Commercial cylinders remain the primary source of fuel for thousands of establishments, including food vendors and catering units
The plastic bag is an unlikely symbol of economic frailty. But in Indonesia, the soaring cost of that humble everyday item is raising uncomfortable questions about the country’s future growth prospects. At a market in Depok, south of Jakarta, the plastic bags Budi needs to sell his chicken have nearly doubled in price. “Plastic is really expensive right now,” he said in an interview on April 17. “Usually, I’d have to set aside at least 10,000 rupiah (58 US cents) for plastic bags, but now, I...
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...
Hong Kong’s major retailers are using aggressive tactics such as direct sourcing and leveraging massive economies of scale to avoid raising prices despite surging logistics costs arising from the war in the Middle East. But their resilience is being seriously tested for certain goods, with a leading cosmetics chain warning that shipping and airfreight costs have already surged by up to 15 per cent. Sa Sa International chairman Simon Kwok Siu-ming told the South China Morning Post on Friday that...
Higher global inflation forecast at 4.4 percent, up 0.6 points, driven by surging oil, gas and fertiliser costs.
The United Nations has issued a grim warning about the costs of prolonged conflict in Iran for the Asia-Pacific region, forecasting job losses, crippling inflation and food insecurity, with the poorest nations brutally exposed to the oil shock and millions of informal workers facing the body blow of rising transport costs. More than 8 million people in the Asia-Pacific could be plunged into poverty if a crisis that has closed the Strait of Hormuz continues to drag on, according to a study...
A Hong Kong bus operator serving Tuen Mun commuters has warned it may cease operations after soaring oil prices pushed the company into the red, saying “every service is like pouring money into the sea”. The operator, ABC Touring Car Company, which runs non-franchised bus services linking Tuen Mun and urban centres, announced on Sunday it would reduce its services with immediate effect as the first step to cut costs. Fuel bills had more than doubled since late February, pushing business to the...
Makers of plastic and glass bottles are struggling to access raw materials as the war squeezes supplies.