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Banking & Finance Brief Investment Markets Politics & Society

IMF cuts growth forecasts

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its global growth outlook by the largest amount since the start of the pandemic, predicting increased inflation thanks to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the current Chinese covid-related lockdowns, reports Caixin. Global expansion will slow to 3.6% in 2022, down from a forecast of 4.4% in January before the […]

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China reveals covid-related support plans

The People’s Bank of China released measures to prop up the country’s economy as it struggles to deal with the impact of covid-related lockdowns on consumer activity. The PBOC published 23 measures which encouraged financial institutions to support local government infrastructure projects and the country’s struggling property sector, as well as provide financial services to […]

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Shanghai sets up production whitelist

Shanghai has released a manufacturer whitelist indicating who will be allowed to resume production—as long as a strictly enforced bubble is set up—as the city starts another week of an almost month-long lockdown, reports Caixin. It comes as authorities in the sprawling coastal finance and manufacturing hub scramble to bring the number of coronavirus cases […]

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Banking & Finance Brief Investment Markets Tech, Media & Telecom

Ant Group to partner with Singapore payments firm

Chinese fintech giant Ant Group announced it has joined into a strategic partnership with 2C2P, a Singaporean payments platform, which will see Ant become the firm’s major shareholder, reports the South China Morning Post. The move is expected to boost the payment options of Ant’s Alipay+, a cross-border digital payment service introduced in 2020, which […]

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Banking & Finance Brief Consumer Economics & Trade Investment Manufacturing Markets

China’s solid Q1 growth to lead into poor March showing

Chinese economic activity is expected to deteriorate sharply in March due to Covid-19 restrictions put in place affecting factories and consumers, reports Reuters. First quarter growth, however, is expected to have perked up after a strong early start to the year. Data on Monday is expected to show gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.4% in […]