Economy

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that the country's economy is "still a ways off" from the progress that the central bank wants to see before tapering asset purchases, while it was also monitoring inflation very carefully. "It really is a very broad range of things, including wages, unemployment, levels of employment, participation, all those things," he said, adding Fed officials will "have another round of discussions on this very topic" at the Fed's meeting in two weeks.

Growth will be driven by the world's three main economic powers, with China's gross domestic product (GDP) set to expand by more than 8 per cent, dpa news agency quoted the Paris-based OECD as saying in its 2021 Economic Outlook. The US should be close behind, registering nearly 7 per cent GDP growth, with the European Union clocking a higher-than-usual 4.25 per cent.

Beginning on June 15, almost all industry and business sectors may return to usual operations with no capacity limits or physical distancing requirements, according to the updated guidelines unveiled by the California Department of Public Health on Saturday.

The bill was passed on Thursday with 149 votes in favour and 58 against, reports Xinhua news agency. Under the legislation, a President-appointed commission will be established to govern the SEZ.

"We are 10 million jobs short still of where the economy was when this pandemic started. Last month, the economy lost jobs for the first time since last spring," Brian said, citing the latest data -- another 900,000 Americans file for weekly unemployment insurance.

In a significant move reflecting rapid geopolitical shifts, India, Iran and Uzbekistan are scheduled to hold their first meeting on the joint use of the strategic Chabahar port. As ministers dialogue, China will be the elephant in the room. Earlier this year, China and Iran thrashed out a key $400 billion deal after which reports suggested that the latter had decided to drop India from the Chabahar rail project that connects Chabahar port and Zahedan.

Many G20 economies rebounded with double-digit numbers in the third quarter after double-digit falls in the second quarter, Xinhua news agency quoted the OECD as saying in a statement on Monday. GDP in India rebounded strongest, by 21.9 per cent, following a fall of 25.2 per cent in the second quarter, the sharpest drop ever recorded, according to the statement.

The latest growth forecast in a supplement to Asian Development 2020 shows an improvement from the -0.7 per cent GDP growth forecast in September, while the outlook for 2021 remains unchanged. Developing Asia’s subregions are forecast to contract this year, except for East Asia, which is expected to grow higher than earlier projected.