Sat, Apr 15, 2023 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  SOFTWARE

  Infosys sales forecast limps

  Infosys Ltd forecast sales that lagged estimates and warned that customers in key sectors like finance are pulling back, a sign of how far corporations are tightening their budgets to weather an economic slowdown. India’s second-biggest software services firm expects to post revenue growth of between 4 and 7 percent this fiscal year ending March next year. That compares with an average analyst estimate of 10.6 percent. “During the quarter, we saw unplanned project rampdowns in some of our clients and delays in decisionmaking, which resulted in lower volumes,” Infosys chief executive officer Salil Parekh said at a post-earnings news conference. For the quarter ending last month, Infosys posted a net profit of 61.3 billion rupees (US$749 million), a rise of 7.7 percent from the same period last year, it said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday.

  JAPAN

  Pay for women lags

  Japanese women might have doubled their income over the past 20 years, but they still earn only one-quarter of what men are paid, government data showed. The average female monthly income was ￥83,896 (US$630) per month in February, a survey of households conducted by the Statistics Bureau of Japan released this month showed. While that is nearly twice what they were earning per month in 2000, it is far less than the average ￥345,645 salary for male workers, it showed. About 70 percent of female workers are employed in parttime or non-permanent jobs, which often mean lower pay and fewer opportunities for advancement.

  SWEDEN

  Inflation decelerates

  Underlying inflation slowed for the first time in more than a year, raising hopes of a turnaround for the Nordic nation’s households and its central bank, which remains under pressure to raise borrowing costs. A price measure that strips out energy costs and the effect of interest-rate changes last month rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier, data from Statistics Sweden showed, marking a retreat from a three-decade high. That was lower than the 9.1 percent projected by economists, even though the level far exceeds the central bank’s estimate of a 7.5 percent rise. The Riksbank has said it expects to raise the key rate from 3 percent when the executive board gathers on April 25.

  CHINA

  Tariffs review announced

  The Ministry of Commerce yesterday announced a review of its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on barley imports from Australia, a major move toward reducing trade tensions between the two nations. The ministry gave details of the barley tariff review in a statement, confirming an earlier announcement from the Australian government on Tuesday. In return for the review, Australia has agreed to temporarily suspend its case against China at the WTO. The Chinese government said in the statement that the review would begin today and would finish within one year. The ministry said the decision had been made in response to a request from the China Alcoholic Drinks Association to end the tariffs. The association said the curbs are no longer necessary as domestic barley production cannot keep up with demand, and the cost pressures on beer manufacturers have increased following the war in Ukraine and global trade disruptions. Imports are China’s main source of barley, with Australia previously accounting for 60 to 70 percent of the market.
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