'No new candidates for BI governor'

'No new candidates for BI governor'

JAKARTA: President Megawati Soekarnoputri will not add any
names to the list of candidates for Central Bank governor given
the absence of an official request from the House of
Representatives (DPR).

State Secretary Bambang Kesowo said on Wednesday that the
presidential office would only respond to an official request
from the House.

"To my knowledge, additional candidates can only be requested
by several legislators and not the House," he said.

The President has nominated Miranda Goeltom, Burhanuddin
Abdullah and Cyrillus Hernowo as the next Bank of Indonesia
governor to replace Sjahril Sabirin.

Several legislators said that none of the three were qualified
enough for the respected position and asked the government to add
more names to the list of candidates.

The House is now in recess and no schedule has been set for
the election of the new BI governor in the upcoming session,
which will start late this month.--JP

;JP;Agencies
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RP imports jump 45 percent
JP/16/Money

RP imports jump 45 percent

MANILA: Philippine merchandise imports jumped 45.1 percent in
January from a year earlier, official data showed Wednesday, with
local manufacturers seen stocking up electronics parts and fuel
ahead of a looming war in Iraq.

The import value rose to US$2.92 billion in January, the
National Statistics Office (NSO) said in a statement. Imports in
December rose 19.8 percent to $2.57 billion.

The NSO said the Philippines suffered a trade deficit in
January of $226 million compared with the year-earlier surplus of
$621 million.

Electronics accounted for 25.9 percent of the January imports,
surging 102.8 percent to $754.56 million with mineral fuels,
lubricants and related materials rising 62.5 percent to $329.23
million.

The largest source of Philippine imports is the United States,
which comprised about 20 percent or $583.11 million of the total
in January. -- AFP

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British unemployment edges up
JP/16/Money

British unemployment edges up

LONDON: Unemployment in Britain edged up by 2,600 in February
to a total of 935,300, a month after dropping to a 27-year low,
official statistics showed on Wednesday.

The small rise left the jobless rate steady at 3.1 percent,
the National Statistics office said.

The International Labor Organization's broader measure of
unemployment fell by 73,000 in the three months to January from
the previous quarter to 1.46 million.

The ILO figure equates to an unemployment rate of 5.0 percent,
a 0.1 percentage point fall from the three months to December.

The annual growth rate of headline average earnings fell to
3.6 percent in the three months to January, from 3.7 percent in
the quarter to December.

Analysts had been taken aback when unemployment fell 3,500 in
January to reach a 27-year low.

This month, consensus analyst forecasts had anticipated no
change to the figure. -- AFP

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'Brazil can slap sanctions on Canada'
JP/16/Money

'Brazil can slap sanctions on Canada'

GENEVA: The World Trade Organization on Tuesday gave Brazil
the green light to impose US$247.8 million (231.1 million euros)
in punitive tariffs against Canada in a WTO dispute over aircraft
subsidies, a well-placed trade source said.

Brazil has, however, not indicated that it plans to impose the
measures, the source said, following Tuesday's dispute settlement
meeting at WTO headquarters here.

The conflict revolved around Brazil's complaint about
subsidies granted by Canada to obtain contracts for Bombardier,
the Canadian manufacturer of regional jets, with a number of U.S.
airlines.

WTO arbitrators ruled last month on the amount of tariffs that
Brazil could impose against Canada.

That ruling came after Ottawa was found to have granted export
subsidies by providing loans below market rates to the airlines.
-- AFP

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EU seeks container pact with U.S.
JP/16/Money

EU seeks container pact with U.S.

BRUSSELS : The European Union is to seek an agreement with the
United States to cooperate on measures to prevent guerrillas
using transport containers to launch attacks, the European
Commission said on Tuesday.

U.S. Customs estimates that 90 percent of the world's cargo
travels by container and fears the large metal boxes could be
used to smuggle bombs or weapons into the country.

EU foreign ministers asked the Commission, the bloc's
executive arm, to negotiate a deal with Washington.

The Commission has already launched legal action against EU
governments for agreeing similar bilateral anti-terror measures
with the United States.

"The security concerns of both the U.S. and the EU will best
be addressed by reciprocal cooperation rather than by unilateral
actions which can impact on trade and cause competitive
distortions," Frits Bolkestein, the EU commissioner in charge of
customs issues, said. -- AFP

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'Dirty-money law led to capital flight'
JP/16/Money

'Dirty-money law led to capital flight'

MANILA: The introduction of money laundering laws in the
Philippines triggered the flight of US$70 million from the
Philippines banking system, a senator claimed Wednesday.

The money left the country after the first anti-money
laundering act was passed in September 2001, said independent
Senator Joker Arroyo, a prominent critic of the law.

He said the figure was released by the Senate ways and means
committee from sources in the banking industry.

"These are legitimate industries, mostly Chinese money,"
Arroyo, no relation to President Gloria Arroyo, told a Foreign
Correspondents Association press forum. "They were scared."

The central bank has not issued any estimates on the effect of
the law on bank deposits, which stood at 2.18 trillion pesos
($39.6 billion) at the end of 2001.

The legislation, subsequently amended earlier this month, is
seen as having loosened the secrecy of bank accounts that was
enshrined in a 1950s law. -- AFP