’s economic recovery. The Washington-based global financial institution, in its annual World Economic Outlook ahead of the annual Spring meeting with the World Bank, said the Indian economy is expected to grow by 6.9% in 2022. China, the only major economy to have a positive growth rate in 2020 of 2.3%, is expected to grow by 8.6% in 2021 and 5.6% in 2022.
The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today:
NIKKEI 225 increased 34.16 points or 0.12% to 29,730.79