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Category: Economics

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Media Release: NT gas industry welcomes crackdown on activist lawfare – Australian Energy Producers

    Source: Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association

    Headline: Media Release: NT gas industry welcomes crackdown on activist lawfare – Australian Energy Producers

    The NT gas industry says the Territory Government’s moves to clamp down on lawfare will boost investment and energy security.

    Australian Energy Producers NT Director David Slama welcomed the Petroleum, Planning and Water Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, set to be introduced in Parliament this week, as an important step in stopping activist groups from vexatiously using the legal system to delay critical gas projects in the Territory.

    “We commend the Territory Government for moving decisively to stamp out activist lawfare putting at risk economic and energy security for Territorians,” Mr Slama said.

    “At a time when Australians are facing cost-of-living pressures, the Territory Government has recognised the need to remove barriers to new gas supply so Territorians continue to have reliable and affordable energy.

    “It is not in the public interest for activist lawyers to damage the Territory’s attractiveness as a place to do business and to invest, undermining our economic and energy security.”

    Mr Slama said activists exploiting the Merits Review process had deterred much-needed investment in the Territory.

    “A long list of vexatious cases has exposed the extreme tactics of activists who are more interested in delaying projects than genuinely representing the interests of Territory communities,” he said.

    “Removing the Merits Review process is a significant step towards streamlining approval processes to enable new gas supply to be brought online sooner.

    “We need to expedite project delivery, improve environmental outcomes, and attract the investment in new gas supply that will be essential to the NT’s long-term energy security and economic prosperity.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: ADB and Local Currency Financing: A 20-Year Journey

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    •  ADB’s pioneering efforts in issuing local currency bonds over the past 20 years have not only mitigated currency risks for borrowers but also opened local markets to foreign investment and development finance.
    •  Innovations like currency-linked bonds and the rapid development of derivative markets have enhanced liquidity and enabled tailored funding solutions, significantly advancing local currency financing in Asia and the Pacific.
    •  Local currency finance, initially focused on private sector loans, is expanding into sovereign lending, signaling ADB’s evolving role in fostering financial innovation and development across the region.

    Twenty years ago, ADB issued its first local currency bond. The Indian rupee bond represented about $110 million equivalent at the time. Over the following three years, ADB raised funding from onshore bond issues in Malaysian ringgit, Thai baht, Chinese renminbi and Philippine peso – acting as an “icebreaker” to open these markets to foreign issuers.

    Such borrowing exercises introduced a new funding stream for ADB’s development assistance, allowing borrowers to mitigate potential currency risks associated with borrowing in foreign currencies.

    Fast forward to today, and local currency finance has gone mainstream. Development partners are no longer surprised when ADB issues bonds denominated in currencies as diverse as the Azerbaijan manat, the Indonesian rupiah or the Mongolian togrog and they recognize the invaluable role that local currency finance plays in crowding in foreign investment to developing countries.

    About a third of ADB’s private sector loans are currently delivered in local currencies, with the Thai baht, Indian rupee, Chinese renminbi, Kazakhstan tenge, and Georgian lari featuring prominently. ADB’s aggregate local currency portfolio reached more than $3.75 billion equivalent as of 31 October 2024 across more than 15 local currencies with local currency loans expected to reach 50% of private sector lending over the next years.

    What has catalyzed local currency finance?

    Over the last 20 years, local capital markets have evolved and developed significantly  across Asia and the Pacific. These developments were driven by the experience of the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis, which was at least partially caused by excessive foreign currency exposures.

    Since then, regulators, banks, and investors have made significant strides to develop local currency bond markets and improve the local currency capital market infrastructure.

    Over the last 20 years, local capital markets have evolved and developed significantly across Asia and the Pacific.

    ADB can reach certain target borrowers more effectively when it offers loans in their own currencies rather than in dollars, euros, or yen. For many of the projects that ADB supports, foreign currency denominated loans would not be feasible: a dairy business owner in Mongolia has no understanding of the risks involved in borrowing a foreign currency. Equally, a female worker in rural Kazakhstan would not begin to consider borrowing a home loan in a foreign currency. For both of these projects, ADB was able to provide suitable local currency financing solutions to meet borrower needs and avoid foreign currency mismatches.

    Importantly, the rapid development of derivative markets in the region, which include the availability of both interest rate and cross-currency swaps in several markets, has facilitated the management of liquidity by decoupling funding and disbursement transactions, while also allowing for tailored back-to-back funding transactions.

    The availability of longer-tenor financing solutions has also improved significantly in a number of the more developed Asian markets: for example, ADB was able to derive a 20-year Thai baht funding solution through the cross-currency swap market to finance a project in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, which delivered a perfect hedge for the borrower.

    Similar liquidity of varying tenors is now available in swap and bond markets in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

    A capital market innovation: the emergence of currency-linked bonds

    Another important innovation has also improved the availability of local currency financing: the so-called “currency-linked bond” has been a game changer for development finance.  In essence, this is a debt security denominated in a local currency but settled in US dollars.

    It relies on international documentation usually under English law, settlement occurs in international central securities depositaries, and the bonds are listed on major international stock exchanges. The impact of such structures is to crowd in international investors into local currencies by providing an easily accessible trading infrastructure.

    ADB issued its first Indian rupee currency-linked bond in 2014 and since then has issued such instruments in Armenian dram, Azerbaijan manat, Georgian lari, Indonesian rupiah, Kazakhstan tenge, Kyrgyz sum, Mongolian togrog, Pakistan rupees and Philippine pesos. In Indian rupees alone, ADB has raised more than one billion US dollars equivalent to finance private sector projects.

    Issuing innovative local currency bonds

    In countries such as Georgia and Kazakhstan where the environment is enabled, ADB has issued multiple domestic bonds including fixed rate, floating rate and even inflation-linked. Furthermore, ADB auctioned the first green (2020) and gender (2021) bonds on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange, delivering a new asset class to the local market.

    In Georgia, ADB was the first organization to issue its domestic bonds through the Georgian Securities Settlement System (GSSS) in 2015, which operates delivery versus payment Real Time Gross Settlements (RTGS) with central bank money through the National Bank of Georgia.

    In Kazakhstan, ADB settled its domestically issued bonds through the Kazakhstan Securities Depositary, which crucially has an operational “bridge” with Clearstream in Luxembourg.

    These innovations have fostered knowledge sharing and the shift of local currency issuance infrastructure towards international best practices.

    Creating local currency liquidity pools

    Liquidity pools are commonly used to warehouse the proceeds of bond issues in mainstream currencies until project disbursements happen. ADB has developed liquidity pools in Chinese renminbi and Indian rupees, which have played an important role in shepherding in high levels of local currency development finance by providing continuous availability of funding, decoupling such availability from any specific funding transactions Further liquidity pools are in the making, as ADB’s pipelines in local currency grow and evolve.

    Working closely with national regulators and market participants, ADB’s engagement in local currency markets over the last 20 years has made significant progress.

    The next frontier: sovereign local currency loans

    Local currency finance is already well established as a financing source for ADB’s private sector loans, but it has been deployed much less in the sovereign context, which for ADB represents the largest share of lending activity. A number of sovereign borrowers have recently started to avail  local currency solutions from ADB, including a recently  completed $1.45 billion sovereign local currency loan conversion.

    Working closely with national regulators and market participants, ADB’s engagement in local currency markets over the last 20 years has made significant progress: ADB is now able to offer funding solutions in more than 15 local currencies in Asia and the Pacific. As local currency markets will further develop, the future of local currency financing in the Asia-Pacific region looks bright. 

