News

BANGKOK (Reuters) -Thailand's economic growth may falter at under 2.9% this year after a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter despite a vaunted government cash handout aimed at firing up sluggish growth, the central bank chief said on Thursday. The Bank of Thailand previously anticipated that the economy could expand by 2.9% this year, lower than the finance ministry's projection of 3% growth. "I have to say that there is some downside risk to that figure," Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput told Reuters in an interview.

The denim brand shrugged off tariffs thanks to its diverse sourcing, but warned its outlook could sour if inflation and other pressures worsen.

Some of the world's smallest economies, especially in Africa, could be at increased risk of being unable to pay their debts in the medium term, even as developing nations have emerged from a series of sovereign defaults, financial adviser Lazard said. Investors do not expect more sovereign defaults in 2025, but credit metrics for smaller and riskier countries, known as frontier markets, point to a structural weakening, especially for governments in Africa, Thomas Lambert, of Lazard's sovereign advisory team, said. Markets expect it to be steady until June as Donald Trump's second administration has left the policy backdrop extremely uncertain.

It will be a difficult year for scenario planning, says Dennis Lockhart.

Trump is trying to institutionalize a libertarian government that will require more self-sufficiency. Are voters ready?

During the disorienting flurry of Trump's executive orders, Fed Chair Powell issued an edict of his own. He's defending the borders of his job's mandate.

Shell said on Thursday it expects its proved oil and gas reserve replacement ratio for last year to be 85%. The reserve replacement ratio (RRR) measures how much oil and gas a company adds to its reserves compared with what it produces. A ratio of 100% or more means the company is replacing its reserves at the same rate or faster than it depletes them.