Finance & Economics

USA-India hails significant progress in Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA)

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | April 23, 2025 |

Here’s a focused summary of the latest developments between the U.S. and India during U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s four-day visit to India (April 21–24, 2025), emphasizing trade, energy, defense, and strategic ties, based on the most recent and reliable information available. The response integrates relevant details from web sources and X posts, with X…

USTR Section 301 Action’s New Maritime Fee Structure against China

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | April 19, 2025 |

The U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) introduced a new maritime fee structure in April 2025 to counter China’s dominance in the maritime, logistics, and shipbuilding sectors while promoting U.S. shipbuilding. The initiative stems from a Section 301 investigation, prompted by five U.S. labor unions in March 2024, which concluded that China’s state subsidies and policies unfairly…

[ Trade War SITREP: 13-16 April 2025 ] CHINA SIGNS 40 AGREEMENTS W VIETNAM; Trump to help car industry; decoupling continues…

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | April 16, 2025 |

KEYSTONE DEVELOPMENT US probes into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors Federal Register filings reveal probes into imports of pharmaceuticals and semiconductors as part of a bid to impose tariffs on both sectors on grounds that extensive reliance on foreign production of medicine and chips is a national security threat. The filings announce 21-day public comment periods…

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Are small and medium states ready to stop terrorists with cryptocurrency?

By Asif Muztaba Hassan | January 26, 2022

Cryptocurrency, or “crypto” as some prefer to call it, is slated to be the future of financial transactions. While the further development of crypto is widely celebrated, with mild speculations, traceability remains the most important issue surrounding the digital currency that requires abject focus. Often, acute discussions about the pros and cons of cryptocurrency assume…

[ Engadget ] Crypto.com loses $34 million in hack that affected 483 accounts

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | January 20, 2022

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Crypto.com’s Chief Executive Kris Marszalek has admitted that 400 customer accounts were compromised by hackers. He said his team detected unauthorized transactions made from the accounts, but that they’d fixed the issue immediately and fully reimbursed the affected users. Apparently, 483 accounts were affected and the unauthorized withdrawals totaled 4,836.26 ETH,…

Venezuela finally got out of the hyperinflationary cycle into extremely high monthly inflation

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | January 10, 2022

After 12 months of consecutive inflation that is below 50%, some analyst / media started to declare that Venezuela is finally out of the hyperinflationary cycle. Venezuela came out of the hyperinflationary cycle in which it had been since 2017, accumulating 12 continuous months below 50% inflation, after registering 7.6% in December, the Bank reported…

Jokowi battles Indonesian Coal Producers

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | January 6, 2022

Thousands of permits for mining, coal and forestry were revoked as Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo battles coal producers over their failure to prioritize the domestic market, which sparked a ban on coal export. 2,078 permits for mining, mineral and coal businesses were revoked for the failure to provide work plans, misused the permits or transferred…

IMF’s global financial system cyberattack wargame a signal of what is to come?

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | December 29, 2021

 Israel on Thursday led a 10-country simulation of a major cyberattack on the global financial system in an attempt to increase cooperation that could help to minimise any potential damage to financial markets and banks. The simulated “war game”, as Israel’s Finance Ministry called it and planned over the past year, evolved over 10 days,…

Singapore increases gold reserves by 20%, first increase in holding in decades

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | November 30, 2021

Singapore increased its gold reserves by about 20 per cent earlier this year in a largely under-the-radar move that saw holdings expand for the first time in decades. The purchases, which totaled about 26.3 tonnes, took place over May and June, according to data from the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s International Reserves and Foreign Currency…

[ The Irrawaddy ] Myanmar Military’s Joint Venture Brewery to be Dissolved After Product Boycott

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | November 26, 2021

Source: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-militarys-joint-venture-brewery-to-be-dissolved-after-product-boycott.html Myanmar Brewery Co, which once manufactured the best-selling beer brands in Myanmar, is to be dissolved. The company is a joint venture between Japanese beverage giant Kirin and the military-owned conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Public Co. Ltd (MEHL). On November 19, MEHL made an application to the Yangon Region Western District Court to…