    Authors: Roberta Casali, ADB Vice-President for Finance and Risk; Tobias Hoschka, ADB Treasurer; Jonathan Grosvenor, former ADB Assistant Treasurer

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    Subjects
    • ADB funds and products
    • Finance sector development

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Early-stage VC funding rounds volume declines significantly in 2024 globally, reveals GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Early-stage VC funding rounds volume declines significantly in 2024 globally, reveals GlobalData

    Posted in Business Fundamentals

    A total of 10,384 venture capital (VC) funding deals with disclosed funding rounds were announced globally during 2024, which is a decline of 11.9% compared to the 11,786 VC deals announced during the previous year. Among all VC funding rounds, early-stage funding rounds* witnessed a significant decline in their volume last year compared to 2023, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Even though most of the funding rounds experienced a decrease in volume, the majority of the overall decline is driven by double-digit fall in the number of early-stage funding rounds during 2024 compared to 2023.”

    An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database reveals that the total number of early-stage funding rounds declined by 14.2% in 2024 compared to 2023. A total of 8,086 early-stage funding rounds (comprising 4,457 Seed rounds and 3,629 Series A funding rounds) were announced globally during 2024 compared to the previous year’s announcement of 9,424 early-stage funding rounds that included 5,359 Seed rounds and 4,065 Series A funding rounds.

    However, despite the decline, early-stage funding rounds continued to dominate the global VC funding landscape in 2024. These accounted for a 77.9% share of the total number of VC deals with disclosed funding rounds announced globally during 2024.

    Meanwhile, the number of growth, expansion and late-stage funding rounds** declined by 2.7% from 2,362 VC deals in 2023 to 2,298 VC deals in 2024. Growth, expansion and late-stage funding rounds collectively accounted for a 22.1% share of the total number of VC deals with disclosed funding rounds announced globally during 2024.

    *Comprising Seed and Series A funding rounds

    **Series B onwards

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: AI advancements to accelerate China digital health sector, says GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    AI advancements to accelerate China digital health sector, says GlobalData

    Posted in Medical Devices

    China’s rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), underscored by the recent launch of Qwen2.5-Max, Kimi k1.5, and DeepSeek v3, are sparking excitement among AI professionals. This progress is expected to have a considerable impact on multiple industries, including healthcare. Consequently, the Chinese digital health market is likely to see further developments, provided the data security is safeguarded, says  GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    GlobalData’s research reveals that in 2024, China represented around 20% of the digital health market in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, reflecting the increasing demand for innovations such as DeepSeek within the healthcare sector.

    Pratibha Thammanabhatla, Medical Devices Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The recent launch of Qwen2.5-Max, Kimi k1.5, and Deepseek highlights China’s increasing presence in the AI sector and its dedication to achieving technological self-sufficiency. The advanced AI features they assert, including huge efficiency gains, better reasoning, and accessibility, may have considerable potential to provide enhanced diagnostic abilities, personalized recommendations, and improved communication between patients and healthcare professionals.”

    Alibaba Cloud claims that its latest Qwen2.5-Max demonstrated significant advantages over other AI models such as Llama-3.1-405B, DeepSeek V3 and Qwen2.5-72B when evaluated using benchmark tools such as Arena-Hard, LiveBench, LiveCodeBench, and GPQA-Diamond and they are expecting that advancements in post-training techniques will elevate the next version of Qwen2.5-Max to new heights.

    Thammanabhatla concludes: “Although AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare by improving efficiency and patient outcomes, challenges such as data privacy, doctor-patient relationship, and lack of sufficient trained personnel must be addressed to ensure its successful implementation. A collaborative approach involving stakeholders from various countries and sectors, including healthcare professionals, regulators, and data privacy experts, is essential for overcoming these challenges, which would result in wider adoption.”

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with CEO of AirAsia Cambodia

    Source: ASEAN

    Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN, today met with Mr. Vissoth Nam, CEO of AirAsia Cambodia, at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat. During their discussion, they explored collaborative opportunities to boost regional aviation and enhance seamless connectivity across the ASEAN region. Dr. Kao commended AirAsia Cambodia’s efforts to make air travel more accessible and affordable for everyone. He also emphasised ASEAN’s commitment to developing an integrated, competitive, and environmentally sustainable aviation sector that supports regional tourism and socio-economic growth.

    The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with CEO of AirAsia Cambodia appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Result of the Daily Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction held on February 10, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    Tenor 1-day
    Notified Amount (in ₹ crore) 2,25,000
    Total amount of bids received (in ₹ crore) 2,01,310
    Amount allotted (in ₹ crore) 2,01,310
    Cut off Rate (%) 6.26
    Weighted Average Rate (%) 6.27
    Partial Allotment Percentage of bids received at cut off rate (%) NA

    Ajit Prasad           
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2118

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Money Market Operations as on February 07, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India
    (Amount in ₹ crore, Rate in Per cent)
      Volume
    (One Leg)    		 Weighted
    Average Rate    		 Range
    A. Overnight Segment (I+II+III+IV) 5,61,163.45 6.26 4.50-6.65
         I. Call Money 14,567.31 6.26 5.15-6.55
         II. Triparty Repo 3,70,891.25 6.26 6.12-6.65
         III. Market Repo 1,73,895.29 6.25 4.50-6.61
         IV. Repo in Corporate Bond 1,809.60 6.37 6.34-6.40
    B. Term Segment      
         I. Notice Money** 277.00 6.23 5.60-6.35
         II. Term Money@@ 837.00 – 6.35-7.25
         III. Triparty Repo 570.00 6.37 6.25-6.45
         IV. Market Repo 0.00 – –
         V. Repo in Corporate Bond 0.00 – –
      Auction Date Tenor (Days) Maturity Date Amount Current Rate /
    Cut off Rate
    C. Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) & Standing Deposit Facility (SDF)
    I. Today’s Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo Fri, 07/02/2025 3 Mon, 10/02/2025 1,33,013.00 6.26
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (III) Long Term Operations^          
         (a) Repo Fri, 07/02/2025 56 Fri, 04/04/2025 50,010.00 6.31
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF# Fri, 07/02/2025 1 Sat, 08/02/2025 12,223.00 6.50
      Fri, 07/02/2025 2 Sun, 09/02/2025 0.00 6.50
      Fri, 07/02/2025 3 Mon, 10/02/2025 797.00 6.50
    4. SDFΔ# Fri, 07/02/2025 1 Sat, 08/02/2025 78,315.00 6.00
      Fri, 07/02/2025 2 Sun, 09/02/2025 1.00 6.00
      Fri, 07/02/2025 3 Mon, 10/02/2025 18,275.00 6.00
    5. Net liquidity injected from today’s operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*       99,452.00  
    II. Outstanding Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (III) Long Term Operations^          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF#          
    4. SDFΔ#          
    D. Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Availed from RBI$       8,328.42  
    E. Net liquidity injected from outstanding operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     8,328.42  
    F. Net liquidity injected (outstanding including today’s operations) [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     1,07,780.42  
    G. Cash Reserves Position of Scheduled Commercial Banks
         (i) Cash balances with RBI as on February 07, 2025 8,85,291.80  
         (ii) Average daily cash reserve requirement for the fortnight ending February 07, 2025 9,12,544.00  
    H. Government of India Surplus Cash Balance Reckoned for Auction as on¥ February 07, 2025 77,749.00  
    I. Net durable liquidity [surplus (+)/deficit (-)] as on January 24, 2025 -34,103.00  
    @ Based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
    – Not Applicable / No Transaction.
    ** Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 2 to 14 days tenor.
    @@ Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 15 days to one year tenor.
    $ Includes refinance facilities extended by RBI.
    & As per the Press Release No. 2019-2020/1900 dated February 06, 2020.
    Δ As per the Press Release No. 2022-2023/41 dated April 08, 2022.
    * Net liquidity is calculated as Repo+MSF+SLF-Reverse Repo-SDF.
    ¥ As per the Press Release No. 2014-2015/1971 dated March 19, 2015.
    # As per the Press Release No. 2023-2024/1548 dated December 27, 2023.
    ^ As per the Press Release No. 2024-2025/2013 dated January 27, 2025.
    Ajit Prasad          
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    
    Press Release: 2024-2025/2116

