Breakfast with Ryan Huang, Emaad Akhtar and Audrey Siek

We’re just a fortnight away from the Singapore Budget - that’ll be delivered by the Finance Minister on Valentine’s Day! With the elevated inflation and cost-of-living pressures weighing down on Singaporeans and businesses alike, Annie Koh, Professor Emeritus of Finance (Practice) at Singapore Management University shares her take on how this year’s Budget might shape up and measures she hopes to see. Produced and edited by Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg) Highlights of the conversation: 1.20 : How might support measures in Budget 2023 compare with previous rounds of spending? 4.00 : On the social aspect, how can the Government partner the community to address these concerns?  6.09 : What more can we expect from this year's Budget to better support the healthcare sector? 8.32 : How adequate are the tax reliefs in helping consumers address inflationary pressures? 

Mitul Kotecha, Head of Emerging Markets Strategy, TD Securities, discusses how much recent signs of inflation data moderating will prompt the Federal Reserve to dial back on its rate hiking campaign after its February meeting.

From rooftop farms, to herb gardens in hotels and even community gardens in private condominiums!  Bjorn Low, Founder of Edible Garden City joined us in the studio to share how his social enterprise is on the way to turning every nook and cranny of Singapore into an edible garden. Produced and edited by Yeo Kai Ting (ykaiting@sph.com.sg)

A recent report from Zendesk on global CX trends revealed that 68 per cent of APAC leaders see customer experience and support as growing priorities over the next year. Hugo Mas, Sales Director Asia, Aircall shares his insights on what customers are looking for today and how businesses can better meet those demands.

Lim Yuin, chief investment strategist, Lion GlobalInvestors explains why investors are increasingly flocking to infrastructure assets to diversify and hedge against slowing macroeconomic conditions as they seek stable and resilient returns.

In today's Breakfast Brief, we look at some good news for Adani Enterprises as it gets a vote of confidence from an existing investor, Abu Dhabi's Investment Holding, for 16 percent of the share follow-on offering. 

From the possibility of seeing a war between the US and China in 2025 as set out in a leaked memo and new regional CPPCC heads, turning the attention to China’s domestic leadership.  Dr Chong Ja Ian Associate Professor, Political Science, National University of Singapore and Non-Resident Fellow, Carnegie China gives us an analysis of those headlines and more. 

Citibank estimates reveal that a large majority of financial institutions are looking to continue exploring the digital asset and blockchain applications space in 2023.  Mahin Gupta, Founder, Liminal shares his insights on storing digital assets in a self-custody wallet and the role safer infrastructure plays here.

Three Singapore brands made it to Brand Finance’s Global 500 report for 2023, that was released at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Alex Haigh, Managing Director – Asia Pacific, Brand Finance shares insights on what they did right amid a plethora of choices of where to spend their bucks to boost their brand value and the challenges companies face in staying on the top of charts.

Stephen Innes, Managing Partner, SPI Asset Management discusses why he's expecting the Fed to cut rates this year, plus how China is moving from a “reopening trade” to an actual “ growth trade”.