Bangladesh: interim government lost in economic drift
Bangladesh’s economy presently resembles a stalled engine at the edge of a cliff. It is sputtering, overheating, and showing no sign that anyone in the driver’s seat knows which lever to pull. This is not a partisan insult; it is an observable reality. One doesn’t need economists, think tanks, or glossy reports to understand it. That’s only need to walk into a kitchen, a factory gate, or a crowded bus to feel it.
The interim government inherited an economy hollowed out by years of plunder, capital flight, and institutionalized corruption under Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian rule. That much is indisputable. What is equally indisputable—and far more uncomfortable—is that the economy remains largely where it was left: fragile, directionless, and deteriorating. The promise that political change would quickly translate into economic stabilization has not been met. Not even close.
There was optimism after Hasina’s fall. History often produces such moments. In Eastern Europe after 1989, in Indonesia after Suharto, in Tunisia after Ben Ali—political rupture created the illusion that economic recovery would follow almost automatically. Bangladesh’s interim rulers seemed to believe the same. They assumed goodwill would substitute for policy, and moral legitimacy would attract capital. It hasn’t.
Turning China’s economic momentum into worldwide connection
Recent reports from Brand Finance, a London-headquartered brand valuation consultancy, released in Davos, Switzerland, provide a revealing snapshot of China’s evolving global standing.
The Brand Finance Global 500 2026 and the Global Soft Power Index 2026 together point to a coherent reality: China’s economic strength and soft power are advancing in tandem, reinforcing each other in a mutually strengthening cycle.
The steady rise of China’s soft power is firmly anchored in the resilience and vitality of its economy. In 2025, China’s GDP expanded by 5 percent to reach 140.1879 trillion yuan (about 20.01 trillion U.S. dollars). This performance forms the foundation on which national credibility and international appeal are built.
Brand value is a visible reflection of economic vitality. China’s combined brand value in the Global 500 has reached a historic high, with many of its brands now positioned as global leaders in sectors like technology, utilities and finance. Behind this surge lies China’s shift toward a green and high-quality development model that is driven by innovation and focused on efficiency and sustainability.
Meanwhile, how does China’s economic strength translate into a widely recognized appeal? The Global Soft Power Index 2026 provides a clear answer. China is the only country among the global top 10 whose overall soft power score rose this year, with gains underpinned by a long-term program encompassing Belt and Road cooperation, technological advancement, sustainability reforms, the development of global product brands, and the facilitation of cultural exchange, said Brand Finance.
‘The future is renewables,’ Indian minister tells world economic forum
“The future is renewables,” India’s minister of new and renewable energy told the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.
“In India, I can very confidently say, affordability (of renewables) is better than fossil fuel energy,” Pralhad Venkatesh Joshi said during a panel discussion titled “Unstoppable March of Renewables?”
The cost of solar power has has fallen steeply in recent years compared with fossil fuels, Joshi said, adding: “The unstoppable march of renewables is perfectly right, and the future is renewables.”
Indian authorities have launched a major initiative to install rooftop solar panels on 10 million homes, he said. As a result, people are not only saving money on their electricity bills, “they are also selling (electricity) and earning money.”
He said that this represents a “success story” in India in terms of affordability and “that is what we planned.”
He acknowledged that more work needs to be done to improve reliability and consistency of supplies, and plans were being made to address this, including improved storage.
The other panelists in the discussion, which was moderated by Godfrey Mutizwa, the chief editor of CNBC Africa, included Marco Arcelli, CEO of ACWA Power; Catherine MacGregor, CEO of electricity company ENGIE Group; and Pan Jian, co-chair of lithium-ion battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology.
Asked by the moderator whether she believes “renewables are unstoppable,” MacGregor said: “Yes. I think some of the numbers that we are now facing are just proof points in terms of their magnitude.
“In 2024, I think it was 600 gigawatts that were installed across the globe … in Europe, close to 50 percent of the energy was produced from renewables in 2024. That has tripled since 2004.”
Indonesia crypto economy hits 31 bn dollar milestone
The Indonesian digital asset market reached a historic peak in 2025, with annual transaction volumes officially touching 31 billion dollars (approximately 486 trillion Indonesian rupiah) according to the latest year-end reports released on January 22, 2026. This significant growth, representing a nearly 15 percent increase over 2024 levels, confirms Indonesia’s status as the leading crypto economy in Southeast Asia and one of the top three fastest-growing markets globally. The surge in activity was particularly pronounced during the final quarter of the year, as investors reacted to the formal transfer of regulatory oversight from the commodity futures regulator, Bappebti, to the Financial Services Authority (OJK). This transition has provided the legal certainty necessary for broader institutional participation, allowing commercial banks and major securities firms to begin offering digital asset services to a user base that now exceeds 22 million registered individuals.
