SUVA -- The general elections are being held in Fiji on Wednesday to elect 55 members to the parliament of the South Pacific island country.
According to the Fijian Elections Office (FEO), polling has started in 855 venues around the country with 343 candidates from nine political parties, including the ruling FijiFirst party and two independents, vying for a seat in the parliament. (Fiji-General Elections)
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MANILA -- The Philippine economy is forecast to grow faster in 2022, supported by stronger-than-expected domestic demand and a recovery in tourism, according to an updated Asian Development Bank (ADB) report released on Wednesday.
The latest supplement to the Asian Development Outlook 2022 says the Philippine economy will grow 7.4 percent in 2022, up from its September forecast at 6.5 percent, while the growth for 2023 is expected to slow down to 6.0 percent from 6.3 percent. (Philippines-ADB-Forecast-Growth)
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ISLAMABAD -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has held a telephone conversation with Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discussing public health and social sector programs supported by the foundation in Pakistan, the Prime Minister's Office said.
The prime minister appreciated the support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in polio eradication and improving immunization, nutrition and financial inclusion in the country, the office said in a statement Tuesday night. (Pakistan-Bill Gates-Polio)
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SINGAPORE -- The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced in a report on Wednesday that economists and analysts polled in the Survey of Professional Forecasters expect Singapore's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to expand by 1.8 percent in 2023.
This is one point lower than the 2.8 percent GDP forecast in the previous survey report released by MAS in September, and 1.2 points lower than the 3 percent forecast in the survey report released in June.
In the current survey, the respondents expect the economy to grow by 3.6 percent in 2022, up slightly from the 3.5 percent in the previous survey. (Singapore-GDP-2023) ■
