RI's March new vehicle sales rise

RI's March new vehicle sales rise

JAKARTA: New vehicle sales in the country rose 8.1 percent on
month to 29,297 units in March, the car assemblers' association
Gaikindo said on Thursday.

Of the total, commercial vehicles accounted for 26,676 units
in March, up 6.1 percent from 25,133 in February, Gaikindo said.

Passenger car sales - a barometer of consumer confidence -
also rose, to 2,621 units from 1,978 units in February.

Sales at Indonesia's largest vehicle maker PT Astra
International - which has a joint venture with Toyota Motor Corp.
to assemble and distribute the Japanese company's vehicles in
Indonesia - increased 3.7 percent to 11,931 units from 11,507
units in February, Gaikindo said.

In the first three months of this year, Astra sold 34,563
cars, or around 42 percent of total national car sales, Gaikindo
said. -- Dow Jones

RP cracks down on illegal funds

MANILA: Philippine regulators are seeking to block the release of
more than US$20 million in bank deposits that were earlier frozen
on suspicion that they are proceeds of criminal activity, the
central bank said on Friday.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council has asked the courts to
maintain the freeze on 36 peso accounts worth 1.08 billion pesos
($20.6 million) beyond April 22, Solicitor-General Alfredo
Benipayo said in a statement.

Under a money laundering law passed last month, the 30-day
freeze expires in 11 days unless the courts rule there is
probable cause to extend the freeze.

Benipayo said the council has asked the courts to speed up the
resolution of government petitions seeking a finding of probable
cause against the bank accounts.

"If the existing freeze orders issued by the Anti-Money
Laundering Council are not extended on or before April 22, they
will automatically be lifted by operation of law," he said. --
AFP

Thai vehicle sales jump

BANGKOK: Thai vehicle sales in the first quarter surged 42.4
percent from a year ago, boosting the likelihood of annual sales
surpassing initial projections, the industry said in a statement
on Friday.

The first quarter saw sales of 119,113 units, including 41,683
in March, a rise of 29.7 percent, according to a statement
released by Toyota Motor (Thailand), the industry's statistics
compiler.

"It is a very good signal that sales for the first three
months hit 100,000 units, thus it is likely that for the year
sales may surpass the projection of 470,000 units," it said.

March sales were propelled by competitive campaigns by auto
giants, coupled with the Bangkok International Motor Show which
registered more than 10,000 sales.

"Sales are likely to continue growing in April and May," it
added. -- AFP