Economy

An Afghan Army soldier inspects a junkyard filled with destroyed American equipment in Bagram, Afghanistan on July 2. (Photo by Kanika Gupta)
Afghanistan turmoil

Afghan economy on verge of collapse as US troops depart

Abrupt exit leaves locals to deal with deteriorating security on their own

5 August 2021
Shoppers crowd a market in Ahmedabad, India. The use of cashless payments took off after the government abolished high-denomination bank notes in 2016. 
Economy

India welfare payments go digital with e-RUPI system

Mobile platform also covers public services in bid to target spending

4 August 2021
Mukesh Ambani's son Akash Ambani, second right, and his wife Shloka Mehta smile at their wedding ceremony in Mumbai in March 2019: India's billionaires seem content with traditionally garish displays of wealth.
Opinion

India's billionaires lack the ambition of their Western counterparts

High taxes, too much regulation and fickle governments the likely culprit

1 August 2021
The Maldivian government now expects to attract 1.5 million vacationers by the end of this year, nearing the 1.7 million tourists it received in 2019.
International relations

Russian tourists make big splash in the Maldives

Island nation's gamble to open despite pandemic could draw near-record visitors

29 July 2021
Narendra Modi, pictured during a rally in Kolkata on Mar. 7: the Prime Minister displayed more passion in talking up Hindu nationalism than urging lawmakers to modernize a rigid economy.
Opinion

COVID-19 puts Narendra Modi's modest wins at risk

Anniversary of 1991 economic reforms shows up prime minister's bombast

29 July 2021
Colombo's ill-planned import ban to protect Sri Lankan foreign reserve is negatively impacting the economy.
Economy

Sri Lanka's import ban puts hundreds of businesses in jeopardy

Colombo's ad hoc efforts to save forex likely to hamper economy and cost jobs

28 July 2021
Emerging countries such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are reinforcing their presence in the growing trend of cross-border remote work..
Datawatch

Cross-border online work increases 30% amid COVID-19 pandemic

600 million people potentially could do jobs remotely; Japan being left behind

27 July 2021
Onlookers gather near a beverage and food factory on July 11, after a fire gutted the building in the Narayanganj district, near Dhaka, three days earlier.
Fires

Bangladesh factory fire puts new spotlight on worker safety

Improvements incomplete and focused on export businesses, say critics

26 July 2021
An ambulance arrives at a hospital in Dasu after a bus with Chinese nationals on board plunged into a ravine in Upper Kohistan, Pakistan, on July 14 following a blast. (Nikkei montage/Reuters/AP)
Belt and Road

China pressures Pakistan after losing 9 engineers in bus attack

Beijing postpones Belt and Road meeting and halts work on $4bn dam

21 July 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, talks to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in June 2019 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
International relations

Russia warms to Pakistan after three decades of cold ties

Moscow seeks new energy markets and to reclaim turf in geostrategic backyard

20 July 2021
People shop at a crowded wholesale vegetable market after authorities eased coronavirus restrictions, following a drop in the COVID-19 cases, in the old quarters of Delhi, India, June 23.
Economy

India and ASEAN growth forecasts cut amid COVID delta outbreak

ADB lowers emerging Asia's economic rebound to 7.2% in 2021

20 July 2021
India's monstrous second wave of COVID-19 caused most of its over 400,000 fatalities during the pandemic and derailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vaccine diplomacy.
Asia Insight

India's COVID second wave disrupts vaccine export plans

Asia faces shortage as world's biggest jab producer still battles outbreak at home

20 July 2021
An Afghan National Army soldier walks through a marijuana field. Afghanistan's emerging security vacuum is catnip to drug traffickers, who thrive amid lawlessness and economic devastation.
Politics

Pakistan fears Afghan chaos will exacerbate narcotics problem

Senior official says Beijing is helping Islamabad's anti-narcotics efforts

10 July 2021
Bangladesh has ample electric power for now but wants to add more renewables to its energy mix of the future.
International relations

Bangladesh scraps plans for 10 coal-fired power plants

Projects involving China, Japan and others axed due to environmental concerns

8 July 2021
The pandemic continues to teach a harsh lesson: optimism is often not just wrong, but fatal. 
The Big Story

Asia's new COVID waves

Nikkei Recovery Index shows overconfidence can be deadly

7 July 2021
Shipping containers await transport from a port in Bangkok, Thailand in March 2016.
Economy

COVID surge puts brakes on Thai and Malaysia growth: survey

Virus variants and US rate hike loom over ASEAN economies

5 July 2021
Construction site of the Dwarka Expressway, pictured on Mar. 4: there is reason to hope.
Opinion

What comes next for India's deeply scarred economy?

New reason to hope that things will finally start to get better

4 July 2021
The Karnaphuli underwater tunnel project in Chittagong, Bangladesh, has been funded by China, which recently said it would not fund at least two rail projects in the country.
Belt and Road

Belt and Road projects in limbo as Bangladesh cuts budgets

China withdraws infrastructure funding after Dhaka trims proposed costs

28 June 2021
The emergency room of a New Delhi hospital. COVID-19 has forced millions of Indians to seek care at expensive private hospitals whose bills often wipe out family nest eggs.
Coronavirus

India's health care emergency predates COVID

No safety net and expensive medical bills sink many patients into poverty

25 June 2021
Pakistan is pouring increased amounts of money into servicing loans, which bodes ill for domestic spending on health care, infrastructure and other areas.
Economy

Interest payments consume one-third of Pakistan's budget

Over-reliance on loans bodes ill for fiscal sustainability and domestic needs

24 June 2021
Britain and the European Union are competing for closer ties with Narendra Modi’s India. (Source photos by AP and Reuters)
22 June 2021
India's ban against foreign imports of military equipment extends to helicopters.
Aerospace & Defense Industries

Modi's 'Make in India' campaign lifts defense sector amid China row

Over 200 imports now restricted as standoff proves boom for domestic arms makers

19 June 2021
Dejected farmers dump tomatoes after going to the state market and learning about current prices. (Photo by Ranganathan Krishnaswamy)
Economy

India's tomato farmers dump crops as lockdown disrupts trade

Asia's 2nd-largest tomato market faces price crash and loses high season

15 June 2021
Traders transact at a wholesale vegetable market in Bangalore in December 2016: an e-rupee would do exactly what Modi hoped to achieve in 2016.
Opinion

India should scrap paper money altogether

Four reasons Narendra Modi should speed up a digital rupee

14 June 2021
A member of Sri Lanka's military tries to clear Sarakkuwa Beach, north of Colombo, of pellets from a plastic and chemical spill that has delivered another blow to the country's pandemic-ravaged economy. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara)
Environment

Sri Lanka fishing and tourism sectors drown in new crisis

Plastic pellet and chemical spill fuels fear of seafood and hinders exports

12 June 2021