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☆ South Korea aims to curb private education spending, axe 'killer questions'
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Hyunsu Yim | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We will cut the vicious cycle of killer questions in exams, which leads to excessive competition among students and parents in private education," education minister Lee Ju-ho told a briefing. The ministry also vowed to crack down on private education "cartels" by ramping up efforts to monitor what it termed false and exaggerated advertising by private schools targeting exam preparations. Local media have reported on alleged connections between the private education industry and government education officials in drawing up college entrance exams that require private tutoring to master. Nearly eight in 10 students use in private education products such as cram schools, known as "hagwons", according to the report. Shin So-young, an activist at civic group The World Without Worry About Private Education, said the planned changes may not be enough to contain the competition.

Persons: Yoon Suk, Lee Ju, Yoon, Shin, Woongjin Thinkbig, 1,302.0300, Soo, hyang Choi, Hyunsu Yim, Jack Kim, Ed Davies, Gerry Doyle Organizations: South Korea, Education, Thomson Locations: South, SEOUL, South Korea's, South Korea, KS, MegaStudyEdu

☆ China's economic recovery is stalling. Here's what to expect next
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Clement Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

watch nowA raft of weak Chinese economic data in May has raised hopes of decisive policy intervention. A slew of economic data from industrial production and fixed asset investment to retail sales and trade fell short of expectations, with China teetering on the brink of deflation as its post-pandemic economic recovery stalls. "Weak investments data suggest that authorities are unlikely to stop at the monetary easing we saw this week," Oxford Economics' lead economist Louise Loo wrote in a note after Thursday's China data release. "We therefore continue to expect announcements of further 'piecemeal' property sector easing measures to follow in the coming weeks," Loo wrote. Goldman Sachs economists said last month that getting young people back to work would give China's economic recovery a sizable boost, given that they account for almost 20% of consumption in China.

Persons: China teetering, Helen Qiao, Louise Loo, Loo, Goldman Sachs, America's Qiao Organizations: China's State Council, Communist, China's National Statistics Bureau, Bank of America's, CNBC, People's Bank of, Oxford, Afp, Getty, Bank Locations: China, People's Bank of China, Chinese, Chongqing, America's

☆ China's youth unemployment hits a fresh record high in May, major data disappoint
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING — China's youth unemployment rose to a record in May, while major data missed expectations, according to data released Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics. The unemployment rate for young people ages 16 to 24 rose to 20.8% in May, a record and above the high set in April. Industrial production rose by 3.5% in May from a year ago, slower than the 3.6% expected by the Reuters poll. Analysts predicted a 4.4% increase in fixed asset investment for the first five months of the year from a year ago. Fixed asset investment for the first five months of the year rose by 4% from a year ago, slower than the 4.4% predicted by Reuters.

Organizations: National Bureau of Statistics, Reuters Locations: Beijing, China, BEIJING

☆ Italian book-reading hit 22-year low in 2022, after COVID pick up
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Alessandro Parodi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Less than 40% of Italians read a book for pleasure last year, data showed on Thursday, the lowest figure for 22 years, but children were more avid readers than their parents. National statistics bureau ISTAT reported that 39.3% of people above the age of five read at least one book in 2022 for a reason other than study or work. Reading picked up marginally during the COVID-19 pandemic, which interrupted a downtrend that began in 2010, ISTAT said. Only 17.4% of people had read as many as three books in the 12 months prior to the survey, it said. Overall, female readership is 10 points higher than for males, ISTAT said, continuing a trend which began in 1988.

The consumer price index (CPI) in April rose 0.1% year-on-year, the lowest rate since February 2021, and cooling from the 0.7% annual gain seen in March, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. Reuters GraphicsPBOC TESTEDOverall inflationary pressures remain low with the core consumer inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, up 0.7%, unchanged from the previous month. The statistics bureau attributed the weaker consumer inflation to the base effect. Vegetable prices extended their decline to 13.5% and pork, a major driver of CPI, slowed its price growth to 4.0% from 9.6% in March. "Securing income growth and improving consumer confidence remain key policy priorities for delivering a more sustainable consumption recovery," said Pang.

