Hourly wage cost rise for production staff in 2006 was second highest among 33 locations in US study (SINGAPORE) A shortage of talent is still the biggest headache for businesses in Singapore, but sharp pay hikes in recent years – on top of increases in rentals and other costs – are triggering concerns about the […]
Archive | February 13, 2008
Jakarta to cut 2008 growth forecast on downside risks
(TOKYO) Indonesia will cut this year’s growth forecast amid greater ‘downside’ risks stemming from record oil prices and a global economic slowdown, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said. South-east Asia’s largest economy is expected to grow between 6.4 per cent and 6.5 per cent in 2008, lower than the 6.8 per cent expansion predicted earlier […]
Taxes to be cut despite rising inflation: Rudd
Govt is optimistic about growth prospects: minister (SYDNEY) Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the government will go ahead with promised tax cuts, even as inflation rises at the fastest pace in 16 years. ‘There will be absolutely no change to people having tax cuts to take as additional income,’ Mr Rudd said on the […]
NEWS ANALYSIS: Financial fears form correlation between oil and equities
Liquidation, profit taking in energy markets offset losses in equities (LONDON) Oil and other commodities typically lag more mainstream assets, making them attractive as investment portfolio diversifiers, but since January, they have been swept up in the volatility gripping nervous equity markets. The correlation between US crude and US equities has been 82 per cent, […]
Critical week for news of sub-prime damage: G-7
Leading banks to present first audited accounts since crisis IN TOKYO THIS week will be critical in revealing how much damage the credit crisis has done to the global financial system, according to a key official involved in last weekend’s meeting of Group of Seven (G-7) finance ministers in Tokyo. Leading banks will present the […]
Sub-prime probes focus on disclosure, valuation
(WASHINGTON) The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is investigating how banks, creditrating firms and lenders valued and disclosed complex mortgage-backed securities that ultimately led to the sub-prime crisis, a top agency enforcer said on Saturday. ‘The big question is, who knew what when, and what did they disclose to the marketplace?’ said Cheryl Scarboro, an […]
A year of denial in US sub-prime crisis
It took months for a consensus that crisis would spread to the broader economy (NEW YORK) One year after the first alarm bells of the sub-prime mortgage crisis rang in Wall Street, many of its victims are trading at half their value or less, while others have long been buried. On Feb 8, 2007, HSBC said […]
Odds of US recession now at 50%: Blue Chip forecast
Outlook dampened by data showing a contraction in hiring, consumer spending (WASHINGTON) The odds of a US recession have increased and stand at nearly 50 per cent amid a spate of data showing a weakening labour market, signs of more credit tightening and turmoil in the financial markets, the latest Blue Chip economic forecast projects. […]
New HDB upgrading scheme won’t add much more to resale prices
The Home Improvement Programme will not boost prices of resale flats as much because upgrading is on a smaller scale, say property experts THE Home Improvement Programme (HIP) is the newest kid on the block in the Housing Board’s two-decade long upgrading scheme. Property experts, however, say that it will have a far smaller impact on […]
Fragrance Group buys $4m Pasir Panjang Road site
DEVELOPER Fragrance Group said on Thursday that it has bought a freehold property at Pasir Panjang Road for $4 million. Fragrance said the property has a land area of 3,450 sq ft, which means that the land cost was $1,159 per square foot (psf). The company intends to redevelop the property for commercial uses subject […]
CentraLand to tap into commercial property market
It says China’s anti-speculative measures won’t hit property prices CHINESE property developer CentraLand Ltd is poised to tap into the commercial property market in the city of Zhengzhou with its ongoing development of J-Expo, a wholesale commodities building located in the heart of Zhengzhou city. Yan Tao, executive director and chief executive officer of CentraLand, […]
China faces economic, political woes on price fears
(CHONGQING, China) China is supposed to be getting richer, but for Liu Gaohua, rising prices on everything from cabbages to houses mean life is only getting tougher. ‘It’s hard to get by day-to-day,’ said the resident of Chongqing, a western Chinese industrial city on the upper reaches of the Yangtze river. ‘We eat less pork […]
Growth may slow for first time in 3 years
Govt forecasts India’s economy to expand 8.7% as higher interest rates cool consumer demand (NEW DELHI) India’s government expects economic growth to slow for the first time in three years, as higher interest rates cool consumer demand for homes, motorcycles and electric appliances. Asia’s third largest economy is forecast to expand 8.7 per cent in […]
