On Wednesday, China held a national-level virtual meeting on economic stabilisation measures, attended by vice-premiers Liu He and Han Zheng, PBOC governor Yi Gang, tens of thousands of officials and carried by state TV. At the meeting, Premier Li Keqiang told attendees that the mainland economy could struggle to record positive growth in the current quarter, and he urged officials to help companies resume production after Covid-19 lockdowns and for the country to achieve “reasonable growth.” Premier Li said, the economy was “to some degree worse than” it had been at the start of the pandemic in early 2020, noting that unemployment for people aged 16 to 24 had reached a historic high of 18.2%. He also reported that corporate liquidations had surged more than 23% y/y in April, with private sector small- and medium-sized enterprises, which account for half or more of economic output and employment, the hardest hit. 

Singapore’s Ministry of Trade & Industry said Wednesday that “the external demand outlook for the Singapore economy has weakened compared to three months ago.” The MIT said the country’s growth was likely to come in at the bottom end of its previous forecast of 3% to 5% in 2022 because of the war in Ukraine and continuing supply chain disruptions which was exacerbating inflation. 

On today’s Money Talk, we’re joined by Personal Wealth Adviser Enzio Von Pfeil and Le Xia from BBVA Research. With a view from India is Toby Lawson, CEO of Societe Generale India.