MONEY MATTERS

Argentina is entering the first phase of restructuring its public debt by floating new bonds worth up to US$60 billion in exchange for guaranteed loans with interest rates that reach 7 percent. The Economy Ministry announced Tuesday night that on Nov. 16 the government will launch the new debt bond offering for up to a week. The bonds will mature by December 31, 2010 for nearly $60 billion, slightly less than half of the total public debt. -- DPA

Sales of personal computers in China during the 2001 third quarter rose 4.8 percent from the same period the year before to 20.8 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion), a report said Thursday. Revenue from PC sales during the quarter rose 28.2 percent from the second quarter, the Shanghai Daily said, citing figures from CCID Consulting, a government-owned research company. -- AFP

Malaysia's deficit budget for 2002 should be enough to shield the economy from the impact of a global slowdown and spur a rebound in the second half of 2002, the National Economic Action Council (NEAC) said on Thursday. The government unveiled in October its fifth consecutive deficit budget, which included cuts in personal tax rates and a spending allocation of 100.52 billion ringgit (US$26 billion). -- Reuters

Japan's domestic wholesale prices in October edged down 0.4 percent month-on-month, following a 0.2 percent drop in September, the Bank of Japan said Thursday. On a year-on-year basis, the wholesale prices fell 1.1 percent in October, after falling 1.1 percent in the previous month, the bank said. -- AFP

Domestic shipments of cellphones in Japan fell 16.4 percent to 4.67 million units in September from a year earlier, for the fourth straight month of year-on-year decline, an industry group said on Thursday. For the six months from April to September, cellphone shipments totaled 26.48 million, up 0.6 percent from the same period a year ago. -- Reuters

After their most dismal year ever, global semiconductor sales are forecast to rise 6 percent to US$150 billion in 2002 and by a robust 21 percent in each two following years, hitting $218 billion by 2004, according to a forecast issued on Wednesday by a leading trade group. -- Reuters

The Philippine central bank cut overnight interest rates by half a percentage point on Thursday, taking lending rates to 10.5 percent, and said further cuts were likely this year to boost the economy amid a global slowdown. -- Reuters

A large gas field has been discovered in Iraq's western desert near the border with Syria, a local newspaper said on Thursday. The weekly al-Zawra newspaper quoted an Iraqi oil ministry official as saying the gas reserve in the field was more than 60 billion cubic meters. -- Reuters