Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the developing world has faced growing public-sector debt vulnerabilities. Interest-rate hikes and limited access to international capital markets have only exacerbated the problem — so much so that even solvent countries are now grappling with liquidity ...

The New Global Economy: The urgency of sovereign-debt restructuring

This is the final instalment of a four-part series on propelling the Madani economy. To summarise, fuel subsidy rationalisation is a contractionary but necessary move for Malaysia, discussed in Part I (“Taking a systems approach to fuel subsidies”, Issue 1515, March 18). In Part II (“Breaking out...

My Say: Madani-Bersama: Address disparities to unlock powerful engines of growth

In a world of depressing news headlines, how is the Southeast Asian region faring? An examination of the risk environment leads us to a few key assessments.

First, being one of the main arenas for US-China contestation, this region is exposed to potentially nasty scenarios if big power ...

My Say: How risks have changed in Southeast Asia

Islamic finance, built on ethical principles and profit-sharing, aims to offer an alternative to the conventional financial system. However, navigating the complexities of modern society presents challenges to its continued growth and accessibility. Addressing these hurdles is crucial to unlockin...

Campus View: Navigating the future of Islamic finance in a modern world

I love Kuala Lumpur, the city where I was born — to be precise, it was in Maternity Ward 3 of the old General Hospital. The wooden structure of Ward 3 has long given way to new medical facilities, but the General Hospital has remained at the intersection of Jalan Pahang and Jalan Tun Razak since ...

My Say: KL’s heritage buildings are in dire need of preservation

So, what can be wrong with the unity government?

It has a two-thirds majority, it is made up of four coalitions of parties, none of whom would be in positions of power if they did not work together, and it is headed by a man who had been trying to become prime minister ever since any Ma...

Picking On The Present: Guidelines for reform and unity: Technocracy, regionality and solidarity

Rich nations’ climate hypocrisy is accelerating global heating, pushing the planet closer to irreversible catastrophe, with its worst consequences borne by the poorest, both countries and peoples.

Climate injustice

While official and other discourses acknowledge or even invo...

My Say: Rich nation hypocrisy accelerating global heating

At my Chinese New Year gatherings this year, some friends divulged that their calendar was filled with “appointments” to conceive “dragon babies” before the “deadline”.

It’s fascinating how many in modern society still adopt feng shui as a guide in important decisions in life, despite t...

My Say: Feng shui, confirmation bias and polarisation

Large-scale land and forest fires regularly impact 30 million to 50 million hectares of land in Southeast Asia. These fires can generate smoke clouds covering hundreds of millions of hectares for months at a time, resulting in transboundary smoke haze that has severely impacted parts of all 10 As...

Climate And Environmental Governance: Stopping fires and transboundary haze in Southeast Asia

Our rice was at centre stage again with a very peculiar problem, that is, local rice was not available in the market in the second half of last year although 64% of supply comes from local farms. Despite stern warnings from the government against manipulation of rice supply, the problem persisted...

My Say: What is wrong with our rice sector

They are home to a quarter of humanity — 1.9 billion people. They possess prized natural resources, including one-fifth of the world’s copper and gold reserves, as well as many of the rare metals essential for the transition to clean energy. Their working-age populations are set to expand for the...

The New Global Economy: The world cannot afford to ignore the poorest countries

It has been a volatile and strange month in the markets. Gold prices crossed an all-time high of over US$2,400 per ounce after Iran launched 350 drones and missiles against Israel, having just crossed US$2,000 earlier in the month. The US 10-year Treasuries yield went back up to 4.6% per annum, w...

Condivergence: Heed Dimon’s view on how financial regulators must support growth

In the third and fourth instalments of our four-part series on the economy, we are focusing on mission-based policy packages that Malaysia can embark on to realise our vision of Malaysia Madani. As a recap, the first article — “Taking a systems approach to fuel subsidies” (Issue 1515, March 18) —...

My Say: Mission Madani: Now is not the time to work in silos

The global landscape is currently undergoing a transformative shift marked by ageing populations in countries such as Japan, South Korea, China and the European Union. This demographic evolution has far-reaching implications, extending beyond these nations to emerging economies like Malaysia, as ...

My Say: Demographic shifts and economic resilience: A call to action

Back when investment firm New Forests Advisory Pty Ltd was established, sustainably grown timber was not common, and the focus on sustainability and environmental, social and governance factors was not as intense as it is now.

Founded by David Brand in Australia in 2005, the firm offere...

Investing: Sustainable forestry now an asset class

DBS Group Holdings Ltd’s chief executive officer Piyush Gupta expects another year of record profit after Singapore’s biggest lender delivered better-than-expected results thanks to strong lending and wealth fees.

DBS CEO Gupta sees another record year after better than expected earnings 

Shares of Duopharma Biotech Bhd surged more than 9% during early trade on Thursday following news of the pharmaceutical company securing supply contracts worth RM578.09 million in total.

Duopharma Biotech surges over 9% after RM578m contract news

It will be hard for Taiwan to attend this year's World Health Organization (WHO) annual assembly, and it hopes more countries will support its presence, the island's foreign minister said on Thursday after the US pressed for an invite.

Taiwan says may be hard to attend WHO assembly, Blinken offers support

LONDON (May 1): Global investors are eyeing European and emerging market assets to protect themselves from further turbulence in U.S. stocks and bonds as stubborn inflation causes bets on the timing of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts to be revised.

April was a washout on Wall Street,...

Investors scour the globe for shelter as Wall Street shakes

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is moving to prevent Huawei, ZTE and other foreign companies deemed to pose US national security concerns from certifying wireless equipment, officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

US moves to bar Huawei, other Chinese telecoms from certifying wireless equipment

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) held interest rates steady on Wednesday and signalled it is still leaning towards eventual reductions in borrowing costs, but put a red flag on recent disappointing inflation readings that could make those rate cuts a while in coming.