☆ Italy pushes to limit executive pay in listed state-run firms
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Top managers' multi-million euro salaries and handsome bonuses have come into focus at a time when Italian families are struggling with an inflation rate that neared 9% in April, well above the euro zone average. According to the government draft, the Treasury will work to "contain management costs" when shareholders vote on remuneration policies at state-controlled listed companies. Monte dei Paschi already applies curbs to executives' pay as a bank that was bailed out by the state in 2017. Under terms agreed with European Union authorities, the total remuneration of any MPS executive may not exceed 10 times the average salary of its employees in 2022. Additional reporting by Gavin Jones; Editing by Gavin Jones and Christina FincherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

KARACHI, Pakistan, May 2 (Reuters) - Pakistan consumer prices, driven by food, rose a record 36.4% in the year to April, the highest inflation rate in South Asia and up from March's 35.4%, the statistics bureau said on Tuesday. Pakistan's rural areas recorded food inflation of 40.2%, the bureau told Reuters. Food inflation for both rural and urban areas reached 48.1%, the highest since FY16 when the bureau started recording the categories separately. "The higher reading was expected over the hyperinflation in the food segment," said Amreen Soorani, head of research at JS Capital, a Karachi based investment company. Persistently high inflation has resulted in major lifestyle and consumption changes, with a greater number of people seeking help.

☆ China Jan-Mar industrial profit slump underlines slow economic recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, April 27 (Reuters) - China's industrial firms' profits shrank at a slightly slower pace in January-March but the decline remained in the double-digits as the economy struggled to fully recover despite the country's exit from its zero-COVID policy. The decline compared with a 22.9% slump in industrial profit in the first two months, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. In March alone, industrial profits fell 19.2%, according to a rare data breakdown provided by the NBS. Industrial earnings fell 4.0% in 2022, and the latest data underline the gloomy conditions facing China's vast factory sector as global demand is hit by slowing world growth. Industrial profit data covers firms with annual revenues of at least 20 million yuan ($2.89 million) from their main operations.

☆ Asia Pacific markets mixed as Japan's core inflation holds steady
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Lim Hui Jie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man pushes a trolley across a street in the Kowloon district of Hong Kong on November 22, 2022. Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed on Friday as Japan's core inflation for March came in at 3.1%, unchanged from February, data from the Statistics Bureau showed. This is the second straight month of slowing inflation after Japan's headline inflation hit a 41-year high of 4.3% in January. Private surveys for Japan and Australia's purchasing manager's index showed that factory activity in both countries continued to expand, powered by their respective services sectors. Hong Kong will also release its inflation data for March, which is expected to come in at 1.8%.

☆ China says drafting plans to boost recovery, expansion of consumption
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BEIJING, April 19 (Reuters) - China is formulating plans to boost the recovery and expansion of consumption, the state planner's spokesperson Meng Wei said on Wednesday, signaling officials are worried about weak demand despite a sharp rebound in retail sales. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) pledged to promote a sustained recovery in consumption. "Currently, we are working on drafting documents on the recovery and expansion of consumption, mainly focusing on key areas such as stabilising big-ticket consumption, enhancing service consumption and expanding rural consumption," said Meng. Meng, at a news conference, also mentioned stabilising of automobile consumption, which was a "big part" of supporting consumption, by promoting new energy vehicles to rural areas. "The international environment is still complex and ever-changing, constraints from insufficient domestic demand are obvious and the foundation for economic recovery is not solid," said statistics bureau spokesperson Fu Linghui on Tuesday.

☆ An economic crisis in Pakistan means many are going hungry during Ramadan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Sophia Saifi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Javed IqbalIn Karachi, Pakistan’s financial center, 13 women and children died in March when hundreds of people caused a stampede in the rush for free food. Nine were killed in late March at separate government run flour distribution sites in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed concern at what it called “mismanagement” that caused stampedes at wheat flour distribution centers set up by the government. Khan said a shortage of basic imports such as animal feed and other raw materials essential for food production contributed further to the food crisis and widespread hunger. Ramadan is a period of thanksgiving and shared meals, but the festivities have been overshadowed by the economic crisis.

