Developers in Singapore put on sale more new private homes from existing projects last month but sold fewer units due to the typical Lunar New Year (LNY) lull and the absence of major new launches. Sentiment was also dampened by the prospect of rising interest rates, a surge in Covid-19 cases following the festivities and heightened geopolitical tensions from the Russia-Ukraine war, analysts said. Buyers took up 527 private residential units, down nearly 23 per cent from 680 in January and 18.3 per cent lower than 645 a year ago, according to Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) data released on March…
Author: Asia News Network
A former star in Malaysia’s opposition ranks, Rafizi Ramli, is making a political comeback just days after the opposition lost heavily in the Johor state polls. His remarks on his blog on March 15 appeared to criticise the leadership of his party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), and the Pakatan Harapan (PH) opposition alliance, for the weak state of opposition parties. Both PKR and the PH presidential council are led by Anwar Ibrahim. Rafizi, 44, was an influential PKR vice-president when he stepped out of active politics in 2019. He said he is returning to the political arena to help both…
Vietnam’s airlines are beginning to show clear signs of recovery, according to the securities firm Viet Capital Securities (VCSC). The recovery of the air industry in 2022-2026 will be attributed to looser restrictions on air travel despite high daily Covid-19 case numbers and the full reopening of Vietnam’s tourism sector from mid-March this year. VietJet Air is expected to report profits from 2022, whereas Vietnam Airlines will follow suit in 2024. VCSC estimates that the total number of domestic flights in February has almost reached pre-pandemic levels. The reopening in mid-March will give a fresh impetus to the industry, creating…