Economy

Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of Banque de France, speaks to Nikkei in Tokyo on Nov. 15. (Photo by Kosuke Imamura)
Interview

French central bank governor warns of West-China 'fragmentation'

Francois Villeroy de Galhau says China's economic revival is in world's interest

21 November 2022
People wade through a flooded street following heavy rain in the Philippines in October. The Asia-Pacific region has been hit hard by extreme weather this year.
COP27

AI weather forecaster sets sights on battered Asia-Pacific

CEO: Machine learning quickly adapts to extreme weather from climate change

20 November 2022
Heavily dependent on imports for their wheat supply, many Asian countries are facing growing risks of food security in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Datawatch

Growing appetite for wheat exposes Asia's soft underbelly

Consumption up 30% in 10 years but Ukraine war threatens food security

20 November 2022
The venue for the APEC summit at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok on Nov. 14: The reinvigoration of the group must be led by the private sector.
Opinion

APEC should look to business for leadership

Regional grouping has lost its luster as a force for trade liberalization

16 November 2022
Japan is among the countries struggling with declining fertility and an aging population.
Society

World population hits 8bn, but falling births mean slower growth ahead

Shrinking demographic dividend confronts nations with economic challenge

15 November 2022
Joe Biden, Fumio Kishida and Narendra Modi participate in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework launch event in Tokyo on May 23: The IPEF should have a collective economic self-defense mechanism.
Opinion

IPEF should defend Asian states against Chinese economic coercion

U.S. can energize talks with discussion of EU-style collective protection tools

11 November 2022
The yen strengthened against the dollar following a report showing that inflation is easing in the U.S. (Photo by Koji Uema)
Currencies

Yen surges to six-week high on signs of easing U.S. inflation

Currency, stock markets react to prospect that Fed will slow rate hikes

11 November 2022
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the world is "on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator."
COP27

The world is on a 'highway to climate hell,' says U.N. chief

Developing country leaders seek 'loss and damage' compensation

8 November 2022
Containers at Khalifa Port, Abu Dhabi. An uptick in political engagement between key Asian and Gulf economies noted by experts is expected to result in tangible deals that will drive trade growth.
Trade

Saudi and Gulf state trade with emerging Asia to rise 60% by 2030

U.K. think tank says 'uptick in political engagement' boosts economic ties

7 November 2022
Russia has pulled out of a U.N.-brokered deal that ensured safe passage for ships carrying grain from Ukraine.
Ukraine war

Global food crisis set to deepen as Russia pulls out of grain deal

Black Sea area is key supplier of wheat and corn to Asia, other regions

1 November 2022
A vessel leaves the Orlan oil platform at Sakhalin-1's offshore rig: Tokyo's misguided policy is set to become markedly worse.
Opinion

Japan should prioritize Ukraine ahead of oil supply diversification

Recommitting to Sakhalin-1 project would in effect help finance Russia's war

31 October 2022
Demand for a wide range of semiconductors has dropped sharply after prolonged supply shortages. (Photo by Wataru Ito)
Semiconductors

Intel, Samsung, Micron brace for slump as chip cycle tips downward

Economic slowdown chills tech demand, leaving semiconductor inventories glutted

29 October 2022
A company displays lumber in Vietnam, whose wood products industry is grappling with risks ranging from the Ukraine war to fake forest certificates and U.S. trade probes. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Supply Chain

Vietnam's wood trade under pressure from logging, Ukraine war

Murky origins plague furniture sector coming down from COVID-fueled buying spree

28 October 2022
German Finance Minister Christian Lindner discusses his country's policy toward Russia and Ukraine at his office in Berlin. (Photo by Marlies Matthes)
Interview

Germany aims to phase out all Russian gas: finance minister

Christian Lindner vows 'not going to be pressured' by Moscow over Ukraine

26 October 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden greets a worker as he arrives to speak about investments in infrastructure in Los Angeles on Oct. 13: Is it possible for unelected central bankers to ask the government in a democratic society to trim their fiscal plans?
Opinion

Spare some sympathy for central bankers

Favorable supply-side conditions are gone and fiscal activism poses challenge

25 October 2022
Attitudes on China have hardened on both sides of the political aisle in the U.S.
US-China tensions

Beyond chips, U.S. lawmakers urge tougher line on Chinese deals

Democrats and Republicans seek probes into transactions in rail and land

25 October 2022
Bank of Japan data suggests that the Oct. 21 yen-buying intervention dwarfed last month's.(Photo by Masaru Shioyama)
Currencies

Japan spent $37bn in record intervention to support yen: estimate

Moves on consecutive trading days hint at defense line of 150

25 October 2022
The U.S. Federal Reserve published in September a projection foreseeing policy rates as high as 6% or more in the next two years.
Finance

Most Japanese banks risk losses from steep U.S. rate hikes: BOJ

Japan's central bank conducts stress test against forecast 6% fed rate

22 October 2022
Mariama Kuyateh holds up a picture of her late son, who died from acute kidney failure, in Banjul, Gambia, on Oct. 10. Cough syrups made by an Indian company are under investigation in connection with dozens of similar deaths.
Pharmaceuticals

Gambia child deaths threaten India's 'pharmacy of world' position

Company suspended over cough syrups suspected in nearly 70 fatal cases

21 October 2022
The policy divergence between the dovish Bank of Japan and the hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve is a primary driver of the dollar's recent strength and the yen weakness. (Photo by Tomoki Mera) 
Currencies

Yen falls past 150 per dollar, hitting new 32-year low

Fed's sustained hawkish monetary stance spurs dollar-buying

20 October 2022
Lam Research Corp. is the world’s fourth-largest semiconductor equipment maker by market share.
Semiconductors

Lam Research expects $2.5bn revenue hit from China chip ban

U.S. chip equipment maker says it will lose 'very profitable' Chinese buyers

20 October 2022
The yen was briefly trading at around 147.65 against the dollar, crossing the 147.64 mark it recorded in 1998 and hitting its weakest point since August 1990. (Source photos by Koji Uema and Yo Inoue)
Markets

Yen weakens to 32-year low, declining past 147 per dollar

Sell-off raises possibility of new forex intervention by Tokyo

14 October 2022
Drought conditions have caused Mississippi River water levels to drop, triggering barge draft restrictions.
Inflation

Food inflation worries reignite as U.S. barge prices hit new highs

Surging fertilizer costs add to hunger threat in emerging nations

14 October 2022
Foreign currency reserves in countries such as Turkey are below levels the IMF considers safe.
Economy

Emerging-market debt breaches 250% of GDP, making it G-20 focus

Impact of strong dollar and rising interest rates likely to be on agenda

13 October 2022
The global economy is under pressure from the war in Ukraine, high energy prices and rising interest rates. 
Economy

IMF cuts 2023 global growth forecast to 2.7% as rate hikes bite

'The worst is yet to come, and for many people 2023 will feel like a recession,' report says

12 October 2022