Wednesday, April 24 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
~~SYDNEY – Leighton Holdings has bought out the 39.9% stake held by the Welspun Group in its joint venture in India, Leighton Welspun, for US$99 million and now has full ownership of the business, will is to be renamed Leighton India.
TAIPEI - Taiwan faces pressing challenges from Japan and South Korea according to economists, who point out that the Japanese yen has depreciated against the US dollar by much more than the Taiwan dollar, and that South Korea is gearing up to sign free trade agreements with its major trading partners to win preferential tariff status.
BEIJING- President Xi Jinping has been named Head of a leading group for overall reform in China, according to an announcement made by the Communist Party’s Central Committee Political Bureau. The group, which is expected to carry out China’s boldest reform proposals in more than three decades, is being positioned at the highest level, showing the leadership's resolve to overcome vested interests.
BEIJING - The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has given the green light to five domestic companies for the launch of their initial public offerings in early January after a year-long moratorium. Three of them will be listed on ChiNext, China’s version of Nasdaq, while the other two will be listed on the over-the-counter stock exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange.
BEIJING – China’s central and local government debt totalled RMB20.7 trillion at the end of June 2013, according to the National Audit Office. A 13-page report discloses the results of a nationwide review of Government debt, ordered by the State Council amid concerns that mounting local debt, especially that raised through opaque financing vehicles, could pose a threat to China’s financial system. Central government debt rose to RMB9.8 trillion at end-June, up from RMB9.4 trillion at the end of 2012, while local debt climbed to RMB10.9 trillion from RMB9.6 trillion six months earlier.
SYDNEY - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is determined to keep Japan a tier-one power in Asia and the world, argues a new Lowy Institute analysis by prominent US Japan expert and Lowy Institute non-resident fellow Dr Michael J. Green.
HONG KONG – Helped by government policy initiatives, China’s outward direct investment (ODI) rebounded in 2012 and remained resilient in 2013, according to a new research report by BBVA Bank, which says China is now the world’s third-largest FDI provider, up from sixth place a year earlier. Asian economies remain the largest recipient of Chinese FDI, but flows are beginning to increase rapidly to the US and LATAM.
~~NEW DELHI - The Reserve Bank of India has taken the market by surprise by keeping rates unchanged when a 25bps hike was expected. However, the central bank has clearly indicated that this is just a wait-and-watch and that it could lift rates, even before its next meeting in January, if necessary.
TAIPEI - Local travel agents say China tourism from Taiwan remains stable, despite confirmation there earlier this week of the world's first human infection of the H10N8 avian flu strain. Roget Hsu, secretary-general of the Travel Agent Association, said the situation remains unclear.
SINGApORE - For the world economy, 2013 will represent a medium-term cyclical low point for growth, while at the same time marking the start of a synchronised recovery in the advanced economies, ANZ Bank says in an update of its global outlook.
PARIS - The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) today launched the exchange industry's first cyber security committee to help in the protection of global capital markets. The working group will bring together a number of exchanges and clearing houses across the globe. Founding committee members include the exchanges of Australia and Singapore.
GENEVA - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects airlines to return a global net profit of US$12.9 billion in 2013, with this to improve to US$19.7 billion in 2014. Both are improvements on IATA’s September forecast, which anticipated an industry net profit of US$11.7 billion in 2013 increasing to US$16.4 billion in 2014.
HONG KONG- The central banks of Indonesia, Korea and the Philippines decided today to keep interest rates on hold, despite current macro conditions differing significantly across these three economies.
TOKYO - China’s slower growth could have spillover effects on countries such as Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Korea, and Hong Kong, according to Standard & Poor’s credit analyst, Naoko Nemoto. “Sluggish economic conditions, combined with a high level of corporate and household debt in some major economie,s will stress banks’ asset quality,” he says.
~~HONG KONG - China’s November economic activity data is generally in line with market expectations, indicating that China’s growth momentum is stabilising. Industrial production slowed to 10% y/y, down from November’s 10.3%, in line with the weak raw material prices, while fixed asset investment moderated to 19.9% y/y in January-November, which ANZ Bank says could be due to rising funding costs since October.
SINGAPORE – Asia regional growth will rise fractionally from 5.3% in 2013 to 5.4% next year, while emerging Asia will see growth rise 0.3% to 6.3% over the same period, according to ratings agency Standard and Poor’s.