Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia could slash October prices for most crude grades it sells to Asia after a plunge in spot premiums as tepid fuel demand and increasing arbitrage cargoes put pressure on oil prices in the region.

The US dollar climbed to a 20-year high against other major currencies on Monday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled interest rates would be kept higher for longer to bring down soaring inflation.

Oil edged higher on Monday to extend last week’s gains as potential Opec+ output cuts and conflict in Libya helped to offset a strong US dollar and a dire outlook for US growth.

Central banks will fail to control inflation and could even push price growth higher unless governments start playing their part with more prudent budget policies, according to a study presented to policymakers at the Jackson Hole conference in the United States.

France’s finance minister pledged Saturday to keep electricity costs in check for consumers as European energy prices soar.

The Bank of Korea returned to its usual 25 basis point rate hike Thursday, half the historic size seen in July, while slashing its growth forecast for the year amid the persistent inflation forcing the central bank to back a raise for a fourth time in a row for the first time.

Oil prices ended higher on Friday, boosted by signals from Saudi Arabia that Opec could cut output, but trading was volatile as investors digested and ultimately shrugged off warnings from the head of the US Federal Reserve about economic pain ahead.

British energy bills will jump 80 per cent to an average of 3,549 pounds ($4,188) a year from October, the regulator said on Friday, plunging millions of households into fuel poverty and businesses into jeopardy unless the government steps in.

Profits at China’s industrial firms sank in July, reversing previous gains as fresh Covid-19 curbs dragged down demand and squeezed factory margins, while power shortages due to heatwaves threatened production.

Beijing and Washington took a major step on Friday towards ending a dispute that threatened to boot Chinese companies, including Alibaba, from US stock exchanges, signing a pact to allow US regulators to vet accounting firms in China and Hong Kong.

India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, is considering whether to restrict exports of 100 per cent broken rice, government and industry officials told Reuters on Friday, after the paddy area has been reduced by a lack of rainfall.

The US economy contracted at a moderate pace than initially thought in the second quarter as consumer spending blunted some of the drag from a slower pace of inventory accumulation, dispelling fears that a recession was underway.

Wall Street giant Citigroup Inc will close its consumer and commercial banking businesses in Russia starting this quarter and expects to incur about $170 million in charges over the next 18 months as a result, the company said on Thursday.

Global rating agency Standard and Poor’s today maintained its long-held BB- rating for Bangladesh despite the ongoing volatility in the country’s external sector.

Daraz intends to invest Tk 1,000 crore in Bangladesh in the next 3-4 years to ramp up its operation by building infrastructure and ecosystem, the Alibaba Group-backed e-commerce venture said today.

Twenty-four global banks have agreed to accept the letters of credit (LCs) from Bangladesh to import food items from Russia and Ukraine in US dollar -- a big sigh of relief as it will play a big role in cutting food prices in local market.

Sri Lanka tightened import restrictions Wednesday with a ban on more than 300 additional items, as an economic crisis that has created months of shortages and toppled a president refuses to abate.

Many global oil traders and banks have stopped dealing with Indian refiner Nayara Energy, a Rosneft affiliate, as they are worried about Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Japan’s prime minister on Wednesday called for a push to revive the country’s nuclear power industry in a bid to tackle soaring imported energy costs linked to the war in Ukraine.

Rising labour, transportation, logistics and electricity costs could potentially undermine the competitive advantage of Cambodia’s textile-linked industries, according to research conducted by a prominent local economist.