Intractable realities
THIS is not a perfect world. These six words were cynically hurled at me around midnight by the person occupying the presidential mansion in Islamabad in 2009. He was mad…
Punjab legerdemain
AS we know, much has transpired in the country since the PTI’s November rally in Rawalpindi. Recent events are before us, including the de-notification and subsequent reinstatement by the Lahore…
China’s top banks to issue offshore loans to help developers repay debt
China has ordered its top four state-owned banks to issue offshore loans to help developers repay overseas debt, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in Beijing’s latest…
China regulator launches new probe into banks’ property loan exposure
China’s banking regulator is scrutinising property loan portfolios of some local and foreign lenders to assess systemic risks, sources with knowledge of the matter said, as a crisis in the…
In UK, workers strike as inflation crushes earnings
Railway and postal staff, dockers too. Britain’s workers are striking in vast numbers as decades-high inflation erodes the value of wages at a record pace. Britain’s train network faces further…
Beijing struggles to defuse anger over China’s P2P lending crisis
Peter Wang was asleep at his home in Beijing last Monday when police officers arrived before dawn to detain him, saying he had helped organise a protest planned for later…
Britain’s COVID lending schemes risk widening regional divides
In the northern English seaside resort of Blackpool, the family-run Elgin Hotel is preparing to reopen in August after four months’ enforced closure. The Elgin had a profitable 2019, but…
British vote sparks more economic uncertainty
Financial markets dislike uncertainty but were handed a hugely clouded outlook Friday after the Conservative party of Prime Minister Theresa May lost its parliamentary majority in Britain's snap general election.…
No milk or water
The supply chain troubles caused by Brexit and the pandemic have been so bad for Satyan Patel that the shelves at his convenience store in central London are seriously lacking…
State Bank independence
THE last few weeks have seen a proliferation in the public debate on central bank independence (CBI), triggered by the government’s submission to parliament of proposed amendments to the State…
