Azlan Othman

The increasing global inflation stems from the supply chain being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s inflation rate in 2020 was 1.9 per cent, and 1.7 per cent on November 2021.

This was said by Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah on the third day of the 18th Legislative Council (LegCo) session yesterday, adding that the situation was very different before the health crisis hit the world, as the country’s inflation rate was minimal.

The rising global inflation rate has affected not only consumers in the Sultanate but also the producers, as the country is highly dependent on imported products including consumer goods and intermediate goods used as inputs to local production. The main causes of global inflation are rising logistics and transportation costs and rising raw material costs, he said.

According to the Freightos Baltic Index Global Container Freight Index, transportation costs for global containers have increased dramatically from July 2019 which amounted to USD1,342 for 40-foot containers to USD9,806 in January 2022 which is at least six times the increment. This is compounded by congestion in the world’s major ports, causing delays in the delivery of goods.

“The high inflation rate experienced around the world is something that is beyond the control of this country. It is not only affecting the industrial sectors around the world but also the quality of life with the rising cost of daily living,” said Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew.

In response, the Ministry of Finance and Economy constantly monitors and examines the impact of the global inflation on the national economy, he said.

Meanwhile, Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew also said for the third quarter (Q3) of 2021, Brunei Darussalam’s gross domestic product decreased by 2.2 per cent compared to the third quarter of 2020, due to the decline in crude oil production to 97.1 thousand barrels per day in Q3 2021, compared to 100.6 thousand barrels per day in Q3 2020, and natural gas production of 750.9 thousand mmbtu per day in Q3 2021 compared to 834.5 thousand mmbtu per day in Q3 2020. The movement restrictions that partially affected the maintenance activities of oil wells including well, reservoir and facilities management, the ministry said.

However, the decline was offset by positive growth from the non-oil and gas sector of one per cent in Q3 2021 compared with the same period in 2020. The positive development was driven by increased production in agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors at 27.9 per cent due to increased production in 10 sub-sectors of vegetables, fruits and other agricultural products as well as fisheries and livestock food sub-sectors.

In addition, there are other sub-sectors that also contributed to positive developments such as air transport; finance; communications; and health services.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), ASEAN + 3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) have projected positive economic growth for Brunei Darussalam in 2022 at 2.6 per cent, 3.5 per cent; and 3.2 per cent respectively, by taking into account the recovery efforts implemented, particularly the production of downstream oil and gas industry products and related activities from Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd and Brunei Fertilizer Industries Sdn Bhd (BFI).

LONDON (AP) – British Airways (BA) canceled dozens of flights from Heathrow Airport yesterday as it struggled to fix “technical issues” that hobbled booking and check-in systems.

The airline cancelled all short-haul flights from the airport until midday. It said there would likely be delays to long-haul flights and there was likely to be “further disruption during the day” at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports.

BA advised customers to check the website for the latest flight information before heading to airports.

The airline said the problems were caused by a hardware issues and not a cyberattack. BA’s website and app were inaccessible for hours on Friday evening, preventing customers from checking in online or booking flights.

Several times in the past few years BA has experienced problems with its check-in systems that saw hundreds of flights cancelled and thousands of people stranded.

Chief Executive of The PC Agency Paul Charles said “ongoing technical issues don’t fill consumers with much confidence”.

He added, “BA needs to be transparent on what’s causing these issues and how soon they will be fixed.”

COLOMBO (AFP) – One of Sri Lanka’s biggest fuel suppliers put up its prices by as much as 12 per cent on yesterday, as the cash-strapped island’s energy crisis worsened.

Lanka IOC, a fuel retailer which accounts for a third of the market, said it was increasing prices for diesel – commonly used by public transport – by 12 per cent, and petrol up 11 per cent. The increases came after a seven percent price rise three weeks ago and will add to the upward pressure on inflation, already at a record high.

The island is in the grips of an economic crisis after the tourism sector, a key foreign-exchange earner, collapsed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government imposed a broad import ban in March 2020 in an effort to save foreign currency. The country is now suffering widespread shortages, including fuel and electricity, with supermarkets forced to ration staple foods including rice, sugar and milk powder.

There was no immediate energy price revision by the state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), but most of its pumps have been out of fuel for days.

Energy minister Udaya Gammanpila announced this week that he expected fuel shortages to ease in “days”, but warned that a sharp price increase was necessary to retain the viability of the loss-making CPC.

Gammanpila said the CPC continued to haemorrhage cash and was already carrying debts exceeding USD3.5 billion. The CPC loss for last year was USD450 million, he added.

“Earlier, we were short of dollars to import oil. Now we don’t have the rupees to buy the dollars,” Gammanpila said.