Wednesday, April 24 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
PARIS - Piracy and armed robbery on the world’s seas is persisting at levels close to those in 2014, despite reductions in the number of ships hijacked and crew captured, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s annual piracy report reveals.
HONG KONG - Still groggy from the BOJ’s negative interest rate shock last Friday, the region is sobering up to some rather subdued manufacturing news, says French investment bank, Natixis.
TAIPEI – Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs has opened a special office charged with “enhancing public communications” as Taiwan continues to push its bid for membership of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
PARIS – At its 2016 Country Risk conference, global credit insurer Coface has held its A1 ratings for Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, but put all three on negative watch. Canada, which had been on an A1 rating with negative watch has been downgraded to A2. Italy, with a B rating, has been put on positive watch. Brazil is downgraded from B to C.
MANILA - The Philippine economy has finished 2015 on a strong footing, leaving it well positioned to weather a 2016 outlook that is increasingly characterised by uncertainty and divergent domestic, regional and global economic trends, according to ANZ Bank.
HONG KONG - Chinese banks are likely to face worse-than-expected credit losses and heightened market volatility in 2016, according to Standard & Poor's. "The ingredients for a credit downturn in China's banking sector are coming together,” the rating agency says.
BEIJING - Shenzhen Stock Exchange deputy general manager, Lin Fan, believes the long-anticipated Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect Programme is “likely to be launched this year”. He says technological and rule preparations are ready for a link programme which will allow investors to trade on both bourses under a quota.
KUALA LUMPUR - As expected, Malaysia’s revised budget announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak today reflects a more sobering oil price estimate, with Najib apparently willing to take slower growth for a sustainable level of debt.
BEIJING - The latest senior official implicated in Xi Jinping’s nationwide anti-corruption campaign is 52-year-old Wang Bao’an, head of China’s National Bureau of Statistics. The Central Commission for Discipline Investigation said yesterday that Wang is under investigation for “serious violations,” just hours after he attended a press conference on China’s economy and stock market, the Shanghai Daily reported.
SEOUL – South Korea’s Q4 GDP grew by 0.6% q/q sa, compared with 1.3% in Q3, in line with market expectations. On a yearly basis, GDP increased by 3.0%. For the full year of 2015, the economy expanded by 2.6%, from 3.3% the previous year, in line with the Bank of Korea’s latest forecasts.
SHANGHAI – Addressing lawmakers at the annual session of the Shanghai People’s Congress, Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong has announced that the city’s 2016 economic growth target has been set at between 6.5% and 7% - 2016 is the first in the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20).
BEIJING - An increase in Taiwan’s quota for tour groups has helped it become one of the most popular travel destinations for Mainland residents during the northern winter holiday season. Taiwan’s tourism authorities have raised the daily quota from 5,000 a day to 8,000 between November 21 2015 and February 19 in response to growing demand for travel during the Spring Festival.
SINGAPORE - Asian currencies have come under pressure in recent months as risk aversion has prevailed in global markets. Consequently, foreign reserve levels have been closely scrutinised, as central banks have intervened in the foreign exchange market to defend their currencies, according to a report by AllianceBernstein (AB).
KUALA LUMPUR - Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has held rates steady but will cut the statutory reserve requirement ratio to 3.5% from 4%, effective February 1. ANZ Bank says the move vindicates its view that BNM will eventually have to act via reserve requirements (in the absence of a policy cut) to alleviate tight liquidity in Malaysia’s banking system amid slower deposit growth.
BEIJING - According to a statement on its website, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has approved three firms to list on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and four to launch IPOs in Shenzhen.
BEIJING - China’s State-backed bank card operator, China UnionPay, has announced plans to team with smartphone makers including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics to challenge Internet giants Alibaba and Tencent in China’s fast-growing mobile payment market.