Your weekly lineup of Asia's biggest business and political events
The Bank of Japan is expected to raise the policy rate to 1% from the current 0.75% at its two-day policy meeting this week. © Reuters
The Bank of Japan is expected to raise rates at its policy meeting, a move that would take borrowing costs to levels unseen in three decades. BOJ officials are increasingly taking the view that higher oil prices due to escalating tensions in the Middle East could lead to price increases for a wide range of items and push up underlying inflation.
Group of Seven leaders including Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will head to Evian, France, for a summit set to be dominated by the wars in Iran and Ukraine. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung will also participate in the gathering.
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Myanmar's president, Min Aung Hlaing, is due to arrive in China for a state visit, scheduled through Friday. The president is fresh off a trip to India, which was his first foreign visit since he switched from being leader of Myanmar's military regime. Chinese President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, has engaged in a flurry of diplomacy in recent weeks, hosting U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin along with visiting North Korea.
Shanghai Disneyland celebrates its 10th anniversary, amid a year of special shows and festivities to mark the milestone. The U.S. entertainment brand faces challenges in China, however, from geopolitical uncertainty to more competition from other theme parks and sluggish consumer spending.
The Bank of Japan will announce the result of its two-day policy meeting. Nikkei has reported that the central bank is set to raise the policy rate to 1% from the current 0.75%. Deputy Gov. Shinichi Uchida will be in the spotlight, as Gov. Kazuo Ueda will be absent from the meeting due to a liver condition.
Leaders of France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States will meet on the shores of Lake Geneva for the G7 summit, which the European Union will also participate in, with host France aiming to accommodate the mercurial Trump. In addition to discussing ongoing conflicts, the sourcing of critical minerals and global economic imbalances are also on the agenda -- two issues in which China, which will not be at the summit, looms large.
China announces industrial output, retail sales and other key economic data for May. The figures come after the world's second-largest economy reported stronger-than-expected trade growth for the month, while factory-gate inflation surged to a nearly four-year high on higher commodity prices.
Indonesia and the Philippines are set to announce monetary policy decisions, offering investors insights into how Southeast Asia's major economies are navigating prolonged global uncertainty. Markets expect Bank Indonesia to prioritize rupiah stability amid external pressures, while the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas will likely continue tightening its key benchmark rate to rein in inflation.
Reliance Industries holds its annual general meeting, during which Asia's second-richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is expected to inform shareholders about major projects across a wide swath of businesses. This includes updates on the highly anticipated spinoff and listing of the company's digital and telecom arm Jio, which will potentially be India's largest initial public offering ever. The meeting comes at the end of a turbulent 12 months for Reliance, as its energy business was disrupted by U.S. tariffs and the U.S.-Iran war, and as it tried to catch the AI investment cycle, partnering with hyperscalers like Meta and Alphabet.
An exhibit in Taiwan explores the history of Apple Daily, the defunct pro-democracy Hong Kong newspaper founded by imprisoned mogul Jimmy Lai. The show will feature clippings, audiovisual materials and other displays, preserving the paper's legacy and casting a spotlight on Chinese authorities' clampdown on free expression in the city. The event comes days ahead of the fifth anniversary of the paper's forced closure.
