Money Matters with Hongbin Jeong and Chua Tian Tian

The UK economy is at the heart of our discussion today after UK’s finance minister Jeremy Hunt last week unveiled a budget plan to save 55 billion pounds a year to fix the country’s public finances.  With almost half of the belt-tightening due to come from tax hikes, to what extent can households withstand such measures as surging inflation continues to erode incomes? Back in Asia, Japan saw its core inflation figure come in at the highest level in 40 years. What would this mean for markets with Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda standing firm on the country’s ultra-loose monetary policy? On Market View, Prime Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian sat down with Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA at OANDA for more.

In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Melissa Hyak speaks with Eleanor Smallwood, Host/Producer, Partner Hub, BBC World Service for the biggest stories they’re tracking in the week ahead, including Russian president Vladimir Putin’s visit to the ex-Soviet state of Armenia this week for talks.

With Covid-19 related dining restrictions easing, one might think the demand for food delivery may wane. Yet, it seems that the two years of the pandemic has built up a reliance, if not an appreciation for the convenience of food at our doorsteps.  On Prime Time, Melissa Hyak speaks with Jason Parke, General Manager, Deliveroo Singapore to find out why food delivery services will play a more important role than before the pandemic.

Malaysia’s Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah has given party leaders and heads of coalitions a one-day extension of the deadline to propose their prime minister candidate. They have until 2pm on Tuesday to do so. This comes after Saturday’s general election threw up the country’s first-ever hung Parliament. In The Straits Times' The Big Story, Multimedia Correspondent Cheow Sue-Ann speaks with Malaysia bureau chief Shannon Teoh to weigh in on the 24-hour extension and what the parties might be able to achieve in this time. 

With travel restrictions lifted and borders reopening after more than two years, a surge in demand for travel along with the change in travel trends is inevitable. In the Spotlight on Prime Time, Bharati Jagdish speaks with Nicola Eliot, Vice President, BBC StoryWorks and John Fitzgerald, CEO of Tourism Tasmania on the latest travel trends ahead of the year end travel season as well as for 2023. Produced and edited by Anthea Ng (nganthea@sph.com.sg)

Singaporean investors are the biggest overseas commercial real estate investors in Asia. In 2021, a total of US$32 billion was deployed by investors in Singapore, marking a 164% rebound from 2020. As 90% of us in Singapore already own the home we are living – how can investing in overseas property allow us to build a more diversified portfolio of assets? And how can you get better data to help you make more informed property investments? Prime Time's Bharati Jagdish speaks with Ashley Osborne, CEO & Co-Founder, Du Val Global to find out how Proptech is changing the way real estate buyers manage their property overseas.

In Bali, analysts and campaigners welcomed the final communiqué from the G20 which urged all parties to “make progress on loss and damage at the COP27” in Egypt. While that may breathe new life into UN climate talks, countries seem to struggle to find a common ground on a number of key issues, including limiting the average rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius. So what can we expect out of the COP27, which is set to end later today, and how would that affect climate finance and commodity markets? On Market View, Prime Time's finance presenter Chua Tian Tian sat down with  Roman Kramarchuk Head of Future Energy Analytics at S&P Global Commodity Insights and Ankit Sachan, Hydrogen Analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights for more.

Malaysia's parties battle on social media to woo young voters One trend that has emerged in the leadup to Malaysia's 15th General Election on November 19 is that parties took their battle on social media in a bid to woo young voters. How much will their social media presence swing the outcome? This election will also be the first where voters have three main coalitions to choose from – Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional, but Straits Times’ Malaysia Bureau Chief Shannon Teoh says a clear and decisive win seems unlikely.  On the Straits Times The Big Story, Multimedia journalist, Cheow Sue-Ann speaks with Shannon for more.

Malaysia’s election on Saturday is likely to be close, with nearly a thousand candidates from dozens of parties vying for the hearts and minds of a record 21 million voters.  Parties are expected to campaign all night till cut off at midnight. On the eve of Malaysia's polling day, Prime Time's Bharati Jagdish speaks Shannon Teoh, Malaysia Bureau Chief at the Straits Times, to get a sense of the latest on the ground and what to expect on polling day. Produced and edited by Anthea Ng (nganthea@sph.com.sg)

Food sustainability has made its way into discussions at the COP 27 meeting as the world battles the effects of climate change, and supply chain disruptions brought about by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.  At the COP 27 climate conference, the European Investment Fund, also Europe’s largest venture capital and private equity financier, signed investments totalling some 247 million Euros to enable five equity funds to back 2.5 billion Euros of climate investments, including areas such as food innovation.  Increasingly, we’re also seeing VC investors putting their money into food sustainability or novel foods. Just take Singapore-based Kairos Capital, for example. The VC firm, which has invested in tech giants like ByteDance, Airbnb and Spotify, is also investing into meat alternative companies such as Oatly, Eat Just and Impossible Meat. It’s in fact launched a FoodTech Fund to further efforts on this front.  On Market View, Prime Time’s finance presenter Chua Tian Tian sat down with Anthony Siau, CEO of Kairos Capital Group to chat about the VC trends and opportunities in the food tech scene.