Archive
Reuters blog archive
from The Human Impact:
A devastating fire displaces an already displaced population
In early March, I visited two refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border to report on the challenges facing refugee women and girls and was struck by the enthusiasm of students I met in Ban Mae Surin, a camp set in a remote but picturesque setting along the Mae Surin river.
The students were part of the Karenni Further Studies Programme and were rehearsing a group dance for International Women’s Day celebrations on March 8.
On that day, they learnt the dance moves for a song that calls for the elimination of violence against women and girls. Despite the sweltering afternoon heat, the four dozen or so students - and some alumni - practised non-stop.
In a normal schoolroom of 17 to 23 year olds, you’re sure to find some who would refuse to participate in such an activity because it’s ‘uncool’, no matter how worthy the cause. I would’ve been one of them, but there was none of that cooler-than-thou swagger in this group.
from Global Investing:
New frontiers to outpace emerging markets
Fund managers searching for yield are increasing exposure to frontier markets (FM) as a diversification from emerging markets (EM), as the latter have been offering negative relative returns since January, according to MSCI data.
Barings Asset Management said on Monday it plans to launch a frontier markets fund in coming weeks, with a projected 70 percent exposure to frontier markets such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Sri Lanka and Ukraine.
from The Human Impact:
When is rape not considered rape?
I had always thought – naively as it turns out – that rape is when a person forces another person, either physically or by using threats, to have sex and/or when there’s an absence of a clear ‘yes’.
Apparently not.
According to the laws in some of Southeast Asia’s fast-developing nations, rape within a marriage isn’t rape. Or if you go by some of the decisions handed down by the courts, it’s not rape if there isn’t a physical struggle or the perpetrator is in his 60s.
from Breakingviews:
Southeast Asia is wrong to neglect inflation risk
By Andy Mukherjee
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
Inflation in the Philippines reached a five-month high in February; prices rose the most in 20 months in Indonesia. Yet, there is no word from the central banks of Southeast Asia’s fast-growing nations on when they are likely to raise interest rates. While their coyness to signal policy tightening is understandable, it is nevertheless a mistake.
from Photographers Blog:
How to survive in the jungle: a drop of cobra blood with Khun Norris
Chon Buri province, Thailand
By Damir Sagolj
“Gentlemen, that was excellent!” said a young American called Richard as he downed a glass of snake’s blood in a room full of cobras and tough-looking Asian men. “Never refuse the invitation, never resist the unfamiliar.”
But those lines come from a movie called The Beach, and Richard was played by Leonardo DiCaprio. A few days ago, another young American, this time a real-life U.S. Marine training in Thailand, told Reuters what cobra’s blood really tasted like. “Terrible. Really terrible. But it's a good experience. It’s something I can always tell my grandchildren about.”
from Breakingviews:
Southeast Asia’s growth could lead to credit curbs
By Andy Mukherjee
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
Southeast Asia’s heady debt-fuelled growth is beginning to resemble the unsustainable mid-1990s boom. But authorities are shy to raise interest rates as doing so could attract more overseas capital, stoking inflation and financial instability. Direct curbs on credit and capital flows may prove more attractive.
from Breakingviews:
Thailand’s unsustainable boom is piling up risks
By Andy Mukherjee
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Thailand is booming again, but the foundations of its growth revival are wobbly. Unless policies and politics become more robust, the Southeast Asian nation’s economy may find its momentum hard to sustain.
from Global Investing:
Emerging policy-Down in Hungary; steady in Latin America
A mixed bag this week on emerging policy and one that shows the growing divergence between dovish central Europe and an increasingly hawkish (with some exceptions) Latin America.
Hungary cut rates this week by 25 basis points, a move that Morgan Stanley described as striking "while the iron is hot", or cutting interest rates while investor appetite is still strong for emerging markets. The current backdrop is keeping the cash flowing even into riskier emerging markets of which Hungary is undeniably one. (On that theme, Budapest also on Wednesday announced plans for a Eurobond to take advantage of the strong appetite for high-risk assets, but that's another story).
from The Great Debate:
Re-thinking U.S.-China relations
The United States and China have been searching for a new way to frame their relationship. President Barack Obama’s trip this week to Southeast Asia, the focus of much U.S-Chinese tension, reminds us that with new leadership now set in both countries, it is time for them to carry on with that important task.
The new head of China’s Communist Party Xi Jinping called for a “new type of great power relationship” when he visited Washington last spring. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that Washington and Beijing “are trying to do something that is historically unprecedented, to write a new answer to the age-old question of what happens when an established power and a rising power meet.”
from Global Investing:
Emerging Policy-the big easing continues
The big easing continues. A major surprise today from the Bank of Thailand, which cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 2.75 percent. After repeated indications from Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul that policy would stay unchanged for now, few had expected the bank to deliver its first rate cut since January. But given the decision was not unanimous, it appears that Prasarn was overruled. As in South Korea last week, the need to boost domestic demand dictated the BoT's decision. The Thai central bank noted:
The majority of MPC members deemed that monetary policy easing was warranted to shore up domestic demand in the period ahead and ward off the potential negative impact from the global economy which remained weak and fragile.