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Panasonic showcases heat pump water heaters and the A2W, jointly developed by Panasonic and A. O. Smith for the North American market, at AHR Expo 2025

    Source: Panasonic

    Headline: Panasonic showcases heat pump water heaters and the A2W, jointly developed by Panasonic and A. O. Smith for the North American market, at AHR Expo 2025

    Panasonic Corporation has issued a press release entitled “Panasonic showcases heat pump water heaters and the A2W, jointly developed by Panasonic and A. O. Smith for the North American market, at AHR Expo 2025” You can read the press release with the following PDF link.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: State-Owned Enterprise Reform Handbook

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    The publication looks at the fiscal governance of SOEs that play a key role in sectors such as energy, finance, transportation, and water, addresses restructuring, and considers ways to better compete against the private sector. Focused on policymakers, regulators, and SOE managers, it looks at privatization’s risks and benefits, widening access to finance, and improving the transparency and efficiency of the organizations that are central to the region’s green transition.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Mark Brown on China deal: ‘No need for NZ to sit in the room with us’

    By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist

    Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says New Zealand is asking for too much oversight over its deal with China, which is expected to be penned in Beijing next week.

    Brown told RNZ Pacific the Cook Islands-New Zealand relationship was reciprocal.

    “They certainly did not consult with us when they signed their comprehensive partnership agreement [with China] and we would not expect them to consult with us,” he said.

    “There is no need for New Zealand to sit in the room with us while we are going through our comprehensive agreement with China.

    “We have advised them on the matter, but as far as being consulted and to the level of detail that they were requiring, I think that’s not a requirement.”

    Brown is going to China from February 10-14 to sign the “Joint Action Plan for a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”.

    The Cook Islands operates in free association with New Zealand. It means the island nation conducts its own affairs, but Aotearoa needs to assist when it comes to foreign affairs, disasters, and defence.

    NZ seeks more consultation
    New Zealand is asking for more consultation over what is in the China deal.

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters said neither New Zealand nor the Cook Island people knew what was in the agreement.

    “The reality is we’ve been not told [sic] what the nature of the arrangements that they seek in Beijing might be,” he told RNZ Morning Report on Friday.

    In 2023, China and Solomon Islands signed a deal on police cooperation as part of an upgrade of their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership”.

    Brown said he had assured New Zealand “over and over” that there would be no impact on the countries’ relationship and “no surprises”, especially on security aspects.

    “But the contents of this agreement is something that our team are working on with our Chinese counterparts, and it is something that we will announce and provide once it is signed off.”

    He said it was similar to an agreement New Zealand had signed with China in 2014.

    Deep sea mining research
    Brown said the agreement was looking for areas of cooperation, with deep sea mining research being one area.

    However, he said the immediate area that the Cook Islands wanted help with was a new interisland vessel to replace the existing ageing ship.

    Brown has backed down from his controversial passport proposal after facing pressure from New Zealand.

    He said the country “would essentially punish any Cook Islander that would seek a Cook Islands passport” by passing new legislation that would not allow them to also hold a New Zealand passport.

    “To me that is a something that we cannot engage in for the security of our Cook Islands people.

    “Whether that is seen as overstepping or not, that is a position that New Zealand has taken.”

    A spokesperson for Peters said the two nations did “not see eye to eye” on a number of issues.

    Relationship ‘very good’
    However, Brown said he always felt the relationship was very good.

    “We can agree to disagree in certain areas and as mature nation states do, they do have points of disagreement, but it doesn’t mean that the relationship has in any way broken down.”

    On Christmas Day, a Cook Islands-flagged vessel carrying Russian oil was seized by Finnish authorities. It is suspected to be part of Russia’s shadow fleet and cutting underwater power cables in the Baltic Sea near Finland.

    Peters’ spokesperson said the Cook Islands shipping registry was an area of disagreement between the two countries.

    Brown said the government was working with Maritime Cook Islands and were committed with aligning with international sanctions against Russia.

    When asked how he could be aligned with sanctions when the Cook Islands flagged the tanker Eagle S, Brown said it was still under investigation.

    “We will wait for the outcomes of that investigation, and if it means the amendments and changes, which I expect it will, to how the ship’s registry operates then we will certainly look to make those amendments and those changes.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Barclays tech outage highlights legacy banking system risks amid rising digital competition, says GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Barclays tech outage highlights legacy banking system risks amid rising digital competition, says GlobalData

    Posted in Banking

    Barclays, British multinational universal bank, faced a severe 48-hour technical outage (31 January-2 February), disrupting payments and online banking for millions of UK customers. The incident underscores the persistent vulnerabilities of legacy banking systems, despite substantial ICT investments. As digital-native challengers redefine industry standards, traditional banks must accelerate transformation or risk losing relevance in an increasingly competitive financial landscape, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    GlobalData’s report, “Barclays Plc – Digital Transformation Strategies,” reveals that the UK’s second-largest bank’s ICT budget in 2023 was estimated at over $1 billion. The duration and severity of last weekend’s technical issue will raise questions about the effectiveness of this significant investment.

    Jonathan Vaughan Burleigh, Associate Analyst, Banking and Payments at GlobalData, comments: “The severity of this outage  highlights the need for real transformation in digital operations. Simply spending over $1 billion per year on ICT is clearly not enough to guarantee reliability in a digital banking platform. Banks must begin to completely overhaul outdated systems to keep up with the consumer expectations in the modern banking landscape.”

    Despite the funding allocated for Barclays’ digital transformation, data from GlobalData’s Financial Services Consumer Survey 2024* reveals that the bank’s customers rated their digital satisfaction below the market average. Barclays is not an outlier in this metric. Many of the largest traditional banking providers rank near the bottom, with Lloyds Bank being the only one of the top five largest banks rated above average.

    Vaughan Burleigh continues: “Established ‘traditional’ banks are struggling to adapt their digital platforms to keep up with rapidly changing consumer preferences. It is no coincidence that digital-only banks such as Starling and Monzo rank far above the market average, while banks still operating on legacy technology perform poorly in digital satisfaction. Banks that are digitally native are far more agile. They can resolve issues more quickly, respond to customer preferences with new products, and provide a strong digital offering for their growing consumer bases.”

    The need for traditional banks to abandon legacy technology and embrace a digital-first approach extends beyond avoiding technical issues and service outages. While this glitch will certainly damage Barclays’ reputation, the more pressing concern is future customer acquisition and retention.

    According to GlobalData’s Competitor Benchmarking Analytics 2024, the key determinants of a bank’s NPS in the UK include personalized experiences, competitively priced products and services, the ability to resolve minor issues online, and the omnichannel nature of the bank’s services. Digital-native banks have become market leaders in these areas, developing new capabilities ahead of larger, traditional players.

    Vaughan Burleigh concludes: “The banking landscape has shifted significantly since digital challengers gained popularity. Consumers now expect advanced online capabilities, such as personalized insights and financial education, as basic features of bank accounts. If historically dominant players like Barclays fail to revolutionize their online banking offerings immediately, digital only banks will not only capture the young consumers entering the market but also convince more mature users to abandon sluggish providers in favour of innovative and agile competitors.”