Fed leaves rates unchanged, flags 'lack of further progress' on inflation

Solomon Islands lawmakers selected a new prime minister on Thursday, choosing foreign minister Jeremiah Manele, who has pledged to continue the Pacific Island nation's foreign policy that drew it closer to China.

Solomon Islands picks China-friendly Manele as new PM

(May 2): The Federal Reserve and other top U.S. regulators are forging ahead with their plan to make big banks hold more capital, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

Key officials have decided to adjust the original proposal rather than starting over and some of them are push...

US regulators discuss finalizing bank capital rules as soon as August

US stocks closed mixed on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve (Fed) left its key interest rate unchanged, as expected, and indicated that while its next move will likely be a rate cut, continued progress on inflation is not assured.

S&P 500, Nasdaq end lower after Fed rate decision, Powell press conference

Apex Securities Bhd has recommended investors to “subscribe” to ACE Market-bound Farm Price Holdings Bhd at an initial public offering (IPO) price of 24 sen and a fair value of 42 sen by pegging financial year 2025 (FY2025) forecast core earnings per share of 3.2 sen to price-earnings (PE) of 13 times (75% potential upside from IPO price).

Apex Securities advises investors to subscribe to ACE Market-bound Farm Price with fair value of 42 sen

Elon Musk’s latest cost-cutting victims: Summer interns.

Tesla Inc is rescinding offers just weeks before internships were set to start, prompting aspiring employees to take to LinkedIn to appeal to other employers to take them in.

Tesla interns say offers are getting revoked weeks before their start date

Shares of Duopharma Biotech Bhd surged more than 9% during early trade on Thursday following news of the pharmaceutical company securing supply contracts worth RM578.09 million in total.

A gauge of global stocks fell on Wednesday while the dollar weakened against a basket of peers after the Federal Reserve (Fed) left interest rates unchanged and indicated it is still leaning toward eventual rate cuts.

Stocks, dollar decline after Fed holds rates steady

Shares of Bursa Malaysia Bhd climbed to its highest in more than three years after the stock exchange operator reported better-than-expected results that prompted at least two analyst upgrades.

Bursa Malaysia climbs to over three-year high after above-view 1Q

Latest data signalled further downbeat trends across the Malaysian manufacturing sector at the start of the second quarter of 2024.

In a statement on Thursday, S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence said that while demand remained generally subdued, there were slight indications that firms were on an upward trajectory, as firms scaled back production at a softer rate amid a slower reduction in new order inflows.

Overall manufacturing conditions in Malaysia ease to lesser extent, says S&P Global

Luno, a digital asset exchange (DAX) licensed by the Securities Commission Malaysia, expands its coin offerings with the launch of Cosmos (ATOM) and Polkadot (DOT).

Luno launches two new digital assets

Governments rarely correct deteriorating public finances until they meet some form of debt market disturbance, but the retreat of central banks from sovereign bond markets may eventually set the scene for a showdown.

Bond markets face struggle to surf 'Treasury tsunami'

Alphabet Inc paid Apple Inc US$20 billion (RM95.45 billion) in 2022 for Google to be the default search engine in the Safari browser, according to newly unsealed court documents in the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Google.

Google’s payments to Apple reached US$20b in 2022, antitrust court documents show

Apple's plan to add generative artificial intelligence (AI) to its iPhones and revive sagging sales in the crucial Chinese market will be in focus on Thursday, when the tech giant is expected to report its biggest quarterly revenue decline in more than a year.

Apple set for big sales decline as investors await AI in iPhones

National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) said it will buy back up to A$1.5 billion (US$1 billion or RM4.77 billion) of its own stock as profit at the lender came in line with expectations.

National Australia Bank to buy back shares worth US$1b as profit dips

Shares of Starbucks fell 15% to their lowest in nearly two years on Wednesday, after the coffee chain cut annual forecasts on persistent weak demand from inflation-weary US customers and a slower-than-expected economic recovery in China.

Starbucks shares hit two-year low as China, US demand clouds outlook

Barclays has kicked off a fresh round of redundancies, cutting "a few hundred roles" at its investment bank as it ramps up efforts to tackle underperformers and reinvest in new talent, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Barclays moves to cut 'a few hundred' investment bank underperformers

(May 1): Over the last two years, Wall Street has convinced cautious equity investors to send billions of dollars into exchange-traded funds that use options to goose yields.

A vocal chorus of analysts has been warning against this booming trade, to no avail. Assets in the derivatives-p...

Bank of America sounds warning on options-ETF boom as day traders plunge in

Chelsea's bid to make it five Women's Super League titles in a row suffered a huge setback on Wednesday as they lost a 4-3 thriller to Liverpool, seriously denting the possibility of the Blues giving manager Emma Hayes a winning send-off.

Chelsea WSL title hopes derailed by stunning 4-3 loss to Liverpool

ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia, a subsidiary of luxury business aircraft maker Dassault Aviation, inaugurated its new maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility at Subang Airport on Thursday.

Dassault Aviation's MRO unit ExecuJet expands in Malaysia with new facility at Subang Airport

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) held interest rates steady on Wednesday and signalled it is still leaning towards eventual reductions in borrowing costs, but put a red flag on recent disappointing inflation readings that could make those rate cuts a while in coming.

Aston Martin posted a bigger-than-expected first-quarter loss on Wednesday.

Aston Martin losses rise ahead of new models

Hackers who breached UnitedHealth's tech unit in February potentially stole a third of Americans' data, the largest US health insurer's chief executive officer told a Congressional committee on Wednesday.

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