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