[ BEIJING: Chinese consumer prices rose in February for the first time since August, data showed Saturday, bucking a months-long stretch of deflation that compounded the country’s myriad economic woes.The world’s second-largest economy posted some of its lowest growth in decades last year and is battling a prolonged property sector crisis and soaring youth unemployment.But … Read more
[ TOKYO: Once forecast to become the world’s biggest economy, Japan slipped below Germany last year to fourth place, official data shows, although India is projected to leapfrog both later this decade. Despite growing 1.9%, Japan’s nominal 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) in dollar terms was US$4.2 trillion, government data showed, compared with US$4.5 trillion … Read more
[ TOKYO: The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is likely to be encouraged by stronger annual wage negotiation results that will pave the way for the end of its negative interest rate by this spring, according to a former BoJ executive director in charge of monetary policy. “There’s a good chance the outcome of spring wage … Read more
[ BEIJING: China’s consumer prices extended their decline for a third month in December while factory-gate prices also fell, highlighting persistent deflationary pressures in an economy struggling to mount a solid recovery. The consumer price index (CPI) shed 0.3% in December from a year earlier, and was up 0.1% month-on-month, data from the National Bureau … Read more