ECONOMY WATCH: Asia not immune to global market turbulence: ADB chief
Bank will help region if drastic slowdown occurs, by changing ‘lending priorities’ IN TOKYO WITH the US economy poised on the brink of possible recession this year, the dangers of economic shocks being transmitted to Asia via trade and financial linkages are very real, Asian Development Bank (ADB) president Haruhiko Kuroda warned yesterday in Tokyo. […]
LATEST US DATA: ‘Painful’ and ‘drawn out’ recession likely: report
(NEW YORK) The US economy has entered a recession that will be more painful and drawn out than the usual downturn, the director of the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey said yesterday. Inflation pressures will linger despite the retrenchment in consumer spending, complicating the task of policy makers, the University’s Richard Curtin said in […]
Rising cost of going en bloc adds to cooler market
New rules bump up lawyers’ fees, draw out collective sale process by months GOING en bloc is now a more costly and time-consuming business for home owners because of a new set of stricter rules implemented last October. The rules – aimed at making the process more regulated and transparent – have bumped up the […]
Investors withdraw £1.7b from UK funds
(LONDON) Almost £1.7 billion (S$4.74 billion) was withdrawn from UK property funds in the last three months of 2007, data from the Association of Real Estate Funds (AREF) showed yesterday. According to the survey of 64 funds with a combined value of £37 billion, the vast majority of investors continued to flee the sector after […]
CBRE Q4 earnings slide 2.1% on interest expenses
It also cites softer investment sales environment (NEW YORK) CB Richard Ellis Group Inc, the world’s largest commercial real-estate broker by market value, said fourth-quarter profit fell 2.1 per cent on higher interest expenses. Net income declined to US$122.4 million from US$125.1 million a year earlier, the Los Angeles-based company said on Tuesday in a […]
London luxury-home prices jump again
1.1% rise in average price of units costing £2.5m or more; overall market unchanged (EDINBURGH) Luxury-home prices in London, the world’s most expensive city for prime real estate, rose at the fastest rate in four months as the overall UK market stagnated, industry reports showed. The average price of houses and apartments costing at least […]
The markets are leading Asia to ruin
Europe’s successful politically-led integration model is showing Asia the way ahead – if its leaders would only be willing TOKYO WHILE Europe goes from strength to strength as a united continent with a strong economy and a currency to match, Asia continues to wander directionless waiting fearfully to see whether it will be spared the […]
Banks hold key to City office market
Lenders holding off expansion plans as credit mess lingers (LONDON) The difference between a correction and a major slump in London’s City office market could turn on a few key tenants such as Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan, Knight Frank LLP said on Tuesday. But record rents were likely to hold up in London’s West […]
Americans in for worst recession in 20 years?
Recent job and other data show an economic downturn may last longer, too (WASHINGTON) The chances of the United States avoiding a recession appear to be growing dimmer by the day, and any contraction in the economy will likely last longer and be more severe than other downturns in the past 20 years. Recent reports […]
US productivity growth seen slowing in Q4
Economists expect data to show a rise of just 0.5% (NEW YORK) US worker efficiency probably grew in the fourth quarter at the slowest pace in more than a year, pushing up labour costs, economists said before a government report yesterday. Productivity, a measure of how much an employee produces for each hour of work, […]
Lower interest rates for clients with good credit card record
Citibank is latest to offer tier pricing on rates for unsecured credit products CITIBANK has joined the likes of Standard Chartered Bank (Stanchart) and American Express in introducing a scheme to reward customers with a good credit record with lower interest rates for unsecured credit products. Under the scheme, known as tier pricing, Citibank will […]
Slump in services sector signals arrival of US recession
Shockingly weak services data could be final proof of economy shrinking ANY hope that the United States economy might escape a recession has now all but disappeared, say analysts. The last straw came when the country’s huge services sector – covering industries such as banking, retail and construction – shrank last month for the first […]
Indian property trust poised to launch $1.7b IPO in S’pore
INDIA’S fourth-largest realty company by market value is going ahead with its plan to launch a potentially huge initial public offering (IPO) for its Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust in Singapore. Reports in India suggest that the IPO by Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd could be worth a whopping US$1.2 billion (S$1.7 billion), which would make it […]
What is scary about latest economic data?
