EVERYONE talks about physical infrastructure as a prerequisite for higher economic growth and prosperity, but an internationally renowned human development analyst puts similar importance on social infrastructure for sustainable growth and progress.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said Wednesday that markets could expect three to four increases in the Fed's benchmark interest rate this year.

A battle for the title of best new television opened Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show, with titans fielding new slim, smart, ultra high-definition models.

India's coal imports fell for a sixth month in December, a government official said Wednesday, as the world's third-biggest buyer of the fuel expands domestic mines to boost output and expand power generation.

Chinese conglomerate Wanda is venturing into healthcare, it said Wednesday, with a $2.3 billion investment in three hospitals in China, to be managed by a British company.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd may be due for another profit drop in 2016, as slowing demand for consumer electronics saps momentum for the less-glamourous components businesses that offset last year's smartphone struggles.

Saudi Arabia is expected to save $7 billion a year after it introduced unprecedented energy price rises in a bid to offset the low cost of oil, a report said on Wednesday.

China's central bank on Wednesday set the value of the yuan currency against the US dollar at its lowest since April 2011, according to the national foreign exchange market, raising worries over the health of the world's second-largest economy.

Huawei Technologies Co became the first Chinese handset vendor to ship more than 100 million smartphones in a year when its 2015

OIL prices hit their lowest in over 11 years on Wednesday, as the row between Saudi Arabia and Iran was seen making any cooperation between major exporters to cut output even more unlikely.

APPLE Inc is expected to cut production of its latest iPhone models by about 30 percent in the January-March quarter due to mounting inventories, the Nikkei reported, rattling the nerves of investors in the US giant's Asian suppliers.

Indian IPOs are set to raise more than $5 billion in 2016, a six-year high, as corporate profit growth and a pickup in the economy drive investor demand for equities and lure firms such as Vodafone's local unit to list.

China's central bank has suspended at least three foreign banks from conducting some foreign exchange business until the end of March, three sources who had seen the suspension notices told Reuters on Wednesday.

India has earmarked 50 billion rupees ($753 million) to pay for the installation of rooftop solar panels over the next five years that will generate up to 4,200 megawatts of power, the government said on Wednesday.

After sliding into the $40s in early 2015, crude oil gained back some lost ground by summer, reclaiming the $60-a-barrel level. But as supply kept coming and demand remained sluggish, prices saw renewed pressure.

India's mobile phone subscriber base peaked to more than 1 billion users for the first time, data released by the telecom regulator on Wednesday showed, making India the only country after China to achieve that milestone.

Oman's government will hike fuel prices, charges for public services and corporate taxes in the face of falling oil prices, the official ONA agency reported Wednesday.

Singapore's trade and industry minister has called for a resumption of free trade talks between the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations now that problems over Myanmar have been removed, a German newspaper said.

Russia's finance minister predicted Wednesday that 2016 would be a difficult year for his country's recession-hit economy, already reeling from low oil prices.

China could run its biggest budget deficit in perhaps half a century next year as leaders turn to government spending to arrest the slowdown in the economy, policy advisers say, after disappointing returns from a year of monetary policy easing.