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