"I was previously considered wealthy in the area," said Liu, who also owns some commercial property in the northeastern city of Liaoyuan. In play now in China, where around 70% of household wealth is in property, this phenomenon is weighing on the post-pandemic recovery of household consumption, which Chinese policymakers have vowed to make a more prominent driver of economic growth. Capital Economics estimates net household wealth declined 4.3% overall last year, due to falling house and stock prices, the first decline since at least 2001. Indeed, deposits rose a further 9.9 trillion yuan in the first quarter of this year. ($1 = 6.8376 Chinese yuan renminbi)Additional reporting by Shuyan Wang; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy can cut massive public debt with migrant inflows, Treasury data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Giuseppe Fonte | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Treasury estimates that a 33% increase in registered migrants in Italy would lead to a fall in public debt in 2070 by "over 30" percentage points more compared to a no-migrants-growth scenario. "Given the demographic structure of migrants entering Italy, the effect on the resident population of working age is significant," the Treasury said. The DEF also said migrant inflows can offset the negative impact on public debt of a shrinking population. Births in Italy dropped to a new historic low below 400,000 in 2022, national statistics bureau ISTAT said last week. Italy's public debt is targeted in the DEF to fall to 140.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2026 from 142.1% this year.

☆ Births in Italy hit record low in 2022, population shrinks further
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 7 (Reuters) - Births in Italy dropped to a new historic low below 400,000 in 2022, national statistics bureau ISTAT said on Friday, as the population continued to shrink. Last year Italy recorded more than 12 deaths for every seven births and the resident population fell by 179,000 to 58.85 million, ISTAT said in its annual demographic report. The population decline slowed somewhat compared with 2021 and 2020, two years heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy recorded 392,600 births in 2022, down from 400,249 the previous year, ISTAT said, the 14th consecutive fall and the lowest number since the country's unification in 1861. Foreigners made up 8.6% of the country's population in 2022, for a total of 5.05 million.

☆ Italian bank loans to firms fall as demand weakens: central bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 7 (Reuters) - Bank loans to companies in Italy declined sharply between November and February as demand weakened and interest rates rose, the Bank of Italy said on Friday. In the three months to February loans to the non-financial sector fell overall by 3.2% year-on-year, driven down by 7.5% drop in credit to companies, the Bank of Italy said in its quarterly bulletin. Between November and February the average interest rate on new bank loans to firms increased by 60 basis points (0.6%) to 3.6%, the central bank said. Loans to families in the three months to February edged down by 0.1% year-on-year, as demand for house mortgages declined, it added. Reporting by Alberto Chiumento, Luca Fratangelo, editing by Gavin Jones andOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Pakistan posts highest-ever annual inflation; stampedes for food kill 16
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Akhtar SoomroISLAMABAD, April 1 (Reuters) - Consumer price inflation in Pakistan jumped to a record 35.37% in March from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said on Saturday, as at least 16 people were killed in stampedes for food aid. The March inflation number eclipsed February's 31.5%, the bureau said, as food, beverage and transport prices surged up to 50% year-on-year. A spokesman at the statistics bureau said the inflation number was the highest ever year-on-year increase recorded by the bureau since monthly records began in the 1970s. Annual food inflation in March was at 47.1% and 50.2% for urban and rural areas respectively, the bureau said. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy, stood at 18.6% in urban areas and 23.1% in rural areas.

☆ Shanghai's population drops in 2022 after COVID lockdowns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Shanghai's figures came after Beijing also posted its first population drop since 2003. China's population fell last year for the first time in six decades, weighed down by rising living costs especially in big, sprawling urban hubs, weak economic growth, and changing attitudes towards raising a family. Shanghai's birth rate dropped to 4.4 per 1,000 people from 4.7 a year earlier, while its death rate increased to 6.0 per 1,000 people from 5.6 due to a rapidly ageing population. China last year recorded its lowest ever birth rate, of 6.77 per 1,000 people. Around 18.7% of Shanghai's population is older than 65, above the national average of 14.9%.

☆ China's post-Covid year gets off to a disappointing start
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Most categories within retail sales rose, but big-ticket items of autos and home appliances saw sales decline. Online retail sales of physical goods rose by 5.3% for the first two months of the year from a year ago. But within that category, investment in real estate fell by 5.7% in January and February from a year ago. That follows a 10% drop in real estate investment for all of last year. Infrastructure and manufacturing investment rose at a slower pace in the first two months of the year than in 2022.

