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☆ RBI may need to reload reserves as Indian rupee falls further, HDFC Bank economist says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A Reserve Bank of India (RBI) logo is seen at the gate of its office in New Delhi, India, November 9, 2018. REUTERS/Altaf Hussain/MUMBAI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The Reserve Bank of India may need to find ways to replenish its foreign exchange reserves such as encouraging non-resident Indians to deposit more funds, as it looks to stabilise a depreciating rupee, HDFC Bank Chief Economist Abheek Barua said. read more"The central bank should intervene to ensure that a falling currency does not eclipse India's fundamentals," Barua wrote in a note this week. According to Barua, the central bank may need to think of ways to bulk up its forex reserves, should the pool shrink to near $500 billion in the coming months. "More capital is needed at this stage to stabilise the rupee and enable the RBI to replenish its reserves chest," he said.

☆ U.S. interest rates may be rising, but that won't trigger another Asian Financial Crisis, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-23 | by ( Su-Lin Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

watch nowThe world economy may be facing conditions seen during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis — aggressive U.S. interest rate hikes and a strengthening U.S. dollar. The Thai baht and other Asian currencies collapsed, triggering the Asian Financial Crisis and leading to slumps in stock markets. Reducing currency disparity with the U.S. dollar reduces the risks of capital flights and foreign exchange rate collapses. Nevertheless, he, too, does not anticipate another Asian Financial Crisis. watch now"They largely let exchange rates absorb the external pressure, rather than supporting the currency by selling FX reserves."

☆ Sri Lanka inflation rate surges to 70.2% in August
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Uditha Jayasinghe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSri Lankan rupees are seen in a bowl at a vegetable vendor's shop amid the rampant food inflation, amid Sri Lanka's economic crisis, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, July 29 , 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-HoonSept 21 (Reuters) - Consumer inflation in Sri Lanka accelerated to 70.2% in August,the statistics department said on Wednesday, as the island nation reels under its worst economic crisis in decades. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) said in August that the inflation rate would moderate after peaking at about 70% as the country's economy slowed. It acts as a leading indicator for national prices and shows how inflation is evolving in Sri Lanka's biggest city. An acute dollar shortage, caused by economic mismanagement and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has left Sri Lanka struggling to pay for essential imports including food, fuel, fertiliser and medicine.

☆ The Fed just raised interest rates by another 0.75%, putting Main Street economy 'dangerously close' to edge of lending cliff
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Eric Rosenbaum | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

"From a credit perspective, people are getting more cognizant about increasing interest cost, and that the Fed will keep interest rates at 4-4.50%," Arora said. "The expectation is, in the short term, SBA loans will adjust up and non-SBA loans are shorter tenure," he said. SBA loan guaranty waiver endingAnother cost that is suddenly influencing the SBA loan decision is the end of a waiver this month on SBA loan guaranty fees that are traditionally charged to borrowers so that in the event of a default, the SBA pays the portion of the loan that was guaranteed. When he started in small business lending back in 1998, business loans reached as high as 12% to 12.5%. And with a peak Fed rate level of 4% or higher reached by late this year, that is where SBA loan rates are heading.

☆ UPS and Fedex are in for reckoning as the e-commerce boom cools and new competitors fight for a shrinking number of packages
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-26 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The pandemic-driven e-commerce boom buoyed results for UPS and FedEx the past two years. E-commerce sales in the first quarter were up nearly 7% from the first quarter of 2021, according to the US Census Bureau. The other is that the slowdown may loosen the two companies' grip on the pricing power they've held for the past two years. On the downward slope of the pandemic e-commerce boom, UPS and FedEx are going to be left with a smaller slice of a smaller pie. So far, both carriers are holding fast to their pricing power in the customary first-quarter contract negotiations, according to Roberson.

☆ Should You Get Another Covid Booster?
▼ + stars: | 2022-03-29 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

to authorize a second booster shot of its vaccine — that is, a fourth dose — for people aged 65 and older. Two days later, Moderna followed suit, but with a broader request to authorize a second booster for all adults over 18. The agency said on Tuesday that adults aged 50 and older could opt for a second booster shot of the vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, to be given at least four months after the first booster of any authorized or approved Covid vaccine. A second booster would be the third shot for those who received one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and a booster shot of an mRNA vaccine. In fact, other data from Israel suggests that a second booster has only marginal benefits in healthy young people.

☆ US Video Gaming Industry in 2022: Gaming Devices & Video Game Content Viewership Trends
▼ + stars: | 2022-01-21 | by ( Insider Intelligence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

After the 2020 pandemic bump, we expect monthly digital gaming usage will see minimal growth through the end of our forecast (1.1% in 2022 and 0.9% in 2023). We expect the number of US digital gamers to reach 179.6 million by 2022. Other gaming platforms that serve as a happy medium between convenient mobile gaming technology and more advanced console systems are laptop and PC devices. Overall, there will be more than 29.6 million monthly US esports viewers in 2022, amounting to over 49.9% of all GVC viewers. But this growth won’t last too long, as monthly digital gamers are expected to increase by just 1.1% in 2022.

☆ The Fed hints it'll start reining in pandemic-era stimulus later this year
▼ + stars: | 2021-08-18 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Most participants saw reason to start shrinking the Fed's emergency asset purchases later this year. Still, members disagreed on the speed, schedule, and composition of tapering purchases. The statement is the first to reveal any kind of timeline for the Fed's tapering of the asset purchases that began at the start of the pandemic. Several participants said a reduction in asset purchases should come early next year instead, noting the labor market hadn't healed enough to warrant a pullback. Some preferred completely ending asset purchases before the Fed lifted interest rates, while others argued reasons for tapering were different than reasons for raising rates.

☆ What's pushing growth in proximity mobile payment usage?
▼ + stars: | 2021-06-03 | by ( Jaime Toplin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mobile proximity and peer-to-peer (P2P) payments have hit the mainstream, thanks to a pandemic-driven upswing in digital payments. We present our eMarketer forecasts for growth in the mobile proximity and mobile P2P payments space, as well as assess top players in each area. These were aimed at narrowing the gap between proximity payments, P2P, and mcommerce providers as wallet companies aimed to meet all mobile payment needs. Proximity Mobile Payment UsersAfter a 2020 surge, mobile proximity payment user growth rates will temper slightly before winding down to a 4.0% rise in 2025 as the sector matures, due to expansions in access and generational growth. The pandemic effect on proximity mobile paymentsPre-pandemic, a fifth of US adults who hadn't yet adopted mobile proximity payment technology expressed an interest in doing so, according to a 2020 Total System Services report.

☆ The Fed has kept its foot on the gas for 14 months. It just started thinking about when to tap the brakes.
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-19 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Fed policymakers gave their first indication the central bank had tapering in mind, minutes showed. Roughly 10 months later — and 14 months after the Fed introduced its emergency aid — policymakers are thinking about it. The Federal Open Market Committee's April meeting concluded with members keeping rates and the pace of asset purchases the same, but minutes published Wednesday signal a change-up is being considered. Economic projections released in March pegged the first post-pandemic rate hike arriving sometime after 2023, but the Fed has been less explicit as to when it will taper asset purchases. When investors learned the central bank was slowing its rate of asset purchases in 2013, a collective panic rippled through markets and drove Treasury yields sharply higher.

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