'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