    *GlobalData’s 2024 Financial Services Consumer Survey was conducted online in Q2 2024 and had 67,000 respondents across 41 countries, of which 5,003 are from the UK.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Channel 4 dominates 30th Annual Broadcast Awards 2025 with eight wins

    Source: GlobalData

    Channel 4 dominates 30th Annual Broadcast Awards 2025 with eight wins

    Posted in MBI

    London, United Kingdom, 07 February 2025 – The Broadcast Awards 2025 celebrated its 30th anniversary on Wednesday night in a star-studded ceremony at JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, London, where Channel 4 led the night with an impressive eight wins. The event was organised by Media Business Insight (MBI) Ltd, a GlobalData company.

    Marking three decades of celebrating excellence in British television, the event gathered over 1,250 industry professionals to honour the best in TV programmes, talent, and channels.

    In a special moment to commemorate the 30th anniversary, the iconic BBC series ‘Gavin & Stacey’ was awarded the prestigious Hall of Fame award, a new category introduced this year to celebrate enduring contributions to British television. James Corden accepted the award on behalf of the series, joined by industry luminaries and celebrity guests including Alan Carr, Vicky Pattison, Susanna Reid, Kate Garraway and Pete Wicks who celebrated the series’ legacy and impact.

    Other notable highlights included:

    • ITV1 being crowned Channel of the Year
    • ‘Traitors’ indie Studio Lambert landing Best Independent Production Company for the second year running and Best Entertainment Programme for Netflix’s ‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ (co-produced by The Garden)
    • ITV’s gangbuster real-life drama ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’ winning both Special Recognition Award and the dock10 TV Moment of the Year

    For a full list of the 2025 winners and highlights from the 30th anniversary celebration, visit: Broadcast Awards.

    Comedian Sue Perkins returned to host the event, bringing her trademark wit and humour to a packed room of industry leaders for a brilliant evening of celebration.

    Chris Curtis, Editor in Chief at Broadcast of MBI, comments: “It was fantastic to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Broadcast Awards by recognising the very best programming of the last 12 months. During a challenging period for the sector, British creative flair and production excellence have really come to the fore, and the awards night was a celebration of everything that is good about our industry.

    ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’ changed government policy, ‘Gavin & Stacey’ is one of the most beloved series of all time, and the hard work and brilliance of colleagues across the sector is ensuring that the next generation of programming will be just as groundbreaking.”

    The awards are judged by a specially selected panel of the leading industry figures, celebrating a year of groundbreaking and inspiring content.

    The Broadcast Awards 2025 were supported by Access Bookings, Barclays, BBC Studioworks, BMC TV, dock10, EMG/Gravity Media, ES Broadcast, Garden Studios, Iron Mountain Media & Archival Services, Maidstone Studios, Moments Lab, NEP, Pinewood TV Studios, Race Tech, Sargent-Disc, The Complete Camera Company and VERSA Studios.

    MBI is the publisher of market-leading titles including Broadcast, Broadcast Sport, Broadcast Tech, KFTV, The Knowledge and Screen International.

     

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2024 Article IV Consultation with Nicaragua

    Source: International Monetary Fund

    February 7, 2025

    Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation[1] with Nicaragua.

    Nicaragua’s economic performance remains robust, underpinned by prudent macroeconomic policies and very strong remittance flows. The economy continues to be open and resilient, on a backdrop of transfers of private property to the state, international sanctions, and a reorientation of official financing. Real GDP growth accelerated to around 4½ percent in 2023 and the first half of 2024, from about 3.8 percent in 2022, on the back of robust domestic demand, while inflation declined. Twin fiscal and external account surpluses are leading to a decline in the public debt-to-GDP ratio and the accumulation of strong buffers.

    Real GDP growth is projected to moderate to 4 percent in the near term and to 3.5 percent in the medium-term, amid a slower pace of remittances growth, limited labor contribution to growth due to recent emigration, and cautious private sector investment decisions. International reserves are expected to grow at a slower pace than in the recent period, with narrowing of fiscal and current account surpluses as the authorities’ increase public investment.

    Risks to the outlook are broadly balanced in the short-term and to the downside in the medium term. Upside risks include stronger domestic demand, while downside risks include lower global growth, a deterioration in the terms of trade, natural disasters, stricter and wider international sanctions, and a change in immigration policies in the U.S. In addition, going forward, domestic and international political developments, and deterioration of the rule of law may also impact economic performance by potentially increasing the cost of doing business.

    Executive Board Assessment[2]

    Executive Directors agreed with the thrust of the staff appraisal. They welcomed Nicaragua’s robust growth, declining inflation and public debt, and fiscal sector and current account surpluses, supported by prudent macroeconomic policies and high remittances. While noting the positive outlook, Directors stressed that risks are to the downside, including from natural disasters, international sanctions, and U.S. immigration policies. They underscored the importance of continued efforts to safeguard macroeconomic stability, strengthen buffers, and support higher and more inclusive growth.

    Directors welcomed the authorities’ commitment to preserving fiscal sustainability, while supporting growth. Efforts to strengthen domestic revenue mobilization, enhance spending efficiency, and support higher capital and social spending are important. Noting the limited availability of concessional financing, Directors highlighted the importance of prudent debt management to safeguard debt sustainability. They underscored the need to mitigate fiscal risks by strengthening fiscal transparency, enhancing oversight of state owned enterprises, and reforming the pension system.

    Directors agreed that monetary policy should remain focused on supporting price stability and the exchange rate regime and highlighted the criticality of policy coordination. They recommended that the Central Bank of Nicaragua adjust monetary and exchange rate policies, as needed, enhance communication, and strengthen monetary policy transmission. Directors encouraged steadfast implementation of the 2021 safeguard assessment recommendations.

    Directors welcomed the commitment to maintaining financial stability. Noting the vulnerabilities, they encouraged proactive provisioning of distressed assets, close monitoring of consumer credit growth, enhanced foreign exchange risk monitoring, and aligning the crisis preparedness framework with international best practice. Measures to increase financial inclusion and deepening, including developing local bond and capital markets, would support medium term growth.

    Directors stressed the need for efforts to promote higher medium term growth and enhance climate resilience. Important measures include increasing human capital investment, targeted social spending, and promoting labor force participation, particularly for women. Directors also called for efforts to enhance the business climate and strengthen government institutions and frameworks to support increased private investment.

    Directors noted the steps taken to enhance governance, anti corruption, and AML/CFT frameworks, and emphasized that further efforts are needed to ensure their effective and appropriate application. They stressed the need to significantly improve the rule of law and safeguard judicial independence. Publishing asset declarations of politically exposed persons and supporting property rights are important. Directors welcomed the authorities’ commitment to enhancing the quality and consistency of statistics.

    It is expected that the next Article IV consultation with Nicaragua will be held on the standard 12 month cycle.

