MANILA, Philippines — Bank lending continued to contract in July, albeit at a milder pace, but the recent return to harsh lockdowns may reverse some gains. Excluding lending to each other, outstanding loans of big banks fell 0.7% year-on-year in July to P9.12 trillion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported Wednesday. This drop was slower compared […]
Read MoreKUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Business activity slowed down markedly in the first half (H1) of 2021 as the tightening of Covid-19 lockdowns put further strains on the manufacturing sector, according to a biannual industry survey. In the business conditions survey jointly conducted by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER), more than […]
Read MorePublic confidence will be a key factor in boosting the economy after the government eased its strict Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, according to an executive at the Bank of Thailand (BoT). The loosening of the rules, which starts on Wednesday, will bring relief to businesses which had been constrained by the restrictions of recent months. However, […]
Read MoreTHE prospect of international border reopenings is cause for cheer for private-sector economists, who again bumped up their estimates for this year’s growth recovery. Still, concerns about the Covid-19 situation weighed more heavily on analysts in the latest quarterly poll conducted by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), amid other worries such as the manufacturing […]
Read MoreThe country’s feed-in tariff mechanism for rooftop solar energy projects, a policy tool designed to stimulate investment, is set to be abolished, according to officials at a workshop on Monday. The workshop on rooftop solar energy in industrial parks was held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Green Innovation and Development Center […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The re-imposition of hard lockdowns in the capital and nearby provinces in August sent local factory output crashing to its lowest level in 15 months, derailing an already fragile recovery of the beleaguered manufacturing sector. A monthly survey of around 400 companies showed the Philippines’ purchasing managers’ index (PMI), a measure of […]
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Thailand
