undefined Military strikes linked to the U.S.-Israel-Iran war have turned the Strait of Hormuz into a combat zone, threatening one of the world’s most important oil and gas chokepoints and raising fresh risks for China, which relies heavily on crude and liquefied natural gas shipments from the Gulf. The narrow waterway is the only sea passage in and out of the Persian Gulf. Any prolonged disruptio...
undefined Military strikes linked to the U.S.-Israel-Iran war have turned the Strait of Hormuz into a combat zone, threatening one of the world’s most important oil and gas chokepoints and raising fresh risks for China, which relies heavily on crude and liquefied natural gas shipments from the Gulf. The narrow waterway is the only sea passage in and out of the Persian Gulf. Any prolonged disruption there would hit not only Iran, which is directly involved in the conflict, but also major oil producers along the Gulf coast including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. China’s Reliance on Middle East Oil China is a key destination for Middle Eastern energy exports. According to 2025 Chinese customs data, four of China’s top 11 crude suppliers — Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the U.A.E. and Kuwait — depend on shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images By Min Joo Kang, Senior Economist, South Korea and Japan Government utility subsidies lower the inflation in February Japan’s consumer price inflation eased faster than expected to 1.3% year-on-year in February (vs. 1.5% in January and market consensus). Lower prices for fresh food (-4.5%) and utilities (-5.5%) were the main reasons for the slowdown. On...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images By Min Joo Kang, Senior Economist, South Korea and Japan Government utility subsidies lower the inflation in February Japan’s consumer price inflation eased faster than expected to 1.3% year-on-year in February (vs. 1.5% in January and market consensus). Lower prices for fresh food (-4.5%) and utilities (-5.5%) were the main reasons for the slowdown. On a month-over-month basis, inflation decreased by 0.2% (seasonally adjusted) in February. Goods prices declined by 0.6%, while services prices rose by 0.1%. Although inflation has come in lower than expected, the Bank of Japan is unlikely to place much weight on the recent slowdown, as it was driven by utility subsidies. The BoJ will pay more attention to the underlying inflation trend. Stripping out food and energy price changes, core-core inflation edged down to 2.5% (vs. 2.6% in February, market consensus) but stayed well above the BoJ’s target of 2.0%. Despite soaring petrol prices, headline inflation is expected to remain below 2% for the next couple of months. The government’s price cap on fuel prices should absorb some of the price shocks. And base effects are likely to anchor the inflation below 2%. However, core-core inflation is expected to remain sticky, staying near 2.5%. We expect demand-side inflationary pressures to remain intact, with encouraging initial wage-negotiation results. Initial wage negotiation results are encouraging Rengo, the largest labour union group, announced that this year's average wage increase is 5.26%, just below last year's initial figure of 5.46%. This figure will be revised several times (on 27 March and 3 April, for example). But the current situation in the Middle East has had little impact on the wage negotiations so far. BoJ Governor Ueda previously noted that policymakers are monitoring whether wage gains will extend to small and mid-sized companies. Many SMEs settle their wages in April, so it is a key dynamic to monitor. The o...
Social Security is a complex program. Retirees can choose to claim benefits at different ages, as early as age 62 and as late as age 70. There are, of course, trade-offs; the big one is that the earlier you claim benefits, the greater the benefits are reduced. On the flip side, the later you claim benefits, the more likely you are to see benefits increased. It all has to do with the primary insura...
Social Security is a complex program. Retirees can choose to claim benefits at different ages, as early as age 62 and as late as age 70. There are, of course, trade-offs; the big one is that the earlier you claim benefits, the greater the benefits are reduced. On the flip side, the later you claim benefits, the more likely you are to see benefits increased. It all has to do with the primary insurance amount (PIA) and the full retirement age (FRA) . The PIA is the full amount of benefits you are entitled to at your FRA, which is 67 for those born in 1960 or after. For each month you claim benefits prior to your FRA, your benefits will be reduced by a small percentage. Claiming benefits at age 62 can reduce your benefits by 30%. Continue reading