About 60 percent of the rich Chinese people, each of whom has a net asset of at least 60 million yuan (S$12.12 million), said they intended to migrate from China, a report has found. About 14 per cent of them have either already migrated from China or have applied for migration. The three most favoured […]
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Strong demand in Asia seen slowing next year
Business Times – 20 Mar 2008 This poses risks as firm US recovery unlikely: consultancy (SINGAPORE) Domestic demand in Asian countries this year look strong, but may slow down in 2009. This may present risks to regional countries as the US economy is unlikely to make a strong recovery next year, according to consultancy firm […]
China faces ‘very severe’ unemployment
20m new jobseekers expected every year: labour minister (BEIJING) China’s labour minister yesterday admitted that the booming economy faced a ‘very severe’ unemployment situation as millions of new jobseekers join the market every year. The flood of new entrants in both urban and rural areas will continue for a long time, labour and social security […]
Inflation likely to have hit 8.3% in Feb: Bank of China
Reports of bank’s estimate trigger speculation of interest rate hike (BEIJING) China’s inflation likely hit a new 11-year high of 8.3 per cent last month on the back of rising food prices, state media reported yesterday, triggering speculation of a modest hike in interest rates. Severe winter weather which crippled transport networks, and the Chinese […]
India losing its status as world’s top outsourcing hub
China, Morocco and EEurope among new locations for global IT services providers INDIA’S position as the No. 1 low-cost outsourcing destination is under threat, with China, Morocco and eastern European nations such as Hungary emerging as the sought-after locations by nformation technology (IT) services providers, a recent study has shown. The study by Pierre Audoin […]
China losing competitive edge in some industries: survey
(SHANGHAI) China is fast losing its manufacturing competitiveness in some industries, and companies need to upgrade their operations there to stay profitable, according to a survey released yesterday. The study comes amid reports that thousands of manufacturers, both Chinese and foreign, are shifting operations away from coastal regions, where labour and other costs are eroding […]
Malaysian economy grows 6.3% in 2007
Strong domestic demand boosted fourth-quarter growth to 7.3% THE Malaysian economy expanded 6.3 per cent in 2007, with strong domestic demand propelling fourth-quarter growth to 7.3 per cent. According to figures released by the central bank yesterday, growth was broad-based in all economic sectors. The services sector continued to be a key driver, expanding 9.1 […]
China’s economy leads world: poll
(WASHINGTON) More Americans believe China, not the United States, is the world’s top economic power, according to an opinion poll.The Gallup World Affairs survey found that four in ten Americans say China’s economy leads the world; only 33 per cent picked the United States.In 2000, the United States was top in the poll, with the […]
China no more the source of cheapest goods
Rising costs hit its competitive edge, forcing some firms to relocate overseas (SHANGHAI) The teddy bears selling for US$1.40 each in Shanghai’s Ikea store may be just about the cheapest in town, but they’re not made in China – they’re stitched and stuffed in Indonesia. The fluffy brown toys reflect a new challenge for China: […]
ECONOMIC REVIEW: Japan downgrades growth assessment
ECONOMIC REVIEW Japan downgrades growth assessment TOKYO – JAPAN’S government yesterday downgraded its assessment of Asia’s largest economy for the first time in 15 months, saying the recovery was losing steam due to slowing United States growth. A monthly report from the Cabinet Office acknowledged that exports and industrial output are cooling, while consumer spending […]
Rising costs squeeze Chinese factories
SHANGHAI – THE teddy bears selling for US$1.40 (S$1.97) in Shanghai’s Ikea store may be just about the cheapest in town, but they are not made in China: They are stitched and stuffed in Indonesia.The fluffy brown toys reflect a new challenge for China. Its huge economy, which has long offered some of the world’s […]
Rising inflation across Asia mauls S’pore Reits
Trusts may still get big lift from higher rents, higher hotel rates, say analysts SOARING inflation across Asia has sucked the life out of real estate investment trusts (Reits), whose high-yielding dividends have made them wildly popular among investors in recent years. Reits, in general, have fallen about 32.5 per cent in value from their […]
Japan’s exports improve despite US slowdown
Rising import costs due to surging oil, gas prices cause big trade deficit in Jan IN TOKYO FACED with slowing demand in the US market, Japan’s exports still managed to improve last month on the back of solid sales to other parts of Asia and to Europe. But surging oil and natural gas prices pushed […]
MAS fears Asia will hurt if US engine seizes
A negative spiral can take hold, affecting even the real economy (SINGAPORE) A sharp and deep recession in the United States will hit Asian economies, warned Heng Swee Kiat, managing director, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), yesterday. And in his first public comment on the global financial turmoil, Mr Heng said the credit crisis has […]
China, wary of social unrest, scrambles to contain food prices