The Institute of Supply Management (ISM) issues a monthly index of activity in the non-manufacturing or services sector in the United States by surveying purchasing managers around the country. The ISM is a US-based industry association. The ISM survey on the services sector is a closely-followed gauge of a wide swathe of the US economy […]
NEWS ANALYSIS: US slowdown likely to be worse than recent ones
WASHINGTON – THE chances of the United States avoiding a recession appear to be growing dimmer by the day, and any contraction in the economy will likely last longer and be more severe than other downturns in the past 20 years. Recent reports have shown the US housing market slump and rising defaults in the […]
CDL luxury development garners green award
CITY Developments Limited (CDL) was yesterday conferred the Green Mark Platinum award by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) for its luxury residential development, Cliveden at Grange. The award is for exemplary green projects that achieve 30 per cent energy and water savings. Such projects also need to have environmentally sustainable building practices, and innovative […]
Germans remain bullish about S’pore
Business community upbeat on growth prospects: survey THE German business community remains bullish about Singapore as a regional business hub, a survey published yesterday shows. The survey of businesses varying from small operations to multinationals was conducted by Droege & Comp in December, for the Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The companies were asked […]
Americans preoccupied with fears of recession
Financial institutions in Wall Street remain very apprehensive about the many ‘unknowns’ WASHINGTON INVESTORS in Wall Street were biting their nails early last week as they waited for US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues to decide whether to slash short-term interest rates for the second time in eight days. But with much […]
It’s still the economy – but presidents can’t control it
AS THE US economy weakens and the campaign intensifies, Americans will hear more of liberal writer James Carville’s familiar refrain: It’s the economy, stupid. Well, it ain’t or, at least, shouldn’t be. I’m not claiming that Mr Carville is wrong about voting. People vote their pocketbooks. In the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, the economy […]
US banks raise standards on commercial property loans: Fed
(NEW YORK) The Federal Reserve said it became tougher for US companies and consumers to get loans in the past three months, particularly to buy real estate. Most lenders anticipate more delinquencies and losses this year, assuming ‘economic activity progresses in line with consensus forecasts’, according to the central bank’s quarterly survey of senior loan […]
US services sector suffers record slide in Jan
ISM index slid to 41.9 in Jan from 54.4 in Dec, stoking recession fears (NEW YORK) The US services sector retrenched sharply in January to levels not seen since the 2001 recession, renewing fears about an economic slump, according to a survey released on yesterday. The Institute for Supply Management’s index of non-manufacturing plummeted to […]
More colonial bungalows up for rent
Demand for these state-owned buildings is strong due to relatively low rentals ANYONE with a hankering for a home with lots of nature and space, and does not mind living some distance from town might want to take note. The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will be leasing out four of these colonial bungalows this month, […]
TAKING STOCK: Fresh US recession worries, Dow’s fall drag down STI
PROFIT-TAKING on renewed United States recession fears and Wall Street’s overnight dip delivered a one-two punch to abruptly halt the Singapore bourse’s two-day rally yesterday. A sharp selldown came in the last 30 minutes, as the Straits Times Index (STI) closed 38.66 points lower at 3,038.42, after rising a combined 95 points in the previous […]
US services sector contracts, stocks fall
NEW YORK – UNITED States stocks tumbled yesterday, led by a sell-off among shares of financial companies, as a report showing a contraction in the vast services sector last month heightened recession fears. Data from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) underscored concerns that the fallout from the housing slump was spreading to the broader […]
Markets will recover after 3-6 mths of mild recession: S&P analyst
He warns of one more major market collapse between now and rosier H2 THE sub-prime crisis will cause a mild US recession, but financial markets will recover in three to six months after most of the bad news is flushed out or priced in, says a leading US analyst. Stephen Biggar, New York-based director for […]
