TOKYO -- Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso vowed Monday to revive the country's economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and boost structural reforms for the future.

The remarks were made in his speech on the first day of this year's ordinary parliamentary session. Aso said the government will prevent COVID-19 infections from increasing further "while supporting employment and business." (Japan-Diet Session)

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BEIJING -- China's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeded the 100-trillion-yuan (15.42 trillion U.S. dollars) threshold in 2020, official data showed Monday.

The country, which saw its GDP increase 2.3 percent year-on-year to 101.5986 trillion yuan last year, is expected to be the only major economy to post growth in the pandemic-ravaged year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. (China-Economy-GDP)

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SEOUL -- South Korea's foreign currency deposit hit a new record high in December owing to solid demand from individuals, central bank data showed Monday.

Outstanding foreign currency deposit, owned by residents, reached a fresh high of 94.2 billion U.S. dollars as of the end of December, up 0.59 billion dollars from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. (South Korea-Deposit)

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DHAKA -- The Bangladeshi government has approved two new COVID-19 stimulus packages of 320 million U.S. dollars to support small and medium enterprises and low-income communities.

Bangladesh's Ministry of Finance in a statement said on Sunday implementation of the new packages will begin shortly. (Bangladesh-Stimulus-Packages) Enditem

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