It wants to avoid mistakes of 1988 as inflation hits 10-year high of 6.9% (HONG KONG) Rocketing food prices in China have sown deep concern among the communist leadership, ever wary of social unrest, as they fumble to control inflation without repeating past mistakes, analysts say. Overall inflation in China is running at a 10-year […]
Indian govt struggles to keep food prices down
Surge in global food prices hits millions of people in India (NEW DELHI) Anand’s restaurant has served flat bread, lentils and vegetables to loyal customers every day for four decades but for the past year he’s been on the receiving end of almost non-stop complaints. ‘They argue because we’ve raised prices. But we had to […]
2008 not necessarily like 2007: UBS
(ZURICH) UBS AG does not expect 2008 to be a year like 2007, when the Swiss bank wrote down US $18 billion in bad credits and posted the first loss since its creation, its chief executive was quoted as saying yesterday. ‘I view the environment as difficult due to great uncertainties related to the US […]
IMPROVING OUTLOOK: UBS expects this year to be a better one
ZURICH – UBS does not expect this year to be like the last, when the Swiss bank wrote down US$18 billion (S$25.5 billion) in bad credits and posted the first loss since its creation, its chief executive officer (CEO) was quoted as saying yesterday. ‘I view the environment as difficult due to great uncertainties related […]
Asia won’t catch flu if US gets a cold, says MM Lee
With China and India propelling it, Asia won’t be ‘unduly disadvantaged’ by a recession in the US ASIA – propelled by the twin engines of China and India – will not be ‘unduly disadvantaged’ if a recession hits the United States, said Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew last night. ‘I believe this may be the […]
China’s economy may grow around 10% in 2008: IMF
Its MD says a faster pace of appreciation of yuan is needed to address economic challenges (BEIJING) China’s economy is likely to grow around 10 per cent this year despite a global slowdown stemming from the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said yesterday. Mr Strauss-Kahn said […]
Priority is curbing inflation: PM Singh
Rising prices last year caused Congress party to lose power in three states (NEW DELHI) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that inflation hurts the poor the most, indicating that controlling prices was the government’s top priority. ‘There have been some impatient editorials about the sacrifice of growth at the altar of inflation,’ Mr Singh […]
IMF predicts 10% growth in China
Beijing – THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) still sees China’s economy expanding 10 per cent this year. ‘The current financial crisis, which began in the United States housing market, is spreading to affect the real economy in the US and elsewhere,’ IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told reporters in Beijing yesterday. ‘There will be some […]
Japan’s growth beats forecasts, but economists remain cautious
TOKYO – JAPAN’S economy grew at double the expected rate in the last quarter of 2007, but some economists saw this as the last hurrah before a slowdown this year. Strong capital spending and exports helped drive quarterly growth to 0.9 per cent, compared with a forecast 0.4 per cent rise, government data showed yesterday. […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Asian CEOs more upbeat than their Western peers
DESPITE a general decline in confidence levels, Asian chief executive officers (CEOs) are more upbeat than their Western counterparts, says a new PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) survey. The annual survey, conducted late last year, found that 50 per cent of CEOs were ‘very confident’ about revenue growth over the next 12 months, compared to 52 per cent the […]
Asian exporters brace themselves for slowdown
Companies changing how they operate rather than wait for things to get worse HONG KONG – ASIAN exporters are already feeling the effects of a United States economic downturn – effects that may be magnified by a weak US dollar, volatile world markets and fears that more bad loans may be ticking in the coffers […]
Overheating of Asian economies likely: Lehman
Better growth rate will attract massive capital inflows GOOD economic news now could lead to tough times later, an American investment bank is warning. The bank, Lehman Brothers, says that a soft landing for the global economy could lead Asia ex-Japan economies to overheat later this year or into next year. Lehman’s chief economist Asia […]
Soros warns of worst financial crisis since WWII
(VIENNA) Billionaire investor George Soros said the world was facing the worst financial crisis since World War II and the United States was threatened with recession, according to an interview by the Austrian daily Standard. ‘The situation is much more serious than any other financial crisis since the end of World War II,’ Mr Soros […]
Governments urge calm in face of market turmoil
Ministers in Asia and Europe advise investors to stay rational and not overreact HONG KONG – GOVERNMENTS urged calm yesterday while calling for international cooperation to cope with a global slide in stock markets sparked by fears of a United States recession. Asian markets experienced a day of heavy losses, with Hong Kong share prices […]
Recession in US, Europe could shake Asia, S’pore
Region still relies heavily on world’s biggest markets, say economists A RECESSION in the United States and Europe would badly hurt Asian economies, including Singapore’s, which still rely heavily on these two export markets for growth, according to economists. Indeed, analysts at Lehman Brothers believe economic growth in Singapore could slump to as low as […]