Prime properties in for 5% fall in ’08: UBS
Bank expects modest 0-5% growth in mass and mid-tier segments ANALYSTS from Swiss bank UBS believe Singapore’s property market will ‘remain intact’, but they are nonetheless projecting a drop of 5 per cent in prime property prices for the year. In the more affordable mass and mid-tier segments, where prices increased at a slower pace, […]
Budget may soothe fears over costs creeping up
Businesses worry over transport bills, economists expect some goodies (SINGAPORE) Amid concerns that the costs of living and doing business could go up, economists expect the upcoming Budget to provide some form of relief. These could come in the shape of more cash handouts, particularly targeted at the low to middle-income groups, as well as […]
S’pore population hits 4.6 million
Number of foreigners increasing faster than citizens, PRs SINGAPORE’S economic planners think the country can hold 6.5 million people, a size they feel will be ideal to keep the economy humming. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, however, feels the optimum population size for tiny Singapore might be smaller, between 5 and 5.5 million. The latest […]
SMEs upbeat about 2008 growth
84% see same or faster GDP expansion: HSBC poll SMALL businesses across the Asia-Pacific region are optimistic about their respective country’s economic prospects, with more than half of Singapore firms expecting the country’s economy to grow at the same pace as it did in 2007. This is according to an HSBC survey conducted in the […]
Growth in S-E Asia property market sustainable: DTZ
THE property markets of South-east Asia are expected to sustain the buoyant growth seen in 2007, says DTZ Debenham Tie Leung. DTZ said that residential markets in the region are expected to continue to grow, ‘driven by steady economic expansion, increasing affluence and increasingly attractive projects as developers strive to refine concepts’. In Vietnam, DTZ […]
Aussie property still looking up?
THE US sub-prime mortgage problem may have put a dampener on property stocks worldwide, including Singapore. But there appears to be at least one bright spot on the planet, if ANZ Bank is to be believed. Said the bank in a recent report on its outlook for the Australian property market: ‘Property returns have accelerated, […]
Asian CEOs bullish on 2008 prospects: PwC
ASIAN CEOs are more confident about business prospects in the year ahead, despite a fall in confidence globally, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey has found. ‘Many companies in Asia continue to be the engine of economic growth that has been driving prosperity for more than a decade,’ PwC said. As a result, 56 per cent of […]
Asia more stable now than in 1997
ASIAN banks and markets here are a lot more stable and better placed for long- term growth, despite the sub-prime fears. Lorraine Tan, S&P’s vice-president for Asian Equity Research, sees Singapore banks, in particular, as being very stable in a market where there is widespread fear of a financial sector collapse brought on by the […]
US economic woes, rate cuts fuelling HK property boom
Analysts see prices revisiting the heady 1997 peak (HONG KONG) When first- time buyer Judy Kwan heard a flat was for sale in a street she admired in Hong Kong’s Wanchai district, she snapped it up within 24 hours without even seeing it, inheriting a tenant she had never met. Now she wants to buy […]
Subsales may spike again as projects near completion
NEWS ANALYSIS Prices could soften if ‘specuvestors’ are forced to offload properties (SINGAPORE) Speculative activity took a breather in Q4 last year as the number of subsales as well as their share of total private home deals were down sharply from the preceding two quarters of 2007. However, many in the industry are wondering whether […]
590 HDB blocks picked for upgrading
58 locations selected for improvement under revised schemes ABOUT 590 Housing Board blocks in 58 locations islandwide have been picked for the next batch of improvement works under the HDB’s recently revised upgrading schemes. Areas set to benefit include Yishun, Tampines and Hougang. These schemes include the new Home Improvement Programme (HIP) and Neighbourhood Renewal […]
ROAD IMPROVEMENTS: Better traffic access for Sentosa, VivoCity and HarbourFront
Volume likely to rise due to IR, new condos; works to start in June THE roads leading to Sentosa, VivoCity and HarbourFront will be widened to cater to an anticipated increase in traffic into the area. With one of Singapore’s two integrated resorts opening on Sentosa and new condominiums to be built in the area […]
