In South Korea, truckers have expanded a strike that is threatening to slow down shipments like cars and electronics to other parts of the world. The labour action is on its fourth day, and has already resulted in disruptions across the country. Shipments from the industrial hub of Ulsan have been suspended entirely. That port accounts for a tenth of the nation's trade, and is the main facility used by auto giant Hyundai.

Frank Smith is following this story from Seoul. He has more on the government's response.

#SouthKorea #TruckerStrike #KoreanTruckers

Stocks are mostly down to end the week over concerns about the health of the global economy. Investors are looking ahead to data on consumer prices out of the US on Friday. Analysts expect inflation for the month of April to have stayed at just over 8%. Meanwhile, investors are digesting the European Central Bank's signal that it will raise interest rates next month. That would be the first such move in more than a decade, with further hikes planned for later in the year.

Craig Erlam is a senior market analyst at OANDA in London. He says the European Central Bank may be acting a little too late.

#USInflation #ECB #InterestRates

The price of crude has risen to its highest in more than two months, putting more strain on households and businesses that rely on the commodity. International benchmark Brent surged to more than $123 a barrel, or 2% overnight. The global supply of crude remains tight, due to sanctions on Russia, a major exporter. Demand is also climbing, partly due to the easing of lockdowns in China, the world's second largest economy.

We had Han Tan, who is the chief market analyst at Exinity Group in Abu Dhabi.

#OilPrices #OilDemand #OilSupply

The World Bank has issued a dire warning: economies almost everywhere will slow down significantly this year. In its twice a year check-in, the multilateral lender slashed its global growth forecast to 2.9%. That's lower than the January prediction of more than 4%, and about half of last year's expansion. Officials describe this year's challenge as a 'perfect storm' caused by convergence of several dark clouds.

For more on global economic outlook, Equiti Capital market analyst David Madden joined us from London.

#WorldBank #GlobalEconomy #GrowthProspects

Sri Lanka's prime minister says the country is facing a critical shortage of fuel, which will continue for at least the next three weeks. He's calling on the public to avoid travel, and says without urgent international assistance, food and fuel shortages could jeopardize the lives of millions of people. Mobin Nasir reports.

We spoke to Rohan Samarajiva, who runs the think tank LIRNEAsia in Colombo. He says the fuel shortages are disrupting supply chains and leaving millions of households unable to cook meals.

#SriLanka #SriLankanEconomy #FuelShortage

Australia's central bank has surprised markets with a larger-than-expected hike in its benchmark interest rate. The adjustment of half a percentage point is the largest in more than two decades. It's a sign that officials there are growing increasingly concerned over consumer prices, which rose more than 5% in the first quarter. Meanwhile in China, economic engines are once again starting to fire on all cylinders after the easing of lockdowns.

Naeem Aslam is the chief market analyst at AvaTrade in London. He says consumer prices won't cool down soon.

#Australia #Inflation #InterestRates

Oil is surging to start the week after Saudi Arabia raised the price of crude being sold to Asian consumers. The international crude benchmark rose 1% to top $120 a barrel. It's recognition that the world's largest exporter of the commodity expects global supply levels to remain tight.

That's despite the oil cartel OPEC, which is led by Saudi Arabia, announcing plans to raise output to meet growing global demand.

We spoke to Neil Atkinson, who is an independent energy industry analyst in Paris.

#OilPrices #SaudiOil #OPEC

Pakistan's Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, wants to develop a bipartisan road map to pull the country out of its economic crunch. In his first address to the nation, Shehbaz has sought dialogue with all his political rivals including his predecessor Imran Khan to implement economic reforms. He made the offer as economists warn Pakistan could potentially face a Sri Lanka-like situation. Kamran Yousaf has more in this report.

Economist Ali Khizar told us more about how rising prices will affect regular Pakistanis in the coming year.

#Pakistan #PakistanEconomy #FuelPrices

Trendyol is expanding beyond Türkiye. The fashion and e-commerce giant has opened a new office in Germany. It's set to be the first of more to follow this year, as it plans to expand all over Europe. Sibel Karkus reports from Berlin.

#Türkiye #Trendyol #Ecommerce

At the beginning of the week, EU leaders agreed to ban 75% of Russian crude imports to the bloc. That's part of the EU's sixth sanctions package on Russia since the conflict in Ukraine started three months ago.

How different will this sixth round of sanctions be? What will it really entail? We spoke to Sophie Udubasceanu, energy analyst at ICIS to get answers.

#RussiaAttacksUkraine #RussiaSanctions #OPEC