☆ Oil prices fall as SVB collapse rocks financial markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Emily Chow | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ETSINGAPORE, March 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than $1 on Tuesday, extending the previous day's slide, as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank rattled equities markets and sparked fear about a fresh financial crisis. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) dropped 82 cents, or 1.1%, to $73.98 a barrel. A stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer inflation outcome would put further downward pressure on near term oil prices, National Australia Bank analysts said in a note. Beyond the Silicon Valley Bank shockwaves, oil prices were also under pressure due to signs of a weaker-than-expected economic recovery in China, despite the lifting of its strict COVID-19 restrictions, said Leon Li, an analyst at CMC Markets. In U.S. supply news, the American Petroleum Institute is expected to release industry data on U.S. oil inventories on Tuesday.

ETMarch 14 (Reuters) - Oil prices fell more than $1 on Tuesday, extending the previous day's slide, as the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank rattled equities markets and sparked fear about a fresh financial crisis. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) dropped 85 cents, or 1.1%, to $73.93 a barrel. On Monday, Brent fell to its lowest since early January, while WTI dropped to its lowest since December. Beyond the Silicon Valley Bank shockwaves, oil prices were also under pressure due to signs of a weaker-than-expected economic recovery in China, despite the lifting of its strict COVID-19 restrictions, said Leon Li, an analyst at CMC Markets. In U.S. supply news, the American Petroleum Institute is expected to release industry data on U.S. oil inventories on Tuesday.

However, further announcements are expected in coming weeks as China implements a reorganisation of its financial regulatory structure and other government bodies. "Opting for continuity in these critical economic roles suggests an emphasis on credibility and stability," said Mattie Bekink, China director at the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network. The U.S.-educated central bank chief Yi, appointed PBOC governor in 2018, had widely been expected to retire after being left off the ruling Communist Party's Central Committee during the party's once-in-five-years congress in October. "It shows China wants to at least have a dialogue with the United States on monetary policy and financial cooperation," he said. The parliamentary session will end on Monday, with Xi expected to give a speech and Li, the new premier, scheduled to hold a televised media conference afterwards.

☆ China's factory activity expands at fastest pace since 2012
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, March 1 (Reuters) - China's manufacturing activity expanded as the fastest pace in more than a decade in February, official data showed on Wednesday, smashing expectations as production zoomed after the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions late last year. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) stood at 52.6 against 50.1 in January, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, above the 50-point mark that separates expansion and contraction in activity on a monthly basis. The official non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 56.3 from 54.4 in January. The composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and non-manufacturing activity, rose to 56.4 from 52.9. Reporting by Liangping Gao and Joe Cash; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Sam HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China urban employment, per capita spending logged rare declines in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Joe Cash | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Feb 28 (Reuters) - China's urban employment fell for the first time in six decades last year and per capita spending also marked a rare decline, as harsh COVID-19 curbs ravaged the world's second-biggest economy. The new data from the National Bureau of Statistics also showed the smallest income growth in more than three decades. The number of China's urban jobs dropped by 8.4 million to 459.31 million, the first drop since 1962. Per capita spending fell 0.2% in real terms, the statistics bureau data showed. Disposable income per capita in China grew by just 2.9% in real terms, the second smallest rise since 1989.

☆ China's online shoppers started the year cautiously, Alibaba says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"From January to early February of this year, overall sales of online physical goods remained weak," Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said Thursday during a quarterly earnings call, according to a FactSet transcript. Alibaba's Zhang was relatively cautious in his comments about the economic recovery. Alibaba's China commerce revenue in the last three months of 2022 fell by 1% to the equivalent of $24.64 billion, accounting for 69% of total revenue. Nationwide, catering sales fell by 6.3% in 2022, while retail sales overall dropped by 0.2%, according to China's statistics bureau. The two months' data are typically combined due to variations in the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday, which doesn't follow the Gregorian calendar.

☆ Indonesia's 2022 GDP growth races to a 9-year high on resource boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Southeast Asia's largest economy gained from high global commodities prices in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war that aided the rupiah and improved the country's current account. The economy expanded 5.31% in 2022, Statistics Indonesia data showed on Monday, its best annual growth rate since 2013, and faster than the 5.29% expected in a Reuters poll. Investment grew 3.87% last year, similar to 2021's growth but is yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, the statistics bureau said. Exports grew on the back of soaring commodity prices after the Russia-Ukraine war began in February. Meanwhile, government spending in 2022 contracted as Jakarta started to ease back from pandemic-era health and social spending.

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