Economy

A restaurant closed due to the coronavirus outbreak is seen next to the Chao Phraya river with a view of Wat Arun temple, one of the city's top tourist spots, in Bangkok, Thailand March 27.
Economy

Asian Development Bank triples coronavirus war chest to $20bn

Governments get the most, but companies can access $2bn in financial aid

14 April 2020
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank's joint spring meetings are well attended each year. This week, they will happen virtually. 
Your Week in Asia

China GDP, South Korea election, and TSMC investor conference

Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events

12 April 2020
Bank Rakyat Indonesia expects greater demand for digital services as people stay indoors amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Finance

Indonesia's top lender expects coronavirus to boost digital banking

Director at state-owned bank foresees short-term pain, long-term gain

12 April 2020
Gravediggers wear protective suits in preparing a plot in Manaus, Brazil.
Coronavirus: Free to read

Coronavirus: Week of Apr. 5 to Apr. 11, Global death toll reaches 100,000

Kyoto asks to be put under emergency decree; Vietnam preps $2.66bn safety net

11 April 2020
A Honda Civic at Bangkok auto show in 2019. Sales have plummeted in the country since the coronavirus outbreak.
Automobiles

Southeast Asia's auto plants limp along at 30% of capacity

Toyota halts all production in Thailand, prepared to do so in Indonesia

9 April 2020
A food stand in Bangkok: Street vendors, rickshaw drivers and construction employees are among Southeast Asia's informal workers who lack job security.
Coronavirus

Southeast Asia gives cash to low-wage workers as jobs evaporate

Governments worry about unrest among vast, vulnerable workforce

9 April 2020
Tien Sa port in Da Nang, Vietnam. Economists who took part in a JCER survey were dour about how the pandemic will influence supply chains and global trade.
Economy

Coronavirus darkens Asia’s economic outlooks: JCER survey

Negative growth forecast for Singapore and Thailand as unemployment escalates

6 April 2020
Firefighters spray disinfectant to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease in Jakarta.
4 April 2020
A worker wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant at the international arrivals terminal of Soekarno-Hatta Airport near Jakarta, Indonesia, on March 13.
Coronavirus

Indonesia to ban foreign arrivals as it declares health emergency

President signs regulation to ease budget deficit rule for three years

31 March 2020
A man is tested for the coronavirus outside a hospital in Bangkok on Thursday. (Photo by Akira Kodaka)
Coronavirus

From light touch to total lockdown: How Asia is fighting coronavirus

Countries begin to toughen their approach as infections continue to rise

28 March 2020
Congress gave final approval to the largest economic package in U.S. history. 
Coronavirus: Free to read

Coronavirus: Week of Mar. 22 to Mar. 28, US House passes a $2.2tn stimulus

Hong Kong bans gatherings of over 4 people; Trump tweets he is working with Xi

28 March 2020
A worker sprays disinfectant at a closed Kuala Lumpur market. With a prolonged coronavirus lockdown choking the economy, the Malaysian government has introduced two rounds of stimulus.
Coronavirus

Malaysia adds $53bn of coronavirus stimulus as fiscal pressure mounts

Indonesia also in tight spot while Singapore and others have wiggle room

27 March 2020
Emerging Asian currencies have nosedived against the dollar during the coronavirus crisis at investors seek the haven of the greenback. 
Economy

India, Indonesia and Thai currencies flash red in virus stress tests

Slump revives memories of 1990s Asian financial crisis

23 March 2020
Pedestrians in Seoul: Governments across Asia are scrambling to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus

Asia turns on the fiscal taps to cushion coronavirus impact

As crisis drags on, governments face pressure to offer even more aid

23 March 2020
Indonesian ride-hailing startup Go-Jek has created millions of informal jobs that are vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Society

Indonesian informal workers lose work in coronavirus outbreak

Income support needed for many on the lower rungs of the economy

21 March 2020
A freeway sits almost empty in downtown Los Angeles, after California's Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an unprecedented statewide "stay at home order" directing the state's 40 million residents to hunker down in their homes for the foreseeable future during the global outbreak of coronavirus disease, in California, U.S., on March 20, 2020.
Coronavirus: Free to read

Coronavirus: Week of Mar. 15 to Mar. 21, New York orders millions to stay indoors

Mainland China reports zero new local cases for 3rd day; worldwide total surges

21 March 2020
Jakarta is the commercial as well as the political capital of Indonesia. It also has the most confirmed cases of coronavirus infections in the nation.
Coronavirus

Jakarta declares state of emergency to contain outbreak

Governor asks offices to close and shuts down entertainment spots

21 March 2020
A member of the Indonesian Red Cross looks through goggles as she and her team disinfect in a Jakarta school on Monday. 
Economy

Four Asian central banks cut rates as virus rips markets

Indonesia, Australia, Philippines and Taiwan all move even as currencies slide

19 March 2020
Empty check-in counters at Don Mueang International Airport in Thailand are evidence of the sharp decline in Southeast Asian tourism amid the new coronavirus pandemic.
Datawatch

Southeast Asia faces budget deficits if tourist numbers drop 50%

Coronavirus pandemic exposes fragility of tourism-dependent economies

18 March 2020
Trump has ramped up the global blame game.
Opinion

Three reasons Asia should fear Trump's coronavirus fiasco

His incompetence and vitriol will have economic consequences for China and region

16 March 2020
The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in Morong town, Bataan province, north of Manila. Southeast Asia’s only fully-constructed nuclear power plant was built there during the era of former President Ferdinand Marcos, but the government shuttered the facility before it ever came online.
Energy

Indonesia and Philippines move to revive nuclear ambitions

New regulations proposed amid surging energy demand and anti-coal backlash

15 March 2020
A crude oil import terminal in Qingdao, China, pictured in August 2019: the combination of easy money and cheap oil could worsen deflationary pressures.
Opinion

Oil price crash will not offer help that Asian economies need

Long-term uncertainty has grown, overturning budgets and demanding cool heads

12 March 2020
Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai, pictured on Feb. 5: the coronavirus outbreak is nothing short of a human credit squeeze. 
Opinion

Asia has little hope of economic recovery in 2020

Coronavirus, oil shock, weakened central banks all bode ill for struggling region

11 March 2020
The Philippines' ratio of women in senior management positions stood at 43%, versus just 12% in Japan.
Economy

Women in management: Southeast Asia improves but Singapore slips

Philippines' ratio of female execs tops region as Japan lags behind at 12%

7 March 2020
Indonesians, who were scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia for an umrah pilgrimage, walk after being turned away from flights at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Feb. 27.
Coronavirus

Saudi pilgrim ban hits Indonesian tour operators and airlines

Extension through hajj season in July would be risk for Saudi tourism sector

4 March 2020