Morning Brief

By BFM MediaNews Business News

Morning Brief episodes

July 31, 2024 Asean Banks Refinancing Ahead Of Rate Cuts
The era of high interest rates finally appears to be coming to an end with the Federal Reserve signaling their willingness to cut the Fed Fund rate from the current 5.25-5.5% levels. But what impact has this delay had on the investment book of Asean banks and are they issuing new debt ? Rena Kwok, Credit Analyst for Asian Financials at Bloomberg Intelligence tells us.
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10 min
July 30, 2024 Potential Of Wider War In the Middle East
Tensions in the Middle East on the Israel-Lebanon border have ratcheted, following the deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied territory of Golan Heights on Saturday. Dr. James Dorsey, Senior Fellow, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies tells us if there is the potential of a wider war with Hezbollah.
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10 min
July 30, 2024 Malaysia : Asian Tiger Or Asian Kitten
A recent comment from second finance minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan saying that Malaysia is making great strides to reclaim its Asian Tiger status, has elicited discussion about whether or not Malaysia ever was one. P Gunasegaram, an independent business writer shares his views on if this comparison with economies like those of Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore and Hong Kong holds water.

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12 min
July 29, 2024 Venezuela Crisis Deepens After Contested Vote
President Nicolas Maduro has claimed victory in presidential elections on Sunday, an outcome that the opposition bloc claims goes against what people actually voted for. We break down the economic and political crisis in Venezuela with Dr. Raul Sanchez-Urribarri of La Trobe University.
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11 min
July 29, 2024 How Does Malaysia Benefit Joining BRICS?
Russia’s foreign minister paid our PM Anwar Ibrahim a visit last Saturday at Seri Perdana, and according to Anwar, the meat of their discussion revolved around Malaysia’s potential membership in BRICS. We discuss how Malaysia might benefit from BRICs membership with Julia Roknifard, Assistant Professor, School of Politics, History and International Relations, University of Nottingham Malaysia.
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8 min
July 28, 2024 Will Chinese Pre-Covid Consumer Spending Levels Return?
China's consumer spending remains a concern with the slowdown seen in the F&B sector, while the gaming revenue out of Macau has underperformed. Angela Han Lee, Leisure Consumption Analyst, Team Leader of APAC Multi-Sector at Bloomberg Intelligence shares her views on where she thinks this trend is leading to.
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11 min
July 28, 2024 EPF's Flexibility In Managing Members' Flexible Withdrawals
It has been revealed that to date, a total of 3.4 million of the 13.1 million EPF members under the age of 55 have withdrawn RM8.9 billion from their flexible accounts since this option was made available in May. Meanwhile, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan assures that EPF would not be negatively impacted. Dr Hafezali Iqbal Hussain, Professor at the School of Management & Marketing Faculty of Business & Law, Taylor’s University, shares his insights.
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7 min
July 25, 2024 Malaysia's Food Safety In Focus
The Singapore Food Agency's seizure of fresh and processed produce illegally imported from Malaysia on concerns of high levels of pesticides used, has brought home the awareness that what we consume in this country may require more washing than initially thought. Prof DrChai Lay Ching, a microbiologist & pro-vice-chancellor of education at Sunway University explains the issues for us.
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11 min
July 25, 2024 Will The Road To Gold Lead To Paris?
Malaysia is unenviably the country which has won the most Olympic medals without winning a gold, with 8 silver and 5 bronze. Will Paris 2024 reveal a change in our fortunes and what event(s) will present the best chance for our 26-strong contingent? T.Avineshwaran, a senior sports writer at the Star talks about how the Road to Gold programme may or may not be the catalyst that could make this elusive gold medal dream a reality.
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11 min
July 25, 2024 New Government, New Budget, Existing Issues
Fresh from an election which saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party winning with a slim victory, his administration has tabled a USD23.9 billion budget for job creation, and skills development, a to support an economic growth forecast of 6.5% to 7%. Sanjay Mathur, the chief economist for Southeast Asia and India at ANZ Bank, talks about how effective this budget might be in addressing India's current economic issues.
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10 min