JP/18/Money
JP/18/Money
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Wednesday it approved
US$220 million loans to build a 277-km (173 miles) railway
linking Ganzhou and Longyan in China. The international
development agency also approved a $150 million loan to fund a
$455.2-million project to build a new expressway and upgrade
existing roads in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. -- Reuters
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a soft loan worth
about US$25 million to Sri Lanka to support state lending to
agriculture-based enterprises, the Philippines-based bank said
Wednesday. AFP
U.S. consumer confidence plummeted to a seven-year low in October
as terrorist attacks shattered trust in the economy, a survey
showed Tuesday. The private Conference Board's closely watched
consumer confidence index slumped to 85.5 points in October --
the lowest reading since February 1994 -- from 97.0 points in
September. -- AFP
Standard and Poor's on Tuesday cut Argentina's sovereign credit
rating, which already held junk bond status, citing the
heightened probability of a comprehensive debt restructuring.
Argentina's sovereign credit and senior unsecured debt rating was
downgraded to "CC" from "CCC-plus", it said in a statement. The
short-term sovereign rating was affirmed at "C".- AFP
Public confidence in Britain's economy is at its lowest level in
more than a year, according to research published Wednesday by
market research firm Martin Hamblin GfK. Between September and
October, confidence as measured by the company's "Consumer
Confidence Barometer" fell four points to minus 5. -- AP
Vietnam is expected to lose US$900 million in export earnings
this year because of plunging world prices for its key export
items, the official Vietnam News Agency reported Wednesday.
Vietnam's key exports of rice, coffee, pepper and cashew nuts
have all suffered declining prices. Coffee prices in particular
have fallen, plunging to 30-year lows. -- AP
The Thai Cabinet on Tuesday approved a US$2 billion unilateral
currency swap deal with China that can be used in the event of a
foreign exchange crisis, a finance ministry official said.
Sathit Limpongpan, head of the finance ministry's fiscal policy
bureau, told reporters that the final details of the deal would
have to be agreed to by the Bank of Thailand and a contract would
then be signed by the two countries' respective central banks. --
AP
Hong Kong's fiscal deficit for the six months to the end of
September totaled HK$60.7 billion (US$7.78 billion), the
government said in a statement on Wednesday. Expenditures from
April 1 to Sept.30 amounted to HK$115.3 billion, while revenue
totaled HK$54.6 billion, it said. Fiscal reserves stood at
HK$369.5 billion at end-September. -- Reuters