SBI rate falls this week

SBI rate falls this week

JAKARTA: The weighted average interest rate on one-month
Sertifikat Bank Indonesia notes Wednesday fell slightly from last
week, the central bank said.

The one-month SBI notes stood at 17.5 percent at the weekly
auction, down from 17.62 percent from at last week's auction,
Bank Indonesia said.

Bank Indonesia said it accepted Rp 13.99 trillion (US$1.3
billion) in bids, or 39.4 percent of total bids.

In the past two auctions the rate was steady at 17.62 percent.
-- Dow Jones

Mexico backs OPEC cuts

MEXICO CITY : Mexico on Tuesday welcomed OPEC's decision to cut
oil output and reaffirmed it would join the effort to bolster
world prices by reducing its own exports by 100,000 barrels per
day (bpd) in the first half of 2002.

The energy ministry said in a statement it was confident the
supply cuts by OPEC and major non-OPEC producers "will achieve a
healthy balance between supply and demand, which will allow a
halt in the fall of prices and assure the necessary investments
to maintain a sure and reliable supply of oil."

It said the 100,000 bpd reduction would put its export cap at
1.66 million bpd for the first six months of this year.

In November, Mexico produced an average 3.168 million bpd of
crude, excluding liquids, and exports averaged 1.682 million
bpd.--Reuters

Pakistan plans to halve debt servicing

KARACHI: Pakistan, buried under US$65 billion in foreign and
domestic debt, said on Tuesday it planned to reduce the burden of
debt servicing to 30-35 percent of foreign exchange earnings over
the next three years from 70 percent now.

The State (central) Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor, Ishrat
Husain said Islamabad was pursuing a strategy to reduce its huge
debt servicing cost, which leaves meager funds available for
development projects.

"Our strategy is to reduce our debt servicing to a normal
level of 30-35 percent over the three year period instead of
current 70 percent," Husain told reporters at a news
conference.--Reuters

HK economy to shrink in 2002

HONG KONG: Hong Kong's economy will continue to be affected by
the deteriorating global economy in the early months of this
year, according to a report released by the Better Hong Kong
Foundation, a private business group.

"Given the slowdown in the global economy and the (Sept.11)
attacks in the United States, Hong Kong being an externally
driven economic entity is undoubtedly put in a difficult
situation," said George Yuen, chief executive of the foundation.

"The contraction of the economy is expected to continue at the
beginning of year 2002," he said. --Reuters

MAS narrows currency trading band

SINGAPORE : Less volatile economic conditions combined with
benign inflation prompted Singapore's central bank to narrow the
policy band on Wednesday that it uses to guide the city-state's
currency.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it is
"restoring a narrower policy band, as market and economic
conditions have become less volatile".

The statement followed the government's advance estimates
showing the economy contracted by 2.2 per cent in 2001 compared
with a robust 9.9 per cent a year earlier, while shrinking 7 per
cent in the fourth quarter from 2000.

The current level of the nominal effective exchange rate "is
supportive of economic recovery and growth in a benign
inflationary environment", the MAS said.--DPA

Philippine to take out more foreign loans

MANILA : The Philippine government plans to take out more foreign
loans this year to free up the local debt market for domestic
businesses, an official said Wednesday.

Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin, however, stressed the
government does not plan to go on a borrowing binge and will
practice "calibrated borrowing".

"Its part of our new policy this year," she said in a radio
interview. "We expect that there will be some pick up in the
economy this year so we don't want to crowd out the domestic debt
market."

"We don't want to compete with domestic investors,
businesses," she added. "We will try to borrow more from abroad
because of the very low interest rates in the world market."

Boncodin did not say how much the government plans to borrow
from abroad this year.--DPA

Russia raises fishing fees

SEOUL : South Korea will pay US$4.5 million to catch 25,000 tons
of pollack in Russian waters this year, a 10.2 percent increase
over last year's fishing fee, officials said Wednesday.

Last month, Russia agreed to allow South Korean fishing boats
to catch 22,000 tons of pollack in the Bering Sea and another
3,000 tons in the North Kuril Sea. That was a 28.6 percent drop
from last year.

Under the agreement, Russia will allow 24 South Korean fishing
boats to catch pollack for $183 per ton, up from $166 last year,
said Kim Tae-gi, an official at South Korea's Ministry of
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.--AP