Analysts see Asian economies weathering a US recession
Reason: Asia is now less dependent on the US economy (BANGKOK) Asia would be able to weather any recession in the United States, analysts say, because rising trade and investment within the region make it less dependent on the US economy than in the past. While a severe downturn in the US would drag on […]
CHINESE ECONOMY’S SUPER-GROWTH
‘Growth’ problems won’t go away yet THE Chinese economy, having chalked up an average growth rate of 9.7 per cent for over two decades, sustained another year of double-digit growth last year, at 11.5 per cent. This was first announced by Premier Wen Jiabao on Nov 20 last year whilst visiting Singapore. Soon after this, […]
US hurdles force Dubai state fund to look to China
Istithmar among such funds seeking out less developed markets to avoid excessive scrutiny DUBAI government investment agency Istithmar is considering investments in China, after being rebuffed in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. Istithmar comes under the umbrella of state-owned Dubai World, which also includes Dubai Ports World (DP World), a container […]
US recession fears send Asian markets into a tailspin
STI, Hang Seng suffer big drops; bank and tech stocks, energy and base metal prices also hit STOCK markets across Asia plummeted yesterday amid fears that a gathering financial storm in the United States might tip the global economy into a recession. Hong Kong was the worst hit as the Hang Seng Index plunged an […]
MARKET TUMBLE: Bank stocks hit by US recession, sub-prime fears
Sell-off symptomatic of broader sell-down, slowing in S’pore’s economy: analysts BANK stocks were clobbered yesterday on continuing concerns of a possible recession in the United States, subprime lending woes and a general slowing down of the Singapore economy. This comes on the back of the news that Citigroup reported its biggest loss in its 196-year […]
Goldman Sachs cuts Asia’s growth forecast
Expected US recession seen eroding demand for region’s exports (SINGAPORE) Goldman Sachs Group has lowered its growth forecast for Asia on concern that an expected US recession will erode demand for the region’s exports. Asia, excluding Japan, will expand 8.3 per cent this year, down from an earlier estimate of 8.6 per cent, Hong Kong-based […]
Markets brace for news of big losses by banks
Citigroup could write off US$24b, lay off 20,000 staff (LONDON) Major American banks are expected to unveil substantial losses and secure more cash from abroad in what is shaping up to be a pivotal week for the global credit crisis. Citigroup could write off as much as US$24 billion and lay off 20,000 workers in […]
China increases penalties for price-fixing to fight inflation
Firms that hoard goods can be fined up to one million yuan: Cabinet (BEIJING) China’s Cabinet yesterday sharply increased penalties for price-fixing, expanding an anti-inflation campaign that has failed to cool a surge in politically sensitive food costs. Food costs soared by 18.2 per cent in November, pushing the overall monthly inflation rate to 6.9 […]
Big China firms’ bonds better: ING
(HONG KONG) Investors in Chinese property bonds should adjust their portfolios in favour of larger, diversified firms and cut their exposure to smaller developers which are focused on fewer cities, ING Bank said in a report yesterday. The bank advised bond investors to remain invested in bigger firms like Shimao Property Holdings, Agile Property Holdings […]
EU seeking partnership with China in Africa
Proposal comes as Chinese presence is eroding Europe’s influence in region LONDON – THE European Union has announced that it is seeking Chinese cooperation in Africa. EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel has pledged to present Beijing with an ‘African partnership’ when he visits China in March. But Mr Michel, a former Belgian foreign minister known […]
Slowing Europe may be bigger concern for S’pore, region
FOR Singapore and other Asian economies that are heavily dependent on exports, a decelerating Europe may be a cause for greater concern than a slowdown in the United States. While the US economy will slow down in the first half of the year, it is unlikely to sink into a recession, said Deutsche Bank chief […]
50% chance of recession in Japan: Goldman
View contrasts with upbeat reports from World Bank, OECD on major economies IN TOKYO JAPAN’S economy could follow that of the US into recession this year, investment bank Goldman Sachs warned yesterday, underlining a growing gulf between analysts in the private and public sectors over prospects for the global economy in 2008. A senior Bank […]
Japan only has itself to blame for its economy
However it is hardly alone in shooting its economy in the foot By WILLIAM PESEK JR AS ECONOMISTS buzz about a Japanese recession, officials in Tokyo are racing to assign blame. An unfolding global slowdown is the most mentioned excuse. Fallout from the US sub-prime debacle is a close second. Surging oil prices also are […]
Developing nations to lift world economy amid US slowdown
They will be the biggest drivers of global growth as pace slows to 3.3% this year: World Bank DEVELOPING nations will be key in helping the global economy mitigate the drag from a slowing United States. With their domestic economies coming into their own, poor countries will be the world’s biggest growth driver this year, […]
