Of the $6 billion original bailout program, Pakistan managed to get only $3 billion as the previous government failed to fulfill its commitments for reforms. Furthermore, these reforms were further weakened when the outgoing government of former prime minister Imran Khan drastically reduced the prices of electricity and fuel

Pakistan is looking for the release of the $1 billion from the IMF package, Ismail said earlier, while blaming the country’s former prime minister Imran Khan for stalling the IMF program. During his last days in power, Khan had announced huge subsidies on fuel and electricity, a move that scuttled almost a year of reform work of his own government to get the IMF program back on track

Hasina said the country has made huge success in agricultural production and that should be leveraged in the export sector

West Bengal was the first state to organise a physical business summit since COVID pandemic struck, Chief Minister Banerjee stated

For Prime Minister Sharif, who is running a coalition government with partners united by the sole desire of keeping Imran Khan out, implementing necessary, but unpopular, reforms will not be an easy job. More so, when the country will go into elections in little more than a year's time, making political parties even more averse to painful measures

The country will need bridge financing of around $3 billion till the IMF finalizes its aid package. Talks are already underway with India and China for raising the money. Significantly, Bangladesh is expected to postpone the repayment of around the $450 million currency swap facility that it had extended to Sri Lanka

IMF’s projection for India is slightly higher than the World Bank’s 8 per cent earlier this month. The series of World Bank reports also had India as the fastest-growing major economy, with China following it at 5 per cent

Unlike India or also Bangladesh, Pakistan has suffered economic mismanagement; excessive dependence on foreign aid, whether from the IMF or China is also a factor

“Bangladesh and Nepal are now among the top ten export destinations for India with our total exports to these two countries amounting to over $16 billion,” Shringla said, terming them as “two success stories.”

Since 2020, after the pandemic began, Sri Lanka’s central bank has printed over two trillion rupees, in a move to keep interest rates low. This, however, resulted in a balance of payment crisis and also drove up inflation and stock prices (asset price inflation).

While the US’ renewed interest in Nepal, a traditional battlefield of influence between India and China, is evident from the MCC agreement and increased bilateral engagements and assistance offers, Nepal may struggle to satisfy the security concerns of a newly assertive China

From the $800 million in surplus in February last year, the balance of payment recorded a deficit of $2.03 billion in the first seven months of this fiscal [Between July to February].

Another challenge the region faces is the disproportionate economic impact the pandemic has had on women. The report includes in-depth analysis of gender disparities in the region and their link with deeply rooted social norms

On Sunday the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) said that all hospitals in the country no longer had access to imported medical tools and vital drugs. In a letter sent to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the association said, “We are made to make very difficult choices. We have to decide who gets treatment and who will not.”

Blinken said that Modi and Biden who met before their 2+2 meeting “had a very warm and productive conversation today in their virtual summit” and covered a lot of ground, including Covid-19, climate change, strengthening the global economy, the free and open Indo-Pacific