    Table 1. Nicaragua: Selected Social and Economic Indicators, 2023-25

    I. Social and Demographic Indicators

    GDP per capita (current US$, 2023)

    2,606

    Income share held by the richest 10 percent (2014)

    37.2

    GNI per capita (Atlas method, current US$, 2023)

    2,270

    Unemployment (percent of labor force, 2023)

    3.4

    GINI Index (2014)

    46.2

    Poverty rate ($3.65/day line, 2017 PPP, percent, World Bank, 2023)

    12.5

    Population (millions, 2023)

    6.8

    Adult literacy rate (percent, 2015)

    82.6

    Life expectancy at birth in years (2022)

    74.6

    Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births, 2022)

    14.0

    II. Economic Indicators

    2023

    2024

    2025

    Projections

    Output

    (Annual percentage change; unless otherwise specified)

    GDP growth

    4.6

    4.0

    4.0

    GDP (nominal, US$ million)

    17,843

    19,204

    20,771

    Prices

    Consumer price inflation (period average)

    8.4

    4.0

    4.0

     

    (Percent of GDP)

    Gross domestic investment

    23.0

    25.0

    26.5

    Private sector

    15.1

    15.8

    15.5

    Public sector

    7.9

    9.2

    11.0

    Gross national savings

    30.8

    31.8

    32.9

    Private sector

    21.5

    22.5

    22.9

    Public sector

    9.3

    9.3

    10.0

    Exchange rate

    Period average (Córdobas per US$)

    36.4

    36.6

    …
     

    Fiscal sector

    (Percent of GDP)

    Consolidated public sector

    balance1/

    2.8

    1.8

    1.1

    Revenue (including grants)

    32.9

    33.2

    33.1

    Expenditure

    30.1

    31.4

    32.0

    of which: Central Government overall balance2/

    2.6

    2.1

    1.3

    Revenue

    21.7

    21.6

    21.6

    Expenditure

    19.1

    19.5

    20.3

    Cash payments for operating activities

    14.6

    14.5

    13.8

    Net cash outflow: investments in NFAs

    4.5

    5.0

    6.5

    Money and financial

    (Annual percentage change)

    Broad money

    11.9

    12.2

    11.2

    Credit to the private sector

    18.1

    18.3

    11.2

    Net domestic assets of the banking system

    -8.0

    5.8

    1.3

    Non-performing loans to total loans (ratio)3/

    1.2

    1.7

    …

    Regulatory capital to risk-weighted assets (ratio)3/

    19.1

    19.2

    …

    External sector

    (Percent of GDP, unless otherwise indicated)

    Current account

    7.7

    6.7

    6.4

    Remittances

    26.1

    27.2

    26.1

    Capital and financial account

    4.1

    2.5

    3.0

    Gross international reserves (US$ million)4/

    5,190

    5,907

    6,729

    In months of imports excl. maquila

    7.0

    7.4

    7.7

    Net international reserves (US$ million)5/

    4,249

    4,979

    5,724

    In months of imports excl. maquila

    5.7

    6.3

    6.7

    Non-financial public sector debt6/

    49.6

    46.9

    44.9

    Domestic public debt

    10.3

    8.0

    6-9

    External public debt

    39.3

    38.9

    38.0

    Private sector external debt

    31.0

    28.6

    26.2

    Sources: National authorities; World Bank; and IMF staff calculations.

    1/ The consolidated public sector comprises the central government, the municipality of Managua, the state-owned enterprises, social security system (INSS) and the central bank.

    2/ Include transfers to cover the INSS deficit for 2023-25, 0.5 percent of GDP per year, and payment for historical debt (0.7 percent of GDP in 2023).

    3/ 2024 data is as of September 2024.

    4/ Excludes resources from the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Financial Institutions (FOGADE).

    5/ Excludes FOGADE and reserve requirements for FX deposits.

    6/ Assumes that HIPC-equivalent terms were applied to the outstanding debt to non-Paris Club bilaterals. Does not include SDR allocation.
             

    [1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

    [2] At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here: http://www.IMF.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Brian Walker

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: The Sims turns 25: Xbox talks with Electronic Arts about the ongoing success of its iconic series

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: The Sims turns 25: Xbox talks with Electronic Arts about the ongoing success of its iconic series

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: IMF Executive Board Holds Informal Briefing on Venezuela

    Source: International Monetary Fund

    February 7, 2025

    Washington, DC: In line with the standard procedures for members whose Article IV consultations with the IMF are extensively delayed, on February 7, 2025, the Executive Board was briefed by staff on recent economic developments in Venezuela. Informal sessions to brief the Executive Board based on publicly available information are routinely held, approximately every 12 months, for members whose Article IV consultations are delayed by more than 18 months. The Article IV consultation with Venezuela is delayed by 217 months as of January 31, 2025.

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Julie Ziegler

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: ECB publishes consolidated banking data for end-September 2024

    Source: European Central Bank

    7 February 2025

    Chart 1

    Total assets of credit institutions headquartered in the EU

    (EUR billions)

    Source: ECB

    Note: Data for all reference periods relate to the EU27.

    Data on the aggregate of total assets of credit institutions headquartered in the EU

    Chart 2

    Non-performing loans ratio of credit institutions headquartered in the EU

    (EUR billions; percentages)

    Source: ECB

    Note: Data for all reference periods relate to the EU27.

    Data on the aggregate non-performing loans ratio of credit institutions headquartered in the EU

    Chart 3

    Return on equity of credit institutions headquartered in the EU in September 2024

    (percentages)

    Source: ECB

    Note: Data for all reference periods relate to the EU27.

    Data on the aggregate return on equity of credit institutions headquartered in the EU

    Chart 4

    Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of credit institutions headquartered in the EU in September 2024

    (percentages)

    Source: ECB

    Note: Data for all reference periods relate to the EU27.

    Data on the aggregate Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of credit institutions headquartered in the EU

    The European Central Bank (ECB) has published consolidated banking data as at end-September 2024, a dataset for the EU banking system compiled on a group consolidated basis.

    The quarterly data provide information required to analyse the EU banking sector and comprise a subset of the information that is available in the year-end dataset. The September 2024 data cover 344 banking groups and 2349 stand-alone credit institutions and non-EU controlled subsidiaries and branches operating in the EU, accounting for nearly 100% of the EU banking sector’s balance sheet. They include an extensive range of indicators on profitability and efficiency, balance sheet composition, liquidity and funding, asset quality, asset encumbrance, capital adequacy and solvency.

    Reporters generally apply International Financial Reporting Standards and the European Banking Authority’s Implementing Technical Standards on Supervisory Reporting. However, some small and medium-sized reporters may apply national accounting standards. Accordingly, aggregates and indicators may include some data that are based on national accounting standards, depending on the availability of the underlying items.

    In addition to data as of end-September 2024, the published figures also include a few revisions to past data.

    For media queries, please contact Nicos Keranis, tel.: +49 69 1344 7806

    Notes

    • These consolidated banking data are available in the ECB Data Portal.
    • More information about the methodology used to compile the data is available on the ECB’s website.
    • Hyperlinks in the main body of the press release lead to data that may change with subsequent releases as a result of revisions.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: ICC and Palestine Emerging continue to promote economic opportunity in the Middle East 

    Source: International Chamber of Commerce

    Headline: ICC and Palestine Emerging continue to promote economic opportunity in the Middle East 

    A second meeting of the ICC-Palestine Emerging Steering Committee was held virtually on 7 February, marking a progress-tracking milestone since the collaboration was announced in October 2024. With a focus on the economic development and reconstruction of Gaza and the West Bank, the ICC-Palestine Emerging partnership works to promote strong private sectors across the Middle East.

    Another key achievement has been the formal affiliation of the Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (FPCCIA) with the ICC World Chambers Federation. The affiliation will allow Palestinian companies to participate in ICC’s global business events and to gain international market access. It will also provide Palestinian companies with direct access to ICC OneClick, ICC’s gateway supporting SMEs in their export journey, now available in Arabic.

    ICC Secretary General, John W.H. Denton AO said:

    “By combining the breadth and credibility of ICC’s network and expertise with Palestine Emerging’s local insights, this collaboration will continue to foster Palestine’s engagement with the global economy with integrity”

    The ICC-Palestine Emerging partnership has identified 15 workstreams aimed at growing the Palestinian economy, and the Middle East region at large. These include concrete initiatives to strengthen the Palestinian private sector’s involvement with ICC’s global network, including through the establishment of a new national committee.

