Economy

Addressing the nation over TV to mark her the third year of her present tenure amid thirteen years of being in power, she also said the present government helmed by the Awami League has foiled the rise of militancy. Again announcing her commitment to fulfilling the dream of the Father of the Nation to build a secular and democratic state free from exploitation and deprivation, "where people of all religions, castes, classes and professions will live happily and peacefully. Everyone will have access to food, clothing, shelter and medical treatment", she said that unfortunately, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman could not fulfil his dream.

The government's plan has managed to support the embattled currency at the eleventh hour. From an all-time low of 18.35 liras per US dollar, it traded at around 12.22 liras against the greenback on Wednesday, according to the country's central bank. However, economists said the currency turmoil, which has marked this year, has left the country's economy vulnerable to further shocks in 2022, especially high inflation, Xinhua news agency reported.

While the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic was particularly harsh on the tourism industry-dependent Sri Lanka, a large section of society is of the opinion that the problems only aggravated due to the mishandling of the situation by the Rajapaksas. Prices of essential items including food have risen manifold forcing people to reduce their consumption. To add to this an acute shortage of cooking gas has hit households.

The 2021 China gaming industry report was released by the Game Publishing Committee of the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association at the annual meeting of China's gaming industry in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou. Despite the weaker performance of the domestic gaming market, China's self-developed games raked in 114.6 billion yuan in actual sales revenue in overseas markets this year, up 16.6 per cent year on year, according to the report.

The rate has now decreased from 15 per cent to 14 per cent, prompting the lira to lose as much as 6.2 percent against the dollar to trade at 15.72 liras per dollar, reports Xinhua news agency. The country's annual inflation rose to 21.31 per cent in November, the highest level in more than three years, as prices continued to climb, clouding consumer outlook in the country.

Pakistan has gone bankrupt, according to former Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman Shabbar Zaidi. He further said that the Imran Khan government's claims of the country doing very well and achieving great were all wrong. In a recent speech at Hamdard University, Zaidi said that it is better to accept that Pakistan's economy has gone bankrupt and find solutions rather than deceive people by claiming that it is doing well. After his bold statement stirred a row on social media, Zaidi claimed that his words were taken out of context and had been misreported.

The bill, which was approved by both chambers of the Congress earlier this week, will set up a process for Democrats to raise the debt limit in a second bill by a simple majority vote, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Democrats-held lower chamber approved the Bill on Thursday by a vote of 221-212. The measure now heads to the Senate, where a group of Republicans have threatened to delay the passage of the bill, Xinhua news agency reported.

With the approval of a temporary ban on the import of CBU, the government wanted to curtail its import bill to the tune of over $3 billion on annual basis, the report said. Now the government seems worrying that with the existing pace, the CAD might cross the $15 billion mark for the current fiscal year.

Chris Lipscombe, international business strategist and the president of the New Zealand China Cross-border Electronic Commerce Foundation, welcomed the ratification of the RCEP agreement by China, New Zealand and other countries, noting it would boost the recovery of the Asia-Pacific and world economy amid Covid-19, reports Xinhua news agency.