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Mar 14
KUWAIT CITY – Investment Dar, the troubled Kuwaiti firm that owns half of luxury British carmaker Aston Martin, said Saturday it has filed for legal protection under Kuwaits financial stability law.
“Investment Dar announces today that it has started a process of legal protection under the terms of Kuwaits Financial Stability Law,” a company statement said. The company, which has debts of over $3 billion, said the move aims at pushing through a debt restructuring plan that is backed by more than 80 percent of creditors but is opposed by a minority.
If the request is accepted by authorities, it will halt all legal actions against Kuwaits top Islamic investment firm.
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Europe emergency fund to happen eventually
Filed under NewsMar 13BONN – A European Monetary Fund to help troubled euro zone countries will be created at some stage but will take time to take shape and be put in place, Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday.
Juncker, who chairs monthly meetings of finance ministers from the 16 countries that use the euro, added that the idea would not be on the agenda for next weeks meeting.
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Mar 13
BEIJING – The United States should not make a political issue out of the yuan, a Chinese central banker said on Friday, as the two countries lurched towards a potentially serious clash about Beijings currency regime.
Peoples Bank of China Vice Governor Su Ning was responding to a question about remarks on Thursday by US President Barack Obama, who called on China to move to a “more market-oriented exchange rate”.
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Remains of Indian lying in morgue for 9 months
Filed under NewsMar 12DAMMAM – The body of a deceased Indian worker has been lying in the morgue of Dammam Central Hospital for nine months due to delays in the processing of paperwork, while his family in a small village in India undergoes both financial and social hardship because of the failure to repatriate his body.
Indian expatriate T. Nara Goud, 45, a Hindu from Timmakpally village of Kamareddy Mandal in Nizamabad district arrived in the Kingdom last June to take up employment as a cattle feeder in Naariya, 350 km from Dammam.
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Chinese inflation rises
Filed under NewsMar 12BEIJING – Chinese consumer inflation spurted to a 16-month high in February and a raft of economic data displayed broad-based strength, providing fresh arguments for policy tightening sooner rather than later.
The pace of credit growth halved in February, as expected, but some economists said the central bank would probably not wait long before increasing banks required reserves for a third time this year and perhaps even raising borrowing costs.
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Mar 12
NEW YORK – Oil prices settled at an eight-week high on Wednesday in choppy trading after a government report showed that gasoline stocks in the US dropped unexpectedly.
US crude for April delivery settled 60 cents higher at $82.09 per barrel, after reaching $83.03.
London ICE Brent for April settled at $80.48, up 57 cents.
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Japan growth revised down
Filed under NewsMar 12TOKYO – Japans economy grew less than initially estimated in the fourth quarter and a broad gauge of price trends posted the biggest negative reading on record, adding to pressure on the Bank of Japan to ease monetary policy further next week.
The BOJ is leaning towards doing exactly that at its policy meeting on March 16-17, sources familiar with the central banks thinking said, but there is disagreement among its seven board members on how to justify such a move.
Tagged as: Bank of Japan, bank;, Cabinet Office, chief economist, Deputy Finance Minister, European Union;, Finance Minister, finance;, immediate solution, Japan, Naoto Kan, Nikkei 225, Nomura Securities, Prime Minister, Reuters;, statistical device, Takahide Kiuchi, Tokyo;, United States;, Yoshihiko Noda, Yukio Hatoyamas -
Bank of Korea keeps interest rate at record low
Filed under NewsMar 12SEOUL -South Koreas central bank left its key interest rate at a record low Thursday as the countrys economic growth slows and the institution prepares for a leadership change.
The Bank of Korea said it kept the benchmark seven-day repurchase rate at 2 percent. The decision came at the last monetary policy meeting chaired by outgoing Gov. Lee Seong-tae. The result was widely expected. Sixteen economists at 17 financial institutions surveyed by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap news agency, predicted that the banks monetary policy committee would vote to keep the rate frozen.The Bank of Korea slashed the rate six times from October 2008 to battle the global economic downturn. The bank lowered the rate to its current level in February 2009. – AP
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Phony bank call thief arrested
Filed under NewsMar 11AL-AHSA – A Saudi man who provided private bank account information over the telephone to a person posing as a bank official discovered the following day that SR15,000 had been withdrawn from his account. Police said they took “no time” in identifying the 20-year-old thief, who conned his victim by pretending that the bank required the information to “up-date its database”, and said they were investigating the extent of his crimes. – Okaz/SG
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China Feb exports jump 457
Filed under NewsMar 11BEIJING – Chinas exports rose in February in a new sign of growing global demand that could help persuade officials to let the Chinese currency rise.
Exports were up 45.7 percent over a year earlier, the Chinese customs agency reported Wednesday, beating analyst forecasts of 35 to 40 percent growth. Imports surged 44.7 percent, the agency said, reflecting growing demand in China as it emerges from the global crisis.
“Chinas trade is extending its recovery,” said Zhu Jianfang, an economist for Citic Securities in Beijing. “Exporters are getting more orders these days.”
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