    ICC is working closely with Palestine Emerging to promote the Palestinian entrepreneurship ecosystem by facilitating engagement between local startups, education institutions and international investors. The initiative also aims to enhance investment attraction efforts and support economic reconstruction, including by developing local arbitration capabilities and bringing ICC’s alternative dispute resolution services to Palestine.

    Senior ICC representatives have actively engaged in Palestine Emerging activities. These include joint events with the United States Institute of Peace in Washington D.C. in December 2024 and the Palestine Emerging International Advisory Group meeting in London in January 2025.

    ICC and Palestine Emerging have secured support from key international players for these joint initiatives through engagement with key government and business leaders.

    As momentum builds, ICC and Palestine Emerging’s collaboration will continue to drive economic opportunity and integration for Palestinian businesses with the global economy.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Overall Housing Sentiment Ticks Higher Despite Consumers’ Growing Affordability Concerns

    Source: Fannie Mae

    WASHINGTON, DC – The Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTCQB) Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) increased 0.3 points in January to 73.4, bouncing back slightly after falling last month for the first time since July. Improvements in consumer optimism toward both homebuying and home-selling conditions, along with even greater expectations that home prices will rise over the next 12 months, drove the increase. However, after a surge in mortgage rate optimism in the second half of last year, January saw a 13-percentage-point decline in the net share of consumers who believe mortgage rates will go down in the next 12 months. In addition, the share of consumers who expect rental prices will go up increased 8 percentage points from last month to 65%. Year over year, the HPSI is up 2.7 points.

    “Consumers seem increasingly pessimistic that housing affordability conditions will improve across the board, as a growing share expects home prices, rent prices, and mortgage rates will all go up,” said Kim Betancourt, Vice President of Multifamily Economics and Strategic Research. “The lower optimism toward the mortgage rate outlook was largely expected, as rates have continued to stay elevated and even crossed the 7% threshold in mid-January. As noted in our latest forecast, we currently expect mortgage rates to end 2025 around 6.5%, relatively little changed from where we are today, which will likely continue to hinder relief for housing affordability and home sales activity.”

    Betancourt continued: “On the rental side, consumers have indicated a sharply growing expectation over the past two months that rent prices will increase. This mirrors our expectation that multifamily rents will grow between 2.0% and 2.5% this year — up from an estimated 1.0% last year. Even though it remains relatively cheaper for consumers to rent than buy in nearly every U.S. metro, we expect affordability issues will remain a real challenge for both renters and homeowners alike for the foreseeable future.”

    Home Purchase Sentiment Index – Component Highlights
    Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) increased 0.3 points in January to 73.4. The HPSI is up 2.7 points compared to the same time last year. Read the full research report for additional information.

    • Good/Bad Time to Buy: The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to buy a home (22%) and the percentage who say it is a bad time to buy (78%) both stayed the same from last month. The net share of those who say it is a good time to buy increased 2 percentage points month over month to -55%.
    • Good/Bad Time to Sell: The percentage of respondents who say it is a good time to sell a home (63%) and the percentage who say it’s a bad time to sell (36%) both remained unchanged month over month. The net share of those who say it is a good time to sell increased 1 percentage point month over month to 28%.
    • Home Price Expectations: The percentage of respondents who say home prices will go up in the next 12 months increased from 38% to 43%, while the percentage who say home prices will go down decreased from 27% to 22%. The share who think home prices will stay the same decreased from 35% to 34%. As a result, the net share of those who say home prices will go up in the next 12 months increased 9 percentage points month over month to 20%.
    • Mortgage Rate Expectations: The percentage of respondents who say mortgage rates will go down in the next 12 months decreased from 42% to 35%, while the percentage who expect mortgage rates to go up increased from 25% to 32%. The share who think mortgage rates will stay the same increased from 32% to 33%. As a result, the net share of those who say mortgage rates will go down over the next 12 months decreased 13 percentage points month over month to 3%.
    • Job Loss Concern: The percentage of employed respondents who say they are not concerned about losing their job in the next 12 months increased from 77% to 78%, while the percentage who say they are concerned stayed at 22%. As a result, the net share of those who say they are not concerned about losing their job increased 2 percentage points month over month to 56%.
    • Household Income: The percentage of respondents who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago remained at 17%, while the percentage who say their household income is significantly lower decreased from 11% to 9%. The percentage who say their household income is about the same increased from 70% to 73%, a new survey high. As a result, the net share of those who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago increased 2 percentage points month over month to 8%.

    About Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index
    The Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) distills information about consumers’ home purchase sentiment from Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey® (NHS) into a single number. The HPSI reflects consumers’ current views and forward-looking expectations of housing market conditions and complements existing data sources to inform housing-related analysis and decision-making. The HPSI is constructed from answers to six NHS questions that solicit consumers’ evaluations of housing market conditions and address topics that are related to their home purchase decisions. The questions ask consumers whether they think that it is a good or bad time to buy or to sell a house, what direction they expect home prices and mortgage interest rates to move, how concerned they are about losing their jobs, and whether their incomes are higher or lower than they were a year earlier.

    About Fannie Mae’s National Housing Survey 
    The National Housing Survey (NHS) is a monthly attitudinal survey, launched in 2010, which polls a representative sample of adult household financial decision makers in the United States, to assess their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, purchase and rental prices, household finances, and overall confidence in the economy. Each respondent is asked more than 100 questions, making the NHS one of the most detailed longitudinal surveys of its kind to track attitudinal shifts, six of which are used to construct the HPSI (findings are compared with the same survey conducted monthly beginning June 2010). For more information, please see the Technical Notes.

    Fannie Mae conducts this survey and shares monthly and quarterly results so that we may help industry partners and market participants target our collective efforts to support the housing market. The January 2025 National Housing Survey was conducted between January 2, 2025, and January 21, 2025. Most of the data collection occurred during the first two weeks of this period. The latest NHS was fielded exclusively through AmeriSpeak®, NORC at the University of Chicago’s probability-based panel, in coordination with Fannie Mae and PSB Insights. Calculations are made using unrounded and weighted respondent-level data to help ensure precision in NHS results from wave to wave. As a result, minor differences in calculated data (summarized results, net calculations, etc.) of up to 1 percentage point may occur due to rounding.

    Detailed HPSI & NHS Findings 
    For detailed findings from the Home Purchase Sentiment Index and National Housing Survey, as well as a brief HPSI overview and detailed white paper, technical notes on the NHS methodology, and questions asked of respondents associated with each monthly indicator, please visit the Surveys page on fanniemae.com. Also available on the site are in-depth special topic studies, which provide a detailed assessment of combined data results from three monthly studies of NHS results.

    To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, please click here.

    About the ESR Group
    Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, led by Chief Economist Mark Palim, studies current data, analyzes historical and emerging trends, and conducts surveys of consumer and mortgage lender groups to provide forecasts and analyses on the economy, housing, and mortgage markets.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Samsung Galaxy S25 Series is Available Starting Today

    Source: Samsung

    Samsung Electronics America today announced the U.S. availability of the new Galaxy S25 series. With One UI 7, Gemini is officially available at launch in 46 languages,1 making it easier than ever to perform seamless interactions across Samsung and Google apps.
    “The Galaxy S25 series is a fundamental shift in how we interact with our phones,” said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are thrilled to see how our users will enjoy this true AI companion that offers seamless and intuitive solutions in their daily lives.”
    On the Galaxy S25 series, AI agents with multimodal capabilities are integrated within the One UI 72 platform to perform complex tasks seamlessly across apps and enable natural user interactions through speech, text, videos, and images. Now Brief3 provides tailored suggestions to guide the day and Now Bar4 offers a new hub for ongoing activities. From enhanced productivity with Writing Assist to limitless creativity unleashed by Drawing Assist, the expanded capabilities of Galaxy AI5 continue to empower users in every aspect of their daily lives.

