Rounding up top investing articles from around the web, including articles shared on Twitter.
Singapore’s total fertility rate hits record low in 2023, falls below 1 for first time (Straits Times)
A TFR of 0.97 places Singapore among those countries with the lowest birth rates globally, with South Korea topping the list with a TFR of 0.72 in 2023.
Singapore’s fertility rate is well below the replacement rate of 2.1 – the level of fertility at which the population replaces itself from one generation to the next.
Malaysians struggle with weak ringgit, cancel overseas holidays (Straits Times)
With such a weak currency – it was trading at US$4.77 on Feb 28 – they said the upcoming Ramadan and Hari Raya celebration would be a challenge.
The increase in the sales and services tax (SST) to 8 per cent from 6 per cent will also make things worse.
S’pore’s fiscal system is fair; those with greater needs get more than they pay in taxes: DPM Wong (Straits Times)
Singapore is implementing a minimum effective tax rate of 15 per cent for multinational enterprise (MNE) groups from January 2025, in line with Pillar Two of the BEPS 2.0 framework.
However, this means the Republic will no longer be able to offer traditional tax incentives to attract such companies.
How much wealth do you need to join the 1% club in your country? (CNBC)
- The entry barriers to the 1% rich club have been getting tougher amid a boost in wealth creation, largely fueled by a “robust performance” of the U.S. economy and a rebound in the equity markets, according to Knight Frank.
- Monaco, which has the world’s densest population of millionaires, retains the number one spot for the highest entry point at $12.9 million, rising 4% from a year ago.
Google CEO tells employees Gemini AI blunder ‘unacceptable’ (CNBC)
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a memo that the company is working around the clock on a fix for its artificial intelligence image generator tool.
- Pichai also said the company is launching new processes for AI product launches.
Alibaba Cloud slashes prices by as much as 55% to fuel AI growth in China (CNBC)
- Alibaba Cloud on Thursday said it is cutting prices across more than 100 core public cloud products to make cloud computing more accessible in the AI boom.
- “As the biggest cloud service provider in China and APAC, we see tremendous growth prospect of China’s digital market,” said Liu Weiguang, president of public cloud business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence.
- Interest and investments in generative AI have boomed since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022.
Disney and Reliance to merge media businesses in India in $8.5 billion joint venture (CNBC)
- Reliance, led by Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, will control the joint venture and inject $1.4 billion into its growth strategy when the transaction is completed.
- Ambani’s wife, Nita Ambani, will chair the joint venture, while Viacom18 board member Uday Shankar will serve as vice chairperson.
- The companies will be combining their respective Star India and Viacom18 units into the newly created Star India joint venture, valued at roughly $8.5 billion on a post-money basis, excluding synergies.
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