Erdogan Becoming a Liability for Turkey

By Manish Rai | November 14, 2021

Last month Turkey made it into the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog headquartered in Paris. Turkey now joins its close ally Pakistan in FATF’s crosshairs. Surprisingly Turkey becomes the largest economy to be included in this list. The FATF listing for Ankara comes on the…

[ Taiwan News ] 32 countries to remove China from preferential tariff treatment on Dec. 1

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | November 5, 2021

China Customs says 32 countries will no longer provide preferential tariff treatment to the world’s largest exporter from Dec. 1, and an economic expert says labor-intensive businesses will bear the brunt of the development. According to a statement recently issued by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC), 32 countries will remove China from…

[ CNA ] Tougher competition but Singapore will take it in stride: PM Lee on G20’s corporate tax deal

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | November 5, 2021

“I think it is an effort by countries to come together to be able to have a united front in improving the bargaining position against companies which have very considerable pulling power,” he said. “I think I can understand what they are trying to do, but I think the dynamic will not fundamentally change and…

Former US President Trump launching new Social Media Network: TRUTH Social

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | October 21, 2021

Former US President, Donald J Trump finally made good on his promise to launch his own social media platform to compete against the Big Tech companies that had collectively censored and kick him off their respective platforms. Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) merged with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: DWAC), to immediately fast track…

[ TIME ] China, Isolated From the World, Is Now the Last Major Country Still Pursuing a ‘Zero COVID’ Strategy

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | October 7, 2021

Now, with the rise of the delta variant and the proliferation of vaccines, only one is still holding fast to that goal of eliminating Covid-19: China. With New Zealand preparing to shift away from the zero-tolerance strategy, China’s isolation is complete, raising the stakes on how long it can stick to a playbook that requires closed borders,…

[ AsiaOne / Straits Times ] Singapore inks deal for Merck antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 and its variants

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | October 7, 2021

The Republic has inked a supply and purchase agreement for an antiviral pill to treat Covid-19 that is said to be effective against all known variants of the virus, including the Delta variant. The drug was developed by pharmaceutical firm Merck in the United States and Canada, together with Miami-based Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. Merck is known as…

Entire Facebook Network is Down for 8 hours

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | October 5, 2021

At around 11.45pm Singapore Time (GMT+8), the entire Facebook network went offline. This includes all the most popular/used apps like Facebook app, Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. It was only until around 45mins later where the official twitter account for the respective apps started announcing that their apps are having issue. Despite the term used…

[ Nikkei ] U.S. set to resume trade talks with China

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | October 4, 2021

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is expected to speak to Chinese vice premier Liu He by telephone over the next few days, calling on China to respect the “phase one” trade agreement it signed with Washington under former President Donald Trump. The U.S. also plans to resurrect partial exemptions on punitive tariffs to help curb the impact of…

[ Fibre2Fashion ] Chinese textile prices may go up 30-40% due to power cuts

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | September 30, 2021

Prices of textiles and garments made in China are likely to rise by 30 to 40 per cent in the coming weeks on account of planned shutdowns in industrial provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong. The shutdowns are due to the government’s effort to reduce carbon emissions and shortage of electricity production owing to short…

REGEN-COV monoclonal antibody therapy delivery will arrive in Singapore next month

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | September 30, 2021

According the Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore largest chinese newspaper/media outlet, a spokesman from the National Center for Infectious Diseases of Singapore (NCID) had confirmed to the Associated Press that the monoclonal antibody cocktail, casirivimab and imdevimab, developed by US drugmaker Regeneron and Swiss pharmaceutical company, Roche, will be expected to arrive in the island state next…

Ho Ching to handover Temasek Holdings’ top seat for a “second time” on Oct 1 after 17 years of service

By Wyatt Mingji Lim | September 30, 2021

Outgoing chief executive of Temasek Holdings, Ho Ching, will be stepping down from the board on Friday (Oct 1). Mdm Ho, who is also the wife of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said she has been “very much” a part of the leadership succession process after being in the company for 17 years. The company…

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