Japanese investors eye IBRA assets

Japanese investors eye IBRA assets

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) said
a number of Japanese investors had shown interest in the agency's
next asset sale program.

The agency said in a statement that some 20 Japanese investors
had shown a strong response to the asset sale plan during a
roadshow in Tokyo on June 23 and June 24.

Among the most popular assets in the eyes of the investors
included: GT Tire, Nikko Hotel, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), Tirtamas
Majutama, Dipasena Citra Darmadja and PT Dirgantara Indonesia.

The statement also said that as of June, it had contributed to
the state coffers some Rp 7.1 trillion in cash and Rp 3.2
trillion-worth of bonds. The state budget targets IBRA to rake in
Rp 18 trillion in cash proceeds and Rp 8 trillion bonds for this
year. -- JP

;Agencies;
ANPAf..r..
MoneyMatters-SKorea-industrial-output
S. Korea's industrial output falls
JP/16/MONEY

S. Korea's industrial output falls

SEOUL: South Korea's industrial output in May fell 1.9 percent
from last year, the first drop in 15 months, amid contracting
consumption and investment, the National Statistical Office said
Friday.

The decline, following a 1.9 percent rise in April, was the
largest drop since August 2001 when output fell 2.0 percent, the
office said.

"Production, consumption and investment all declined in May
due to fewer working days, SARS and a truck workers' strike," the
office said.

The output growth in semiconductors, South Korea's key export
item, slowed to 12.2 percent year-on-year in May from 14.9
percent in April.

Automobile production at domestic plants dropped 6.3 percent
year-on-year in May after growing 8.5 percent a month earlier. --
AFP

;Agencies;
ANPAf..r..
MoneyMatters-Singapore-visitor-arrivals
S'pore visitor arrivals down 56%
JP/16/MONEY

S'pore visitor arrivals down 56%

SINGAPORE: Singapore continued to feel the effect of the SARS
outbreak with 56 percent fewer visitors coming to the island from
June 1-15 than a year ago, figures released Friday show.

While the on-year figure still looks dismal, monthly data
suggests in-bound travel is rebounding since the World Health
Organization declared Singapore SARS-free May 31.

Some 123,800 people visited Singapore in the first two weeks
of June, compared with just 48,600 in May 27-June 2 period, the
Singapore Tourism Board said Friday.

Neighboring Indonesians were the single largest nationality to
visit Singapore in the two weeks of June with 37,000 arriving
here. -- Dow Jones

;Agencies;
ANPAf..r..
MoneyMatters-British-economy
British economy barely grows
JP/16/MONEY

British economy barely grows

LONDON: The British economy barely grew in the first quarter
of this year, when gross domestic product (GDP) increased by just
0.1 percent from the previous quarter, a third and final official
estimate showed Friday.

This is the slowest pace of growth since the second quarter of
1992, and compares with an earlier estimate from the National
Statistics office of a 0.2-percent rise.

In the fourth quarter of 2002, GDP had grown by 0.5 percent
from the previous quarter.

The revision to the figure was unexpected. Consensus analyst
forecasts had been for the estimate to be left unchanged at 0.2
percent.

GDP also increased by a revised 2.1 percent in the first
quarter from the same period of the previous year, against a
previous estimate of 2.2 percent growth. -- AFP