Asia

India’s government slashed corporate taxes on Friday, giving a surprise $20.5 billion break aimed at reviving private investment and lifting growth from a six-year low that has caused job losses and fuelled discontent in the countryside. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters the effective corporate tax rate...

The under-construction Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre at Purbachal satellite town will be launched in December next year (2020). Ministry of Commerce informed this at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Commerce at Parliament Bhaban in the capital yesterday. The meeting was also...

A number of UAE business groups are set to invest $10 billion (Dh36.7 billion) into Bangladesh, according to data compiled by Bangladesh Economic Forum, which takes place at Conrad Dubai Hotel today (September 15). More than 300 government officials, business leaders, investors and entrepreneurs will participate in...

Sanofi, the French pharmaceuticals giant, is planning to exit Bangladesh after 60 years in the country by offloading stakes, in a massive blow to the government at a time when it is earnestly looking to attract foreign direct investment. In a letter to the Sanofi board recently,...

US President Donald Trump will delay a planned tariff hike on $250bn (£202.8bn) of Chinese goods as a "gesture of good will". In a tweet, Mr Trump said a 5% increase to duties scheduled for 1 October will be postponed for two weeks. He said the delay had been requested by...

Uzbekistan plans to raise textile export volume to $2 billion this year, according to Uzbek Textile Industry Association chairman Ilhom Haydarov. The government is planning to reprocess all cotton yarn produced in the country domestically by 2025 and hike export of textile items to $7 billion, he...

The prices Chinese firms pay factories for their goods fell last month at the fastest pace in three years, official data showed Tuesday, as slackening demand and the bruising US trade war drag on the economy. Consumer prices were also broadly subdued and only supported by a...

The government yesterday raised the hopes of aspiring entrepreneurs as it announced a Credit Guarantee Fund (CGF) to act as guarantors for them when they apply for loans to banks or financial institutions to kick-start their venture. The development comes after the cabinet approved the four-year-long SME Policy 2019. The CGF...

Inflation declined 13 basis points to 5.49 percent in August, helped by the downward movement of both food and non-food prices. Last month’s rate also bucked the rising trend as inflation had risen 10 basis points to 5.62 percent in the first month of the current fiscal...

Some Chinese business sectors reported solid first half earnings, though a substantial fall in industrial profits and in tepid overseas investment inflows into China’s stock markets show fallout from the protracted trade war with the United States. Foreign portfolio inflows into stocks in the world’s second largest...