The growth in services sector from employing 26.6% in 2014 to 33% in the current year has led to a jump in per capita income of the State, albeit with huge disparities between districts closer to the capital and those away from it
In Cotonou, Benin’s largest city and economic capital located on the southern Atlantic coast, construction crews are busy building major projects, stretching from large-scale port upgrades to the asphalt-paving of the commercial hub’s main roads. At the Autonomous Port of Cotonou, China Harbour Engineering Company is advancing Terminal 5, a project that involves reclaiming land from the sea and building two 100,000-tonne general purpose berths. Beyond municipal upgrades, Chinese firms are...
The Finance Ministry said India's macroeconomic position in May 2026 reflects cautious resilience, adding that strong services exports, adequate foreign exchange reserves and a stable labour market provide a firm foundation
Hong Kong’s exports rose by nearly 43 per cent year on year in April, driven by strong global demand for artificial intelligence-related electronics, though the government warned that escalating Middle East tensions could cloud the near-term outlook. Provisional figures released by the Census and Statistics Department on Thursday showed that the total value of exports rose by 42.9 per cent in April to HK$620.9 billion (US$79.3 billion), following a 35.8 per cent increase in March. April’s surge...
Stating that India's policy response has been calibrated to preserve domestic growth, FM said the cut in diesel and petrol excise duties will lead to a revenue impact of ₹1 lakh crore.
China’s decision to ease residency restrictions on social insurance applicants will help unleash positive, long-term economic growth, according to analysts. The new measures announced on Friday by the State Council are part of China’s broader push to create a unified national market by removing barriers to the free flow of capital and talent. Under the new policy, workers can enrol in social insurance programmes in the cities where they are employed, regardless of their official household...
When it comes to tourism, Hong Kong is recovering footfall faster than spending and officials need to realise that the two are not the same. The city’s economy grew by 5.9 per cent year on year in the first three months, its strongest quarterly performance in almost five years, according to the Census and Statistics Department’s advance estimate. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po pointed to a 17 per cent rise in first-quarter visitor numbers and 5.2 per cent increase in retail and catering...
A bonfire of red tape to unleash investment and complete stalled projects across Vietnam may drive economic expansion but is unlikely to offset the damage caused by US tariffs and the fuel crisis which have threatened the country’s growth ambitions. Vietnam’s Communist Party General-Secretary and President To Lam, the most powerful leader in a generation, has set an annual growth target of 10 per cent until 2030 to galvanise a nation whose ponderous bureaucracy has snarled private investment and...