(Reuters) -Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India’s stance on Russia in the Ukraine conflict has not faced widespread criticism in the United States.

Asked in an interview with the Wall Street Journal about critical comments in the U.S. for not taking a more forceful stance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Modi said: “I don’t think this type of perception is widespread in the U.S.”

“I think India’s position is well known and well understood in the entire world. The world has full confidence that India’s top-most priority is peace.”

Modi left on Tuesday on a state visit to the U.S. billed as a turning point for bilateral relations, with deeper cooperation in defence and high technology in focus.

New Delhi has refused to condemn its old ally Russia for the war in Ukraine and has increased its trade with Moscow to record levels, driven largely by imports of Russian oil.

President Joe Biden has been eager to strengthen relations with India as part of his bid to win what he has framed as a contest between free and autocratic societies, especially China.

Modi called for changes to global institutions like the United Nations to adapt them for an increasingly “multipolar world order”, and make them more representative of the world’s less-affluent countries, the report said. India would like to be a permanent member of the Security Council, he said.

“The world should be asked if it wants India to be there,” he said.

Modi also said that India’s ties with China could only progress if there was peace on the border between the two Asian giants.

India and China have fortified positions and deployed large numbers of troops and equipment in the western Himalayas in the last three years, after a clash in which 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed in hand-to-hand fighting.

“For normal bilateral ties with China, peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential,” Modi told the paper.

“We have a core belief in respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity, observing the rule of law and peaceful resolution of differences and disputes. At the same time, India is fully prepared and committed to protect its sovereignty and dignity.”

(Reporting by Lavanya Ahire and Abinaya Vijayaraghavan in Bengaluru; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s unemployment rate needs to rise to help contain inflation and avoid higher interest rates and a deep recession, a top central banker warned on Tuesday, after data showed little loosening in a still drum-tight labour market.

Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Deputy Governor Michele Bullock said the jobless rate would need to rise to about 4.5% from the current rate of 3.6% to bring the economy back into balance, a rate still well below pre-pandemic levels.

“Our goal is to return the labour market back to a level more consistent with full employment … We think this can be achieved if employment and the economy more generally grow at a below trend pace for a while,” said Bullock at the Ai Group in Newcastle.

Bullock, when asked about further rate rises, said the Reserve Bank was not being “bloody minded” in tightening policy and it was not on a preset path, but remained on data-watch mode.

The RBA has already raised interest rates by 400 basis points to an 11-year high of 4.1%, including a surprise hike earlier this month out of fear that inflation was becoming entrenched.

Bullock also warned that if inflation were to become entrenched in people’s expectations, that would mean higher rates. “A deep and long-lasting recession would be likely, which would mean a substantial rise in the unemployment rate.”

The RBA has projected inflation – which was running at about 7% – would return to the top of the bank’s target range of 2-3% by mid-2025, but warned risks are on the upside amid concerns about low productivity, fast rising labour costs, and stickiness in services inflation.

(Reporting by Stella Qiu; Editing by Jacqueline Wong & Simon Cameron-Moore)

By Hyunsu Yim

SEOUL (Reuters) – When Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos visits South Korea this week he will find an entertainment industry that has achieved global fame through hits such as “Squid Game” and “The Glory”, but also growing worries about the service’s effects on the local market.

South Korea has created some of Netflix’s biggest shows, which have become synonymous with the broader international success of the country’s cultural exports and spurred the Californian company to invest $2.5 billion in local content.

Sarandos is expected to arrive in Seoul on Tuesday, according to industry sources, and meet with film students during his first visit as co-CEO. He will also meet Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on Thursday to discuss the video streaming market.

But while Korean shows are hugely popular on Netflix, with 60% of global users watching at least one title last year, calls are growing for the government to support locally funded projects and secure the rights for content.

The government last week announced plans to provide 500 billion won ($390.09 million) to help local streaming platforms compete with global rivals such as Netflix amid soaring production costs.

“The media and content industry will thrive when various platforms compete instead of being dominated by only a few, which will benefit both creators and consumers,” said Heo Seung, public affairs director at South Korean streaming platform Watcha.

South Korea exported $13 billion worth of content in 2022 including video games, music and broadcasting, according to the Korea Economic Research Institute, eclipsing electric vehicle and rechargeable battery shipments.