    Interactions with the Galaxy S25 series are also more intuitive. With just a single command Gemini6 can effortlessly find a user’s favorite sports team’s schedule and add it to Samsung Calendar. Additionally, Google’s enhanced Circle to Search7 now gives users more helpful information with AI Overviews and one-tap actions.
    The Galaxy S25 series further refines and enhances the core capabilities that define the Galaxy experience. Powering the Galaxy S25 series, the Snapdragon® 8 Elite Mobile Platform for Galaxy fuels on-device processing for more responsive AI experiences than previous gen Galaxy devices. With unique customizations for Galaxy, including ProScaler8 and Samsung’s mobile Digital Natural Image engine (mDNIe), the Galaxy S25 series boasts enhanced AI image processing and display power efficiency. The newly introduced 50MP ultrawide camera sensor on Galaxy S25 Ultra delivers epic shots from every range in exceptional clarity while professional grade controls like Virtual Aperture and Samsung Log turn any photo or video into the ultimate visual experience.

    The Galaxy S25 series is the industry’s first smartphone lineup to support Content Credentials, based on the open technical standard from the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA). Samsung has also joined the C2PA as a member, alongside industry leaders including Adobe, Microsoft, OpenAI, Google, Publicis Groupe, and more, all collaborating to establish Content Credentials as the universal standard for digital content provenance. In line with its commitment to responsible mobile AI innovation, Samsung adopted this standard to enhance transparency for content created and edited with generative AI.
    Galaxy S25 Ultra, Galaxy S25+, and Galaxy S25 are available in the U.S. starting today. Check out Samsung.com for all the latest deals and offers, including the New Galaxy Club early upgrade program.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on Karur Vysya Bank Limited

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated February 04, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹8.30 lakh (Rupees Eight Lakh Thirty Thousand only) on Karur Vysya Bank Limited (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Loan System for Delivery of Bank Credit’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Section 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

    The Statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE 2023) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.

    After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:

    The bank failed to ensure that the outstanding ‘loan component’ was at least the specified percentage of the sanctioned fund based working capital limit for certain borrowers.

    The action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transactions or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2108

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on Federal Bank Limited

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated February 04, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹27.30 lakh (Rupees Twenty Seven Lakh Thirty Thousand only) on Federal Bank Limited (the bank) for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI on ‘Interest Rate on Deposits’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

    The statutory Inspection for Supervisory Evaluation (ISE 2023) of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on the supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.

    After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, additional submissions made by it and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:

    The bank had opened certain savings deposit accounts in the name of ineligible entities.

    This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2107

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI approves the voluntary amalgamation of Pune Commercial Co-operative Bank Ltd., Satara, Maharashtra with Pimpri Chinchwad Sahakari Bank Maryadit, Pune, Maharashtra

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned the Scheme of Amalgamation of Pune Commercial Co-operative Bank Ltd., Satara (Maharashtra) with Pimpri Chinchwad Sahakari Bank Maryadit, Pune (Maharashtra). The Scheme has been sanctioned in exercise of the powers conferred under Sub-Section (4) of Section 44A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The Scheme will come into force with effect from February 10, 2025 (Monday). The branches of Pune Commercial Co-operative Bank Ltd., Satara (Maharashtra) will function as branches of Pimpri Chinchwad Sahakari Bank Maryadit, Pune (Maharashtra) with effect from February 10, 2025.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2110

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI approves the voluntary amalgamation of The Citizen Cooperative Bank Limited, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa with TJSB Sahakari Bank Ltd

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Reserve Bank of India has sanctioned the Scheme of Amalgamation of The Citizen Cooperative Bank Limited, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa with TJSB Sahakari Bank Ltd. The Scheme has been sanctioned in exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (4) of Section 44A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. The Scheme will come into force with effect from February 10, 2025 (Monday). The branches of The Citizen Cooperative Bank Limited, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa will function as branches of TJSB Sahakari Bank Ltd. with effect from February 10, 2025.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2111

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Result of the 56-day Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction held on February 07, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    Tenor 56-day
    Notified Amount (in ₹ crore) 50,000
    Total amount of bids received (in ₹ crore) 1,08,702
    Amount allotted (in ₹ crore) 50,010
    Cut off Rate (%) 6.31
    Weighted Average Rate (%) 6.35
    Partial Allotment Percentage of bids received at cut off rate (%) 89.08

    Ajit Prasad          
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2102

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Asian Development Blog: Preparing the Nation for Integration: Timor-Leste’s Path to ASEAN

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    Timor-Leste has taken major steps toward joining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, but challenges remain. Strengthening governance, promoting investments, expanding trade, and enhancing human capital are still needed

    Timor-Leste is a young democracy facing significant development challenges. The poverty rate remains high at 41.8% and economic growth has been volatile, affected by both external and domestic shocks.

    The economy relies heavily on public spending and petroleum revenues. Long-standing structural challenges such as a weak private sector, inadequate infrastructure, a lack of skilled labor, and a challenging business environment, present daunting obstacles to economic diversification and long-term growth.

    Recognizing the role that regional cooperation and integration can play in addressing these challenges, Timor-Leste has long pursued membership in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This has been a strategic priority and a cornerstone of its economic development and foreign policy.

    ASEAN membership is expected to drive domestic policy and institutional reforms while expanding markets and reduce costs. It should also diversify the economy, attract trade and investments, and improve access to technology and skills.  

    Since applying for ASEAN membership in 2011, Timor-Leste has undertaken significant reforms, investments, and policy alignments—establishing a Directorate-General for ASEAN Affairs, modernizing customs, and engaging the private sector—to meet the requirements for full membership.

    Supported by partners like the Asian Development Bank, the country has accelerated capacity-building initiatives and advanced infrastructure, trade, renewable energy, and agriculture to foster broader economic opportunities.

    But more needs to be done for Timor-Leste to reap the full benefits of ASEAN.

    Timor-Leste requires comprehensive capacity-building initiatives to enhance the technical knowledge and skills of government officials and stakeholders. Developing and implementing targeted training workshops and seminars in key areas, especially those focused on specialized areas and sectoral drivers of growth, such as tourism or agriculture, will be crucial. Establishing mentorship programs that pair ASEAN expertise with Timor-Leste sectoral counterparts will provide knowledge transfer.

    Timor-Leste has made significant progress toward ASEAN accession, but continued collaboration, investment in human capital, and infrastructure improvements remain crucial for fully integrating into the region and maximizing economic opportunities.

    To ensure harmonization with ASEAN standards, expert guidance will be needed to assist in the review and improvement of government legislation, rules, and procedures. Facilitating peer-to-peer learning opportunities and best practices exchanges with other ASEAN member states that have successfully implemented core provisions will be beneficial. Providing resources and tools to assist in drafting and updating legislation to ensure compliance with core provisions is essential.

    Upgrading transport infrastructure is also crucial, requiring a strategic approach involving the development of comprehensive transport plans, substantial financial investments, and the engagement of specialized transport engineering expertise.

    Key areas of support include sustainable financing for road maintenance, capacity building, and technical assistance to strengthen planning, monitoring, and project supervision. Enhancing border protection and monitoring, improving equipment and resource allocation, and incorporating environmentally sustainable practices are also key elements.

