Tuesday, April 23 2024 | ASIA TODAY INTERNATIONAL - Reporting the Business that Matters in Asia
SHANGHAI - China will expand a pilot programme on foreign currency deposit rates from Shanghai's Free Trade Zone (FTZ) to the whole of Shanghai city from June 27, first liberalising interest rates on small-sum foreign currency deposits from companies, and then expanding to those from individuals, the Shanghai Head Office of the People's Bank of China said.
BEIJING - Zhang Zhijun, China’s chief Taiwan affairs official, has begun a four-day trip to Taiwan, the first senior official to visit since 1949. Said Zhang:"It took me only three hours to fly from Beijing to Taipei. However, it has taken 65 years for cross-Straits ties to take this step."
SINGAPORE - Standard & Poor's today affirmed its 'BB-' long-term and 'B' short-term sovereign credit ratings on Vietnam, with the outlook on the long-term rating stable.S&P said this reflected its expectation that, over the next 12-18 months, Vietnam's policy stance will ensure macro-economic stability, cementing economic improvements and gains in policy credibility.
KUALA LUMPUR - Urbanisation and the need for sustainable buildings will drive growth in the Asia-Pacific building construction market despite soaring property prices, with green buildings that include smart features to ensure energy-efficiency likely to attract the highest interest, according to research by Frost & Sullivan.
HONG KONG - More than 700,000 Hong Kong people have voted after the third day of a democracy poll that the Chinese Government says is illegal. The unofficial 10-day referendum on how to select Hong Kong’s top leader has been organised by Occupy Central with Love and Peace.
BEIJING - A senior Chinese military official has said that smaller countries should not bully others with support from major powers - and that they have the responsibility not to hijack regional security for selfish interests. The remarks were one of several responses from high-level PLA generals about the simmering tensions between China and Vietnam since early May over a Chinese rig operating near the Xisha Islands, at the centre of a territorial dispute between the two countries.
HONG KONG - Global financial markets have entered a new phase of risk appetite driven by global push factors, according to BBVA Bank, which says sovereign risk premia in some peripheral European countries has reached levels not observed since the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. “Western Central Bank policies are still supporting the risk-taking, while some important Emerging Central Banks are joining the ‘push’, says BBVA in its quarterly Country Risk Report.
BANGKOK – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has maintained its policy rate at 2.00%, as widely expected - while revising its GDP growth forecast lower to 1.5% for 2014 and to above 5% for 2015. ANZ Bank says unlocking of fiscal spending following the imposition of martial law should manifest itself in a V-shaped recovery for Thailand in the second half of 2014 and beyond, with a pipeline of infrastructure investments materialising after being delayed by the political gridlock.
SHANGHAI – The People’s Bank of China Shanghai Head Office and Shanghai Gold Exchange have announced that China will launch a gold international board in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (FTZ) for international investors, using RMB as the pricing and trading currency. The gold international board will be attached to the free trade accounting unit (FTU), and four local banks will provide the settlement service for investors.
MELBOURNE - Global corporate issuers will seek an estimated US$60 trillion in new debt and refinancing through 2018, with the majority of that growth and its attendant risks concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a new report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. The report says Asia-Pacific debt will overtake US and Europe debt combined, suggesting that some future financial stress could stem from Asia, as China and its neighbours widen their lead over the US and Europe as the largest group of corporate borrowers in the world.
MELBOURNE - Australia Post and China UnionPay International, the world’s largest card organisation, plan to issue Australia’s first UnionPay multi-currency travel card by the end of the year. The new UnionPay Load&Go travel card is designed to support the significant number of Australians travelling to China for business and leisure.
NEW YORK - Alibaba HAS submitted an updated initial public offering prospectus to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, revealing for the first time the company’s 27 partners, nine board directors, and its financial situation. The partnership list was dominated by insiders, including 22 members of management such as CEO Jonathan Lu and Executive Chairman Jack Ma.
BEIJING - According to the China Center for Energy Economic Research at Xiamen University, the security crisis in Iraq will drive up oil prices in China and change its mix of overseas oil supply sources in the long run. China, which is increasingly dependent on energy imports, is now Iraq’s largest foreign customer, taking an average 1.5 million barrels a day, almost half of Iraq’s production.
BEIJING - President Xi Jinping has called for more effort to revolutionise China’s energy production and consumption habits while presiding over a meeting of the Central Leading Group on Financial and Economic Affairs. Xi, head of the group, acknowledged that China faces challenges to cope with rising energy demand, supply restraints, huge environmental costs, and backwards technology.
NEW DELHI - India’s benchmark inflation indicator, the CPI, moderated in May to 8.3% y/y from 8.6% in April, led by a let up in food prices, which account for 50% of the CPI basket. However, core inflation was sticky at 7.7% y/y (7.7% previously) and suggests that demand side pressures, although contained, have not eased meaningfully so far, according to BBVA Bank.
MUMBAI – India’s economy is showing signs of revival. Factory output recorded 15% growth in April. Growth in March had remained unchanged from February at 0.5%. Retail inflation also softened.