'Securities firms must lift capital'
'Securities firms must lift capital'
JAKARTA : The Indonesian capital market watchdog Bapepam said on
Friday it will require securities companies to raise their
working capital to Rp 10 billion by the end of this year from Rp
5 billion currently.
Bapepam said securities firms must also increase their paid-in
capital to Rp 25 billion by Dec. 31, from Rp 5 billion now.
The move is aimed at improving the companies' performance and
services, Bapepam said in a statement.
There are 189 securities companies in Indonesia.
Bapepam said it will require securities firms to further
increase their working- and paid-in capital to Rp 25 billion and
Rp 50 billion respectively by the end of 2004.
Bapepam Chairman Herwidayatmo said companies that fail to
comply with the new regulations will have to merge with companies
that have stronger finances. He didn't elaborate.
Analysts said the move may force many securities companies to
close for lack of funds. --Dow Jones
Japan, Mexico to hold FTA talks
TOKYO : Trade ministry officials from Japan and Mexico will hold
talks next week as part of efforts to conclude a free trade
accord later this year, an official said on Friday.
The five-day meeting will begin on Monday in Mexico City, the
official from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
said.
On Thursday, Ryuichiro Yamazaki, Japanese ambassador for
international economic affairs, is scheduled to hold a separate
one-day meeting with Angel Villalobos, vice minister of Mexico's
economy ministry in charge of international commerce, the
official said.
The upcoming talks will be the latest in a series of bilateral
negotiations aimed at concluding a free trade pact by the end of
this year.
"Our negotiations have so far been going very smoothly," the
Japanese trade ministry official said. "We still hope that we
want to conclude the negotiations this (northern) autumn."
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Mexican
President Vicente Fox agreed to begin free trade talks last
October, when Koizumi attended an Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation summit in the Mexican resort city of Los Cabos. --AFP
German trade surplus declines
WIESBADEN : Germany's trade surplus declined in March, as imports
grew faster than exports, data published by the Federal
Statistics Office on Friday showed.
Germany posted a trade surplus of 9.7 billion euros (US$11.1
billion) in March, down from the surplus of 10.7 billion euros
recorded in February, and also narrower than the surplus of 11.7
billion euros reported in March 2002, the office said in a
statement.
On the export side, foreign demand for German-made goods rose
by 2.8 percent on a 12-month basis to 55.8 billion euros and
imports grew by 8.3 percent to 46.1 billion euros, the
statisticians calculated.
Taking into account trade in services and income, Germany's
current account showed a surplus of 6.5 billion euros in March,
higher than the surplus of 4.4 billion euros in February and
slightly lower than a surplus of 6.6 billion euros in March 2002.
--AFP
IMF not ready to send mission to Iraq
WASHINGTON : The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will send a
delegation to Iraq to evaluate the country's needs as soon as
conditions permit, spokesman Thomas Dawson told a press briefing.
He added that this would not be dependent on a UN resolution
lifting sanctions imposed on the country.
"As we've indicated, we are in a position of being able to
send a mission when the conditions are correct, without regard to
what happens in terms of a UN resolution," Dawson said.
"A UN resolution is needed for a number of issues including
certain types of sanctions, payments and so on but in terms of
our ability to send a mission, that will happen when we are
ready," he added.
Asked whether the IMF mission required a working Iraqi
government to be in place, Dawson said: "we certainly need
interlocutors," but that at the moment, IMF officials are
concentrating on data collection and assessments with "a wide
range of countries" to ascertain the true state of the Iraqi
economy. --AFP