21/04/2026

BIZ & FINANCE TUESDAY | APR 21, 2026

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Developing nations look for path out of permacrisis

SYDNEY: said yesterday they are monitoring the development of Anthropic’s frontier AI model Mythos, which experts say could have the capability to be used to destabilise banking systems. The vast capabilities of Mythos to code at a high level have given it a potentially unprecedented ability to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities, experts say, prompting greater scrutiny from some regulators globally. “ASIC is closely monitoring these developments along with peer regulators to assess possible implications for the Australian market,“ said a spokesperson for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). “ASIC engages closely with other regulators, government agencies and the financial sector to understand and respond to changing technologies.” ASIC said it expected financial services licencees to “be on the front foot” to safeguard their customers and clients. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said it would “continue to assess the implications of these technological advancements to ensure the ongoing safety and resilience of the financial system.” South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service said yesterday it held a meeting with information security officials from financial firms last Monday to review Mythos-related risks. – Reuters Regulators monitor Mythos for banking risks Thailand plans law to borrow 500b baht and lift debt ceiling Regulators BANGKOK: Thailand’s government plans an emergency decree to borrow 500 billion baht (RM62 billion) to address economic issues, a deputy prime minister said yesterday. The move is justified by tight cash balances and rising external and environmental risks, Pakorn Nilprapunt told reporters. Actual borrowing may be less than the full 500 billion baht, but public debt rules require the ceiling to be raised to cover the full amount specified in the law, he said. Thailand issued a similar borrowing decree during the pandemic. Public debt currently stands at about 66% of GDP, close to the existing 70% ceiling, which will need to be expanded, Pakorn said. The Finance Ministry will finalise the new public debt ceiling, as fiscal space has become limited, he said. Last week, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said the debt ceiling could be raised if needed. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul yesterday outlined guidelines for 2027 budget preparations, signalling cuts to non-essential items and limits on budget increases to contain fiscal risks. – Reuters

o Calls grow for self-reliance, regional integration and newfinancing

help weather the shock, estimating demand of US$20 billion to US$50 billion, depending on the duration of the war. The World Bank said countries could tap up to US$25 billion in crisis response funds quickly, with up to US$60 billion available over six months. Two days into the meetings, World Bank President Ajay Banga, clearly hearing urgent pleas for help, said the Bank could make up to US$100 billion available by year’s end, if needed, by restructuring its balance sheet. But neither the IMF nor the Group of 20 major economies, which had rushed to suspend debt service payments for the poorest countries in the early weeks of the Covid pandemic, offered any new instruments. “What we saw this week was the Bank and the Fund effectively saying, ‘Don’t worry, we can do what we’ve done in the past’,” said Christina Segal-Knowles, a former senior White House official now with the Rockefeller Foundation. “But you have a set of countries that are still vulnerable. Those tools have not put these countries back in a place where they’re sustainable.” The world needs, she said, something that “breaks the cycle because otherwise, the next shock that we get to will be back in the same place.”

Longer-term loans, larger-scale financing and different forms of financing that allow countries to escape the “debt trap,” are also options, she said. Edun, who also chairs the G-24 group of developing nations, called on the institutions to do more, but noted that amid drastic aid cuts and falling official development assistance, developing nations need to also focus on “self help, self reliance” and integration within regions, such as more trade on the African continent. “I think the most important lesson is that there has to be a reliance on domestic resource mobilisation within these countries,” he said during the G-24 panel. Throughout the week, officials from Africa, Asia and Latin America said leaders in their regions were looking to boost their resilience to future energy shocks by shifting resources into renewable energy and taking advantage of other resources such as critical minerals to boost growth and create jobs. Albert Park, chief economist of the Asian Development Bank, said Asian economies were racing to protect themselves from the negative effects. Vietnam and Indonesia had already announced new investments in renewable energy and others would likely follow suit, he said. – Reuters

NEW DELHI: India gave a red-carpet welcome for South Korean President Lee Jae-myung in New Delhi yesterday, with shipbuilding and artificial intelligence high on the agenda for talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Amidst ongoing supply chain instability and a global economic crisis stemming from the aftermath of the Middle East conflict, the WASHINGTON: Developing country policymakers left last week’s IMF-World Bank meetings more frustrated than ever that successive external shocks are derailing their efforts to tackle high debt, reform their economies and deliver better lives for millions of citizens now struggling to pay for food and fuel. But unlike the past, some officials and economists say this crisis could be the tipping point that drives countries to take more independent and regionally coordinated action. The war, and the meteoric spikes it caused in oil and fertiliser prices, will weigh on global growth and drive up inflation, even if it ends soon, the IMF and World Bank said. It also threatens to blow out the fiscal balances of countries that had just gotten back on track after debt default, such as Zambia and Sri Lanka. It is also eating into the buffers others built after the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war and then US trade tariffs upended their economies. “It’s like you got hit in the head many times. Once you got up and then you got hit again,” Chayawadee Chai-anant, assistant governor of Thailand’s central bank, told Reuters, of efforts to bounce back from crises. The IMF has lowered its 2026 growth forecast for emerging nations to 3.9% from 4.2% in January 2026, but those projections could worsen if the war persists. Reza Baqir, head of sovereign advisory services at Alvarez & Marsal, said countries making painful reforms, from debt restructuring to subsidy removal, are now left scrambling with fiscal balances destroyed by yet another crisis not of their making. “It’s a depressing mood, and it is also a repeated demonstration of the consequences on bystanders, where due to developments not of their own making, they have to deal with a severe economic crunch,” Baqir told Reuters. Nigeria is one such example. In the past three years, it has removed costly fuel subsidies, eased foreign exchange rules and streamlined regulations to draw a slew of foreign investor cash. “We find that we are doing all we can, and it is shock after shock,

externally exogenously created,” NIgerian Finance Minister Wale Edun told Reuters. “That sort of takes away from achievements and from our progress.” Josh Lipsky, director of economic affairs at the Atlantic Council, said conversations with dozens of other financial leaders showed their patience was wearing thin. “I sense the frustration they can’t actually deal with the big challenges they want to deal with. They want to talk debt. They want to talk about these things that define the decade but every meeting is just a crisis. And I’ve just felt a different sense this time of what’s next.” The IMF and World Bank, though, offered few solutions during the week; top leaders instead cautioned countries against using energy subsidies to shield citizens, while acknowledging that the latest hike in energy and food prices could well foment social unrest and outward migration. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said that 12 or more countries are seeking loans to and

A woman walks by a long row of flags at the IMF building during the 2026 annual IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington. – REUTERSPIC

South Korea president in India for talks on shipping, AI

Israeli attacks on Iran in late February prompted Tehran to effectively close the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The two countries are also seeking to bolster a 2010 economic partnership agreement. Bilateral trade has grown from US$14.2 billion at the time of its implementation to US$26.89 billion in 2024-25, an increase of nearly 90%, according to New Delhi. – AFP

Republic of Korea and India are emerging as increasingly vital strategic partners for one another,“ Lee, on his first visit to India, said in a statement on social media. Talks will include discussions on “shipbuilding, trade, investments, AI, semiconductors, critical and emerging technologies”, India’s Foreign Ministry said. Lee and Modi will also discuss

“continuing constructive cooperation for the sake of peace on the Korean Peninsula and within the region”, South Korea’s national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said in Seoul ahead of Lee’s state visit. Modi and Lee stood side-by-side outside the presidential palace, as lines of Indian troops marched past. South Korea has faced mounting risks to its energy supplies since US