Bitcoin tumbled more than 13 percent at one point today, crashing below the closely watched US$20,000 level (NZ$31,600) to its weakest level in 18 months, as it extended a slide on investor worries about growing troubles in the industry and the general pull-back from riskier assets.

The price of a foot of water pipe in Tucson, Arizona: up 19%. The cost of a ton of asphalt in a small Massachusetts town: up 37%. The estimate to build a new airport terminal in Des Moines, Iowa: 69% higher, with a several year delay.

With business demands shifting and re-aligning to respond to global events, shared services and the back offices are at the forefront of transformation.

Two years ago, when the pandemic ushered in the sharpest economic downturn on record, it sparked a tidal wave of layoffs.

Cosmetics maker Revlon has filed for bankruptcy in the US, as it says supply chain disruptions have driven up the cost of raw materials for its products.

The day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline leaders to quiz them about widespread flight disruptions, his own flight was canceled and he wound up driving from Washington to New York.

Investment Fiji will be working closely with local exporters to prepare them well for existing and emerging markets.

Agreements including waiving patents for Covid vaccines and aiming to reduce overfishing have been passed by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Russian hostilities in Ukraine are preventing grain from leaving the “breadbasket of the world” and making food more expensive across the globe, threatening to worsen shortages, hunger and political instability in developing countries.

Bitcoin fell below the psychologically important threshold of $20,000 on Saturday for the first time since late 2020, in a fresh sign that the selloff in cryptocurrencies is deepening.

The International Labor Organization’s Pacific Office recently completed a collaborative project that focuses on supporting MSME’s post-COVID recovery.

The domestic policies implemented by countries like India, Ukraine and Indonesia to manage their overall food security will impact commodity prices in Fiji.