From 1h ago Italy approves 40% windfall tax on banks The Italian government is hitting the country’s banks with a new windfall tax, to help families through the cost of living squeeze. Italy’s cabinet yesterday approved a 40% “windfall tax” on bank profits this year, with the proceeds earmarked to help mortgage holders and cut taxes. Deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini told a news conference that the levy will hit the profits reaped from higher interest rates: “One only has to look at the banks’ first-half 2023 profits, also the…
Tag: Chinese economy
China’s sudden economic slowdown is worrying. But it doesn’t have to be all bad news for Australia | John Quiggin
After two decades of stunning economic growth, evidence of a slowdown in China is naturally a cause for concern. The evidence, unfortunately, is not hard to find. China’s estimated annual rate of GDP growth is slowing and looks to be stabilising at around 4%, only a couple of percentage points higher than that of rich countries in the OECD. At this rate it will take many decades before income per person in China catches up with that of other leading economies. High youth unemployment is another symptom of a slowdown,…
China GDP growth falls short of expectations as sinking property prices hit economy
China’s economy expanded 6.3% in the second quarter, falling short of market expectations as export demand remained tepid and sinking property prices sapped consumer confidence. Compared with a year earlier, China’s GDP in the April-June period was 6.3% larger, the national bureau of statistics said on Monday, quickening from the 4.5% annual growth pace for the first three months of 2023. Economists had forecast growth to accelerate to 7.3%, according to a Reuters survey. For the June quarter alone, growth slowed to 0.8% from a 2.2% quarter-on-quarter clip in the…
Economic ‘headwinds’ lead IEA to cut global oil demand forecast
Global oil demand will reach an all-time high this year, but “persistent macroeconomic headwinds” mean it will not grow as quickly as had previously been expected, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said. The Paris-based global energy watchdog said that demand was expected to rise by 2.2m barrels a day in 2023, leading to an average of 102.1m barrels a day. But that prediction is 220,000 barrels a day lower than its previous expectations – the first time the agency has lowered its forecast for growth this year. China, boosted…
International Energy Agency warns of higher bills this winter
The head of the International Energy Agency has said energy prices may spike again this winter, forcing government to subsidise bills – just days after state support for UK households fell away. Fatih Birol said a rapid improvement in the Chinese economy, coupled with a harsh winter, could put pressure on gas supplies and push up bills for consumers. He said the agency “cannot rule out” another spike in gas prices this winter, which would mirror last year when a surge in wholesale costs as a result of Russia’s invasion…
AstraZeneca considers spinning off its China business
AstraZeneca is considering spinning off its business in China and listing it in Hong Kong or Shanghai to shield the multinational drugmaker from geopolitical tensions. Britain’s largest stock-market-listed company has drawn up the plans in attempt to protect its business from the fallout from increasing tensions between China and the US and its allies. Executives at the Anglo-Swedish company have been discussing the move with bankers for several months, although it could still be abandoned, the Financial Times first reported. The spin-out would mean Astra separates its division in China…
China’s 11.6m graduates face a jobs market with no jobs
With a master’s degree in applied linguistics from one of Australia’s top universities, Ingrid Xie did not expect to end up working in a grocery store. But that was where she ended up after graduating from the University of Queensland in July last year. Xie did her undergraduate degree in China, studying English in the shade of palm trees at Hainan Tropical Ocean University. She went abroad for her master’s because she thought that would help her find a better job. But after working at a Korean supermarket in Brisbane…
China’s first domestically produced passenger jet makes maiden commercial flight
China’s first domestically produced passenger jet took off on its maiden commercial flight on Sunday, a milestone event in the nation’s decades-long effort to compete with western rivals in the air. Beijing hopes the C919 commercial jetliner will challenge foreign models like the Boeing 737 MAX and the Airbus A320, though many of its parts are sourced from abroad. Its first homegrown jetliner with mass commercial potential would also cut the country’s reliance on foreign technology as ties with the West deteriorate. “In the future, most passengers will be able…
China’s war chest: how the fight for semiconductors reveals the outlines of a future conflict
Signs of the burgeoning conflict between the US and China can be spotted in many different places, from balloons in the sky to videos on TikTok. But nowhere is it more apparent than on the microscopic wafers of silicon, otherwise known as semiconductors. Semiconductors, or microchips, are tiny pieces of technology that power everything from microwaves to military weapons. The industry is worth more than $580bn (£466bn), but even that figure belies their importance to the global economy. Their existence powers several trillion dollars’ worth of goods and processes; without…
China’s war chest: how Beijing is using its currency to insulate against future sanctions
For more than a decade, Beijing has been trying to reduce its reliance on the dollar, motivated by risks emerging from the US economy – such as the financial crash of 2008 – and the desire to boost its own sphere of influence. But in the last year, a drive to insulate China’s economy from dollar-based sanctions has emerged as possibly the most important incentive for decoupling from the dollar, as China looks to prepare for the possibility of conflict with Taiwan. After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, one of the…