ASEAN ministers to discuss capital market
ASEAN ministers to discuss capital market
MANILA: ASEAN finance ministers and their deputies are expected to discuss at the meeting initiatives to develop the region's capital markets, particularly a proposal to create an Asian bond market.
Deputy finance ministers from China, Japan and South Korea are also scheduled to join the Manila meeting.
"We will get a consensus on the possible postponement," said the Philippine finance department official.
Separately, another source from the Philippine finance department said Singapore's Finance Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who is also deputy prime minister and head of the central bank, has canceled his attendance because of the outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in Asia.
SARS has infected more than 2,600 people worldwide and killed at least 104, most of them in mainland China and Hong Kong, with others deaths in Canada, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia. -- Dow Jones
Singapore and India to talk FTA
NEW DELHI: Singapore and India Tuesday agreed to begin talks and work towards a comprehensive free trade accord between the two countries.
Indian Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley and Singapore Trade and Industry Minister George Yeo signed the declaration of intent for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).
The talks on economic cooperation would cover the free trade agreement and an accord on investment promotion, protection and cooperation and liberal air services.
Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha and his Singapore counterpart also signed an expression of intent for providing technical assistance to four new ASEAN members -- Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong earlier Tuesday said he hoped Singapore could serve as a bridge between Asian giants India and China, and made a strong pitch for the free trade pact. -- AFP
Japan's investment seen to fall
TOKYO: Capital investment by major Japanese firms is expected to fall 2.2 percent in the year to March 2004, the third straight annual decline, according to a survey released on Wednesday.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun covered a total of 1,504 major Japanese firms, excluding financial institutions, for the survey, which was carried out last month.
Companies in the manufacturing sector plan to gain investment by 0.4 percent for the first time in three years, but non- manufacturers are expected to slash their outlay by 4.7 percent, the business daily said.
Automakers are expected to reduce their investment by 8.8 percent in the fiscal year, with Toyota Motor Corp. seen cutting capital expenditure by 14 percent, it said.
In contrast, steelmakers and precision machinery makers plan to boost their outlay by more than 10 percent in the fiscal year. -- AFP
German industrial output slips
FRANKFURT: Industrial output in Germany fell only slightly in February, mainly as a result of cold weather, suggesting the euro zone's biggest economy might be able to scrape past a recession in the first quarter of this year, official data showed on Tuesday.
According to statistics compiled by the German Economy and Labor Ministry in Berlin, industrial output contracted by 0.7 percent in February from the figure for January, beating expectations of a much steeper decline.
The main reason for the decline was a 4.4-percent drop in activity in the construction sector as a result of cold and the heavy snowfall seen during that month, the ministry explained in a statement.
Output in the manufacturing sector eased by 0.3 percent in February from January, the ministry calculated. And in the energy sector, activity contracted by 1.7 percent. -- AFP
Japanese machinery orders fall
TOKYO: Japanese core private sector machinery orders in February fell 9.6 percent from the previous month, after increasing 7.0 percent in January, the government said Wednesday.
On a year-on-year basis, machinery orders excluding volatile shipbuilding and power generation equipment edged up 1.4 percent after surging 18.8 percent in January, the Cabinet Office said.
Machinery orders from manufacturers fell 9.1 percent from the previous month while orders from non-manufacturers dropped 9.8 percent, it said. -- AFP
Three EU countries to breach deficit limit
BRUSSELS: The European Commission on Tuesday predicted that France, Germany and Portugal would all breach euro-zone deficit limits this year, and that Italy would join them in the doghouse next year.
The European Union's executive arm said that France would surpass the limit set out in the 12-nation zone's Stability and Growth Pact -- 3.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) -- both this year and next.
In its spring economic report, the Commission predicted the French deficit would be 3.7 percent of GDP this year and 3.5 percent in 2004 in the absence of any economic policy shift.
But Germany would go from 3.4 percent in 2003 to 2.9 percent next year, the 123-page report said.
Portugal became the first euro country to breach the ceiling, with a deficit of 4.2 percent in 2001.
The Commission said Italy would become the fourth country to breach the stability pact by registering a deficit of 3.1 percent in 2004, against a forecast 2.3 percent for this year. -- AFP