    By aligning with international standards and focusing on regional integration, Timor-Leste can foster connectivity, streamline trade processes, and contribute significantly to overall economic growth and regional integration. Furthermore, developing ICT infrastructure is vital. Assisting in the design and implementation of automation and digitization projects for public services and trade facilitation measures will enhance efficiency.

    Timor-Leste requires comprehensive support to address its human capital challenges and improve labor force participation and food security. Key initiatives from ASEAN member states and other partners include promoting higher education through international education fairs, prioritizing Timorese students for university admissions, and establishing student and labor exchange programs.

    For basic education, creating teacher training centers and improving English language proficiency is a key priority. Online learning platforms will ensure continuous skill development and retention. The government has renewed focus on early childhood development, supported by the 2024 general state budget.

    Additional initiatives like the Inter-Ministerial Taskforce and the National Health Sector Nutrition Strategic Plan (2022-2026) target stunting and malnutrition, with the goal to reduce stunting from 47% to 25% by 2030. Promoting sustainable agricultural practices and strengthening healthcare infrastructure are also crucial.

    Timor-Leste is committed to modernizing its financial systems, developing e-payment solutions, and enhancing financial literacy and inclusion. Strengthening the business sector will create more opportunities for trade and investment.

    Supporting local businesses through capacity-building training focused on ASEAN trade, marketing, financial access policies, connectivity, and digital skills will ease integration barriers. Improving infrastructure and internet access through financial assistance will help businesses overcome critical barriers. Connecting with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council and other ASEAN members will boost trade and investment linkages.

    Timor-Leste aims to establish strong connections with ASEAN officials, stakeholders, and bodies, such as central banks and national statistics institutes. Government agencies represent Timor-Leste’s interests at ASEAN meetings and working groups. On the private sector side, Timor Leste’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry has participated in meetings with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council as an observer.

    Timor-Leste has made significant progress toward ASEAN accession, implementing key reforms and strengthening its economic and institutional frameworks. However, continued collaboration with ASEAN member states and development partners is crucial to overcoming remaining challenges.

    By sustaining momentum in governance, trade, and infrastructure improvements, Timor-Leste can fully integrate into the region and unlock new opportunities for growth. Stakeholders must remain engaged in supporting this journey, ensuring that the country maximizes the benefits of ASEAN membership for its people and economy.

    Bold Sandagdorj, country economist at ADB’s Timor-Leste Resident Mission, contributed to this blog post.
     

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: ASEAN Aims to Conclude the Negotiation of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) Upgrade in 2025

    Source: ASEAN

    The Virtual Ministerial Meeting of the ATIGA Upgrade Negotiations was conducted on 7 February 2025 to discuss and provide guidance on key outstanding issues for the ATIGA Upgrade Trade Negotiating Committee (ATIGA Upgrade TNC) to conclude the negotiation in 2025.

    The Meeting reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring that the upgraded ATIGA would be a modern, comprehensive, forward-looking agreement, covering traditional and emerging elements relevant to business communities and more responsive to regional and global developments.

    Image credit: ASEAN Secretariat
    The post ASEAN Aims to Conclude the Negotiation of the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA) Upgrade in 2025 appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

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  • MIL-OSI Economics: Re-election in sight for Chair of ICC World Chambers Federation

    Source: International Chamber of Commerce

    Headline: Re-election in sight for Chair of ICC World Chambers Federation

    Mr Hisarcıklıoğlu’s three-year mandate will begin on 1 July 2025, following formal ratification by the ICC World Council in June. This will be Mr Hisarcıklıoğlu’s second and final mandate, following his initial election in 2023. As ICC WCF Chair, he will continue to strengthen the chamber community worldwide and increase the impact of the ICC World Chambers Federation, ICC’s unique forum connecting chambers across borders.

    Responding to the election results, Mr Hisarcıklıoğlu said:

    “I am honoured by the trust of my fellow chamber colleagues in re-electing me for a new term. We are committed to working even harder to strengthen and expand our unique global network of chambers, ensuring it becomes even more diverse and representative. We will also reaffirm the ICC World Chambers Federation as a trusted business partner to all chambers in our network, equipping them with ICC tools and resources to enhance their operations, drive growth, and create a better business environment.”

    ICC Secretary General John W. H. Denton AO said:

    “I congratulate Rifat on his re-election – a testament to the trust our chamber community places in him and a well-deserved recognition of his leadership.”

    About Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu

    Mr Hisarcıklıoğlu is the President of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB), the country’s largest business organisation, representing 366 chambers and commodity exchanges and over 2 million members. He also serves as Chair of ICC Türkiye. 

    With an extensive background in international business and chamber leadership, he currently holds key positions in several global organisations, including Vice-President of EUROCHAMBRES, Vice-President of the Confederation of Asia-Pacific Chambers of Commerce, Vice-President of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, Chair of B20 Türkiye, and member of the ICC Executive Board.  

    In addition to his institutional leadership, he is a prominent business figure in Türkiye and the surrounding region, serving as Chairman of Eskihisar Group, which operates in construction, real estate, the food industry and the automotive sector. 

    About the election process

    In accordance with the ICC WCF Articles, Mr Hisarcıklıoğlu’s re-election is subject to formal ratification by the ICC World Council in June 2025 upon recommendation by the ICC Executive Board.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Valour Digital Securities Limited: BaFin threatens to impose coercive fines

    Source: Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – In English

    On 22 January 2025, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) ordered Valour Digital Securities Limited to comply with the financial reporting requirements under the German Securities Trading Act (Wertpapierhandelsgesetz – WpHG). In case the company fails to comply with this order, BaFin also threatened to impose coercive fines in the amount of 57,500 euros.

    The notice is immediately enforceable but not yet final and binding.

    Background information: financial reporting requirements

    Companies such as Valour Digital Securities Limited that are domiciled in a third country and that issue securities that are traded on an organised market in Germany must prepare annual financial reports as at the end of each financial year. This information must be made publicly available no later than four months after the end of each financial year.

    Before publication, companies must publish an announcement informing the public and BaFin about the date from which and the website on which the information will be available.
    Valour Digital Securities Limited contravened these requirements since it failed to publish an annual financial report for the financial year 2023 as legally required minimum components are missing. The company also failed to publish an announcement in respect of this.

    The announcement by BaFin is also set out by law and is based on section 124 of the WpHG.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Result of the Daily Variable Rate Repo (VRR) auction held on February 07, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    Tenor 3-day
    Notified Amount (in ₹ crore) 1,50,000
    Total amount of bids received (in ₹ crore) 1,33,013
    Amount allotted (in ₹ crore) 1,33,013
    Cut off Rate (%) 6.26
    Weighted Average Rate (%) 6.27
    Partial Allotment Percentage of bids received at cut off rate (%) NA

    Ajit Prasad          
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    

    Press Release: 2024-2025/2099

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Standing Liquidity Facility for Primary Dealers

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    RBI/2024-25/110
    REF.No.MPD.BC.398/07.01.279/2024-25

    February 07, 2025

    All Primary Dealers,

    Standing Liquidity Facility for Primary Dealers

    As announced in the bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2024-25, today, it has been decided by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to reduce the policy repo rate under the Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) by 25 basis points from 6.50 per cent to 6.25 per cent with immediate effect.

    2. Accordingly, the Standing Liquidity Facility provided to Primary Dealers (PDs) (collateralised liquidity support) from the Reserve Bank would be available at the revised repo rate of 6.25 per cent with immediate effect.

    Yours faithfully,

    (Praggya Das)
    Adviser-in-Charge

    MIL OSI Economics –