Metaplanet is acquiring Siiibo Securities for $13 million to develop and distribute Bitcoin-linked yield products directly to Japanese investors. This move signifies Metaplanet's strategic expansion beyond Bitcoin accumulation into active financial product development, aiming to tap into Japan's substantial household savings seeking yield.
India's retail inflation rose to 3.48% in April, a one-year high, driven by higher food prices (4.20% CFPI) and broader household essential price pressures, with rural inflation outpacing urban areas.
China may finally have a chance to loosen the grip of deflation. Yet, the more important question is whether it can do so without making households feel poorer first. The latest producer price index (PPI), which measures the prices factories charge, brings that possibility back into serious debate. China’s March PPI rose by 0.5 per cent year on year, ending 41 months of decline; it was up 1 per cent from February. After years of weak prices, cautious household spending and squeezed corporate...
In March 2024, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time since 2007, lifting borrowing costs out of negative territory and calling time on decades of ultra-loose monetary policy as Japan emerged from a long period of entrenched deflation. At the time, inflation had been above the central bank’s 2 per cent target for 22 months. Fast forward to today, and inflationary pressures continue to build. Although headline inflation fell to 1.3 per cent in February, this was because of the...
Young Chinese graduates are facing severe challenges in the job market amid deflationary pressures and economic uncertainty. Bai Xi, a finance and management graduate from Hebei province, is among many who failed local-level civil service exams after months of preparation and part-time work. She has given up on retaking the exams, citing exhaustion and the belief that further attempts would be a waste of time.