A critical catalyst for the record-breaking volume in 2025 was the implementation of Ministry of Finance Regulation Number 50 (PMK-50), which officially reclassified cryptocurrencies as “digital financial assets.” This move effectively aligned crypto tax treatment with existing financial legislation, providing a more favorable environment for high-frequency traders and institutional desks. By clarifying the income tax and VAT treatment of transactions, the Indonesian government has successfully brought billions of dollars in “gray market” activity into the formal, taxable economy. In fact, crypto-related tax revenue for the year 2025 surpassed 1.7 trillion rupiah, providing a significant boost to the national treasury and justifying the government’s proactive, “pro-innovation” stance. This fiscal success has encouraged the OJK to expand the list of legally tradable tokens to over 1,400 assets, ensuring that Indonesian investors have access to a diverse range of global opportunities while remaining within a protected and transparent regulatory framework.
Bank of Japan raises economic growth forecasts
Japan’s central bank on Friday raised economic growth forecasts while holding its key policy rate at 0.75 percent as the country prepares to go into an election.
The Bank of Japan upgraded its economic growth forecast for the fiscal year ending in March 2026 to 0.9 percent from 0.7 percent in October 2025, and also raised its GDP expansion outlook for the 2026 fiscal year to 1 percent from 0.7 percent.
The central bank expects Japan’s GDP to grow moderately as other countries return to growth, and the BOJ sees a virtuous cycle of rising prices and wages, supported by government’s economic measures and accommodative financial conditions.
The central bank kept the benchmark interest rate steady in a split 8-1 decision, after raising it to the highest level in 30 years in December, ahead of snap polls that could see Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sharpen her advocacy for monetary easing and fiscal support.
In its statement, the BOJ revealed that board member Hajime Takata had proposed raising rates to 1 percent, saying that risks to prices in Japan were skewed to the upside.
The bank, which forecast inflation to fall below the 2 percent target in the first half of the year, expects underlying inflation to “continue rising moderately.”
Underlying inflation is still supported by wage growth and sticky prices of services that continue to run above 2 percent, according to Masahiko Loo, senior fixed income strategist at State Street Investment Management.
“This firm underlying inflation reinforces our view that the BOJ’s normalization path will stay intact, albeit at a gradual pace,” he said.
Japan’s December inflation data, released earlier in the day, showed headline price growth coming in at 2.1 percent, its lowest since March 2022, but still running above the BOJ’s target of 2 percent for a 45th straight month.
In 2026 Malaysia’s economy expected to remain stable
Malaysia’s economy is expected to remain resilient this year, driven by the ongoing foreign direct investment (FDI) and robust infrastructure investment, said HSBC chief Asia economist Frederic Neumann.
Neumann was quoted by local media as saying that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.9 percent in 2025, close to the bank’s expectation of around 5 percent, underscoring the economy’s underlying strength despite emerging global headwinds.
Malaysia’s growth this year at 4.5 percent, down slightly from five-ish percent last year, but it’s still a very resilient outcome for the country and that partly is also driven by the ongoing investment in Malaysia, he said during a virtual media briefing on HSBC Asian Outlook 2026 on January 19.
Neumann noted that continued infrastructure development and steady FDI, particularly in electronics, semiconductors and data centres, are expanding Malaysia’s productive capacity and underpinning medium-term growth prospects.
Malaysia remains very competitive, not least in the electronics sector and the semiconductor supply chain, where it is benefiting from the increased demand for electronics that the bank has seen partly related to artificial intelligence (AI). Given subdued inflation momentum, HSBC has revised down its headline inflation forecast slightly to 1.4 percent for 2025 but kept the 2026 projection at 1.7 percent.
Nepal: air pollution clouds health, tourism, and economy
Pokhara, Nepal’s tourism capital, was shrouded in a thick haze during the peak tourist season in 2024, dimming its iconic mountain vistas and disrupting air travel. Scores of flights were cancelled or delayed due to poor visibility, leaving many tourists—particularly those visiting for mountain sightseeing—deeply disappointed.
Until a few years ago, Pokhara was regarded as an exceptional city, largely free from air pollution. That reputation is now fading.
Janakpur and Chitwan face similar plights.
Airline officials say flights to and from Janakpur, Pokhara and other tourist destinations are frequently cancelled or delayed because of haze, mainly during spring, one of Nepal’s busiest tourism seasons.
In Pokhara, locals say even the mountains—the city’s primary draw—are often invisible.
The growing crisis has now drawn global attention.
In its latest report, the World Bank says air pollution has emerged as the number one risk factor for death and disability in Nepal, surpassing malnutrition and tobacco use. Without urgent additional measures, the bank warns, air pollution could cause irreversible damage to both public health and the economy.
According to the report, fine particulate matter—PM2.5—is the single biggest contributor to Nepal’s economic burden from pollution.
In 2015, PM2.5 exposure alone caused a loss of $130 million in economic output and a total welfare loss of $1.36 billion. These estimates, presented in the World Bank’s Country Environmental Assessment, represented about 0.6 percent and 6.4 percent of Nepal’s annual economic activity, respectively.