The “Netflix Effect”, a term coined for the phenomenon that launches actors and directors from obscurity to instant stardom when their shows appear on the platform, is a part of South Korea’s success.

Against this backdrop, President Yoon Suk Yeol welcomed Netflix’s $2.5 billion investment as a “big opportunity” for both South Korea and the U.S. streaming giant.

Netflix’s market weight in South Korea dwarfs that of local platforms such as Tving, Wavve and Watcha.

In 2022, the U.S. firm reported an operating profit of 14.28 billion won in South Korea, a stark contrast to Tving’s operating loss of 119 billion won.

Netflix boasted a 38.2% market share in South Korea last year, according to Mobile Index, overshadowing Tving’s 13.1%.

Unlike the EU, South Korea does not have laws requiring foreign streaming services to produce or invest in local content.

That has prompted some Korean politicians to call for Netflix to better reward creators when their projects succeed.

Netflix said it aims to compensate local creators fairly at the initial production stage, regardless of how well their shows perform.

“Compensation is an important part of that, but so is the creative expression our local team supports, along with the global audience reach of our service,” a Netflix spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Creators who have worked with Netflix say the company has taken a chance on them when others did not. “Squid Game” creator Hwang Dong-hyuk said in various interviews in 2021 the series was rejected multiple times before being picked up by Netflix.

Aditya Thayi, a London-based filmmaker who directed upcoming Netflix documentary “King of Clones”, told Reuters Netflix is changing the game by “evening the playing field for Asian filmmakers.”

While the project was commissioned by Netflix UK, it centres on genetic cloning fraud in South Korea and includes file clips from broadcasters’ archives. Such footage alone can cost up to$40,000 to acquire, Thayi said, making it prohibitively expensive for independent producers without funding.

Lim Jong-soo, a professor at Sejong University, said Netflix has given South Korean producers more opportunities but that the government could do more to help, such as by securing IP rights for creators.

“The government needs to come up with a system to ensure that excess profits can be returned to South Korean creators.”

($1 = 1,281.7400 won)

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Sam Holmes)

By Anant Chandak

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Bank Indonesia (BI) will keep its key interest rate unchanged at 5.75% for a fifth consecutive meeting on Thursday and for the rest of the year, as inflation eased in May and was expected to decline further, a Reuters poll of economists found.

After peaking around 6% in September, inflation gradually eased to reach the upper end of BI’s 2-4% target range last month, suggesting BI can wait and watch, even as policymakers in the U.S. and Europe are likely to continue tightening policy.

All 34 economists in the June 14-19 Reuters poll expected the central bank to hold its benchmark seven-day reverse repurchase rate at the conclusion of its June 21-22 meeting.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 15 of 23, said the key policy rate would remain at that level for the rest of 2023, with eight economists expecting a rate cut this year.

“Bank Indonesia was one of the first central banks in the region to pause its tightening cycle earlier this year. We believe BI will carry out an extended pause to shore up support for the Indonesian rupiah,” said Nicholas Mapa, senior economist at ING.

Mapa added BI would “only consider cutting policy rates should global central banks opt to ease monetary policy.”

Similar to its regional peers, BI was expected to leave rates where they are for the remainder of the year as rate cuts would lead to a weaker currency and higher imported inflation.

The Indonesian rupiah, one of the best-performing Asian currencies, is up over 4% against the dollar this year.

“While the central bank’s next rate move is likely to be a cut, the timing of an easing pivot will depend on external conditions, with clear signs that the U.S. Fed is at least on a prolonged pause a pre-requisite, in our view,” said Khoon Goh, head of Asia research at ANZ.

“Our base call is for BI’s first cut to materialise in 2024; robust consumer sentiment and flush liquidity conditions in the banking system also suggest no urgency for a quick pivot.”

Median forecasts showed a 25-basis-point rate cut to 5.50% in the first quarter of 2024, a slight downgrade from the 50-basis-point cut expected in a May poll.

(Reporting by Anant Chandak; Polling by Veronica Khongwir and Madhumita Gokhale; Editing by Hari Kishan, Ross Finley and Sharon Singleton)

SHANGHAI/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China cut its key lending benchmarks on Tuesday, the first such reductions in 10 months as authorities seek to shore up a slowing economic recovery, although concerns about the property market meant the easing was not as large as expected.

