The use of crypto assets as a currency is forbidden for Muslims, according to Indonesia’s council of religious leaders.The National Ulema Council, or MUI, has deemed cryptocurrency as haram, or banned, as it has elements of uncertainty, wagering and harm, Asrorun Niam Sholeh, head of religious decrees, said on Thursday after the council held an expert hearing.

Power outages in China, chaos in Britain's petrol stations, factory closures in Germany – supply chain problems around the world are threatening to gnarl up a global recovery as countries try to re-emerge from pandemic-induced recessions.This week saw a number of examples of the supply chain issues currently dogging economic activity across the globe – China ran out of coal for its power stations; the United Kingdom (UK) had insufficient lorry drivers to transport petrol to the fuel pump

The Philippine economy will take more than a decade to return to pre-pandemic growth, an official said Thursday, warning the next two generations of Filipinos would be paying for the cost of COVID-19.

From shoes and sweaters to car parts and coffee, Vietnam's strict and lengthy coronavirus lockdown has sparked product shortages among worldwide brands such as Nike and Gap which have grown increasingly dependent on the Southeast Asian nation's manufacturers.The snarl-ups at Vietnam's factories are part of a broader crisis around the planet that is sending inflation surging and raising concerns about the pace of recovery in the global economy.At a fabric mill east of Hanoi, Cla

China's central bank on Friday said all financial transactions involving cryptocurrencies are illegal, sounding the death knell for the digital trade in China after a crackdown on the volatile currencies.The global values of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin have massively fluctuated over the past year partly due to Chinese regulations, which have sought to prevent speculation and money laundering."Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities,"

The Philippine economy grew in the second quarter at its fastest pace in more than three decades, but an official warned Tuesday of "speed bumps" as coronavirus restrictions were tightened to combat surging infections.Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 11.8 percent on-year, the statistics agency said, after five straight quarters of contraction. The increase – the best since the last three months of 1988 – was driven by a rebound in construction activity and consumer spe

Markets fell in Asia on Tuesday with investors looking for their next buying catalyst after the latest rally, while there were also concerns about fresh coronavirus flare-ups and the reimposition of restrictions in parts of the world.With news of President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure deal having run its course and inflation worries continuing to linger, traders are choosing to sit tight ahead of key United States (US) jobs data later in the week and the beginning of corporate e

While the United States (US) and Europe waged a 17-year trade battle over subsidies to Boeing and Airbus, China poured money into its own commercial aircraft to take on the Western aviation duopoly.It took a common threat for the US and Europe to finally put an end to their dispute this past week, as the two sides signed a five-year truce suspending tit-for-tat tariffs.US President Joe Biden made it clear during his visit to Brussels on Tuesday: Washington and Brussels must "work togethe

Since last July, a little-known automaker in China’s southwest has dominated the world’s largest electric car market, outselling bigger players and even Tesla Inc. almost every month with a tiny, bare-bones electric vehicle (EV) that starts at just US$4,500.The Hongguang Mini is the brainchild of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., a joint venture (JV) between SAIC Motor Corp.

Two of Indonesia's most successful start-ups are to merge, the companies announced on Monday, creating the largest tech firm in the world's fourth most populous country.Ride-hailing and payments giant Gojek and e-commerce firm Tokopedia – which generated transactions worth a combined US$22 billion in 2020 – agreed to form the GoTo Group, they said in a statement.The deal will form an Indonesian tech giant combining e-commerce and financial services with on-demand offerings such as r