India’s monthly inflation rose to 8.98 percent last month as manufacturing and fuel costs increased, the government said yesterday, adding to worries about rising prices across emerging Asia.
Prices continue to spiral upward despite a record crop output, more evidence that India’s price problem has moved beyond volatile food and fuel prices. That will likely encourage India’s central bank to continue its aggressive interest rate hikes.
Last month’s figure, up from 8.31 percent in February, came in much higher than expected.
Analysts surveyed by FactSet had predicted, on average, an 8.36 percent rise in prices.
The government also said January inflation was 9.35 percent, rather than 8.23 percent as previously reported.
Fuel prices rose 3.9 percent from February, while the cost of manufactured goods was up 1.4 percent. Food prices fell nearly 1 percent from February.
The IMF warned this week that emerging Asian economies are in danger of overheating, as rapid growth, high output and loose monetary policy continue to put upward pressure on prices.
It singled out India, where it expects inflation to average 7.5 percent this year, as suffering from the worst inflation in the region.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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