Solar needs to dethrone coal to meet Indonesia goals
Solar power holds the key to meeting renewable energy targets for Indonesia, but the fast-growing Southeast Asian economy needs significant reforms to steer it away from an over-reliance on coal, according to a report. The sprawling archipelago is targeting for renewables to make up 23% of its energy needs by 2025, a task that could be met by 18 gigawatts of solar-panel systems, according to a report jointly published by BloombergNEF, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Indonesia’s Institute for Essential Services Reform on Thursday.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
S.Korea’s tax revenue grows on economic recovery
South Korea’s tax revenue grew for the first seven months of this year amid an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the finance ministry said Thursday. The government’s tax revenue amounted to 223.7 trillion won (191.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-July period, up 55.1 trillion won (47 billion U.S. dollars) compared to the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It came as the economic recovery raised the corporate tax and the value-added tax (VAT) incomes. The corporate tax income rose 10.9 trillion won (9.3 billion U.S. dollars) to 41.7 trillion won (35.6 billion U.S. dollars), and the value-added tax (VAT) income went up 9 trillion won (7.7 billion U.S. dollars) to 57.3 trillion won (49 billion U.S. dollars). The capital gains tax income increased 15 trillion won (12.8 billion U.S. dollars) during the seven-month period due to a boom in the stock and property markets.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
China’s central bank keeps the brakes on economic stimulus
China’s central bank policymakers pushed back Tuesday on expectations they would take aggressive measures to boost economic growth. “China’s monetary policy remains within a normal range,” said Pan Gongsheng, a vice governor at the People’s Bank of China and head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. He added that China would not embark on large-scale, flood-like stimulus.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
India’s economy is booming after second wave
Economy is booming in the country after the second COVID wave, said the Supreme Court on Friday as it refused to entertain a batch of pleas seeking contempt action against Governor of Reserve Bank of India and senior officials of other banks for declaring the loan accounts as Non-Performing Assets (NPA). The top court said that contempt is between court and contemnor and it is not inclined to initiate contempt action against senior officials of banks. In our considered view, we are not inclined to exercise our contempt jurisdiction, since it is not in the interest of justice, said a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and Hima Kohli. The bench said that petitioners are at liberty to seek remedy under the e Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act (SARFAESI Act), 2002.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Bangladesh is still a frontier market
Fifty years ago, George Harrison organized the Concert for Bangladesh, a rollicking rock revue that set the mold for many benefits to follow. It also fixed the just-born country’s image as an overpopulated basket case that would starve without massive outside assistance. Subsequent, sporadic coverage of Bangladesh has focused on looming climate catastrophe—two-thirds of its land mass could be swamped by rising seas—or fatal fires at its low-cost garment factories. All of which obscures one of the past half century’s more remarkable success stories. Bangladesh’s economy has expanded 270-fold, as far as anyone can figure, since independence from Pakistan. Growth was cruising at about 8 percent annually before the pandemic, and gross domestic product per capita overtook India’s. Government is stable and democratic, sort of.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Russia bans six VPN providers
Russia’s media watchdog Roskom-nadzor on Friday effectively banned the use of several major VPN networks, including the widely used Nord VPN and Express VPN. The move comes as authorities ramp up control of the Russian segment of the internet, blocking access to dozens of opposition-linked websites ahead of a parliamentary election this month. The watchdog said in a statement that the services violated Russian law by allowing access to illegal online content.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Vietnam should turn attention to economic recovery plans: PM
Vietnam needs to quickly control the Covid-19 outbreak and make plans to boost economic recovery, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said Monday. Although the fight against Covid-19 remains top priority, the Ministry of Planning and Investment needs to start drafting recovery plans, he said at the monthly meeting of the government. He has said at least twice in recent weeks that the lockdown strategy cannot go on forever and people should be ready to live with the disease. Authorities in HCMC, the country’s Covid epicenter with 251,400 cases recorded since the end of April, have also said that the city will gradually resume economic activities and live with the virus.
[divider style=”normal” top=”20″ bottom=”20″]
Thailand pushes dream of ‘land bridge’ to boost economy
The dream of a Thai land bridge, a transport route that would cross the Malay Peninsula to connect ports on either side, has surfaced again in Thailand. If it becomes a reality, a land bridge could cut shipping times by about two days, compared with the current shipping route through the Malacca Strait. The idea of a trade route cutting across the peninsula dates back to the 17th century. Thailand’s current government is looking to large public works projects to rejuvenate the economy. The proposed land bridge certainly qualifies, but the project has attracted criticism over huge cost and potential environmental damage. Squint a bit and the map of Thailand looks like an elephant, with the Malay Peninsula that stretches to the south forming the nose. The narrowest part, the Kra Isthmus,” is just 44 km across, with the Gulf of Thailand to the east and the Andaman Sea to the west.