The latest monetary loosening comes as a post-pandemic recovery in the world’s second-largest economy shows signs of losing the initial momentum seen in the first quarter.

The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was lowered by 10 basis points to 3.55%, while the five-year LPR was cut by the same margin to 4.20%.

While all 32 participants in a Reuters poll had expected reductions to both rates, the cut to the five-year rate was smaller than many expected.

“These cuts will lower the cost of new loans, as well as interest payments on existing loans,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, head of China economics at Capital Economics.

“That should offer some modest support to economic activity. But we think it is unlikely to drive a sharp acceleration in credit growth, given weak credit demand.”

The smaller-than expected cut disappointed investors with the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index dropping 3.61%, outpacing a fall in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. The Chinese currency lost as much as 0.25% and broader Asian stocks markets also dipped.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) lowered short- and medium-term policy rates last week.

The medium-term lending facility (MLF) rate serves as a guide to the LPR and markets mostly see the medium-term rate as a precursor to any changes to longer-term lending benchmarks.

Xing Zhaopeng, senior China strategist at ANZ, said the smaller-than-expected cut to five-year tenor suggests authorities are wary of using the property market as a form of short-term stimulus, which could create new bubble risks.

“It shows that the policy still gives priority to the new economy, and it will only ensure a soft landing of the old economy rather than re-stimulation,” Xing said.

Xing added that new stimulus could combine short-term measures and long-term reforms, with more details and measures to be announced in coming weeks.

China’s cabinet met on Friday to discuss measures to spur growth in the economy and pledged more policy support.

“More policy measures may be rolled out separately, including but not limited to a 25 basis point cumulative cut to the LPR by the year-end, and property-easing measures to cut payment ratios or mortgage rates, as well as some form of consumption support,” analysts at BofA global research said in a note.

“Such marginal easing will probably help prevent growth from slowing sharply, but will unlikely offer a strong boost to reverse the growth slippage in the near future,” they said, downgrading their forecasts for China’s economic growth outlook for this year to 5.7% from 6.3% previously.

Several global investment banks cut their 2023 gross domestic product growth forecasts for China after May data showed the recovery was faltering.

“There is still a possibility of further interest rate cuts and reserve requirement ratio (RRR) cuts in the remainder of this year,” said Bruce Pang, chief economist and head of research for Greater China at Jones Lang LaSalle.

“There is no need to roll out all policy measures all at once.”

The LPR, which banks normally charge their best clients, is set by 18 designated commercial banks who submit proposed rates to the central bank every month.

Most new and outstanding loans in China are based on the one-year LPR, while the five-year rate influences the pricing of mortgages. China last cut both LPRs in August 2022 to boost the economy.

(Reporting by Winni Zhou and Tom Westbrook; Graphics by Kripa Jayaram; Editing by Sam Holmes)

By Tetsushi Kajimoto

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s currency policy won’t immediately change after the United States removed the country from its monitoring list, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday, noting that the move came in coordination with Washington.

“As for currency policy, we’ll keep close communications with the United States and other countries,” Suzuki told reporters. “The fact that Japan was removed from the list doesn’t immediately mean that we would respond in a different way from before or there’s any impact.”

The U.S. Treasury on Friday said it found that no major U.S. trading partners had manipulated their currencies for an export advantage, adding it ended “enhanced analysis” for Switzerland after the country met one of three manipulation criteria.

In its semi-annual currency report, the Treasury said Switzerland remains on a “monitoring list” for close attention to foreign exchange and economic policies, along with six other trading partners: China, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore.

The report covers foreign exchange activity for the four quarters ended December 31, 2022. A Treasury official said that Japan was dropped from the monitoring list because it only met one of the three criteria for two monitoring periods in a row.

Japan last intervened in the market in October 2022 to stem the yen’s descent against the dollar to a 32-year low near 152 yen to cushion a blow from surging import costs to households.

On Tuesday, the dollar hit 142.26 yen in early Asia trade, its highest since November, following the Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) decision on Friday to keep its easing policy.

“Currency levels such as the dollar/yen should be determined by markets based on fundamentals and stable moves are desirable,” Suzuki said. “We will continue to closely watch daily currency moves.”

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Kim Coghill and Gerry Doyle)