Business

SEOUL, Apr 16 (NNN-YONHAP) – South Korean President, Moon Jae-in’s ruling Democratic Party, won a landslide victory, in parliamentary elections held amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Preliminary results from the National Election Commission showed on Thursday (today) that the Democratic Party secured 163 directly-contested constituency seats, while its sister Platform Party, gained 17 proportional representations (PR) slots.

Washington, Apr 15 (PTI) The IMF has called on all countries to refrain from putting restrictions on exporting medical supplies in view of their massive requirement across the globe to combat the coronavirus pandemic that has killed at least 119,000 people and infected nearly two million.

Medical supplies like surgical masks, gowns and ventilators are required in massive number across the globe because of the coronavirus pandemic that surfaced in central China's Wuhan city last year and spread to at least 185 countries and territories.

Riyadh, Apr 14 (AFP/PTI) Oil output cuts by OPEC and its allies, together with pledges from other G20 nations and purchases by strategic reserves, could remove 19.5 million barrels per day from the market, the Saudi energy minister said.

US President Donald Trump said Monday that the actual output cuts may be deeper than the headline figure of 9.7 million bpd -- with top producers considering slashing output by 20 million barrels a day under the deal.

London, Apr 14 (AFP/PTI) Britain's economy could shrink by 13 per cent in 2020 in the case of a three-month coronavirus lockdown, according to a scenario published Tuesday by fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility.

"The resulting 13 per cent fall in annual GDP in 2020 would comfortably exceed any of the annual falls around the end of each world war or in the financial crisis," the OBR said.

Washington, Apr 15 (PTI) President Donald Trump has named six Indian-American corporate leaders, including Sunder Pichai from Google and Satya Nadella from Microsoft, to his Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups formed to revive the US economy ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic.

PARIS, April 15 (NNN-AGENCIES) — International creditors must relieve African countries of debt payments this year to help them deal with the Coronavirus pandemic, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

A moratorium on African countries’ debt payments is “an indispensable step” to help the continent weather the coronavirus crisis, the French president told Radio France Internationale (RFI), FRANCE 24’s sister station, calling for the debt to be eventually written off.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 (NNN-BERNAMA) — It is imperative for ASEAN to work closely with its Plus Three partners to ensure that Asia Pacific recovers from the economic impact of COVID-19 together, said Muhyiddin Yassin.

In a Special ASEAN Plus Three Summit on COVID-19 conducted via a video conference Tuesday, the Prime Minister said Malaysia has proposed that ASEAN formulates an economic recovery plan post-COVID-19 that focuses not only on the financial aspects but also on social safety nets, food security and education.

14 April 2020; MEMO: Crude oil prices rose today after US President Donald Trump called on OPEC+ to double its oil production cut.

International benchmark Brent crude was trading at $32.20 per barrel, a 1.35 per cent increase after closing at $31.74 a barrel yesterday.

American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $22.62 a barrel, a rise of 0.93 per cent after ending the previous day at $22.41 per barrel.

Mumbai, Apr 14 (PTI) The Yes Bank rescue has undermined confidence of depositors in private sector lenders and will lead to smaller entities losing deposits to state-run banks, a report said on Tuesday.

The research report from global ratings agency Moody's Investors Service comes at a time when many private sector lenders have reported a contraction of deposits in the March quarter when the Yes Bank crisis happened. The RBI - which had to steer the over Rs 10,000 crore Yes Bank bailout - has repeatedly assuaged such concerns, saying money in all the banks is safe.

New Delhi, Apr 14 (PTI) The Congress on Tuesday termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address a "rhetoric" and "hollow on specifics", saying he should spell out the government's strategy to tackle coronavirus and solve people's problems, rather than talk of what he expected of them.

A host of Congress leaders criticised Modi for not coming out with a financial package or concrete steps to revive the economy and asked what he was doing to mitigate the woes of poor, migrant labourers and farmers waiting to harvest crops.