■ BANKING
Government favors Muto
The Japanese government is planning to nominate Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto as the next head of the central bank, the Yomiuri Shimbun said yesterday. Toshihiko Fukui, the 72-year-old Bank of Japan governor who helped pilot the economy out of a decade-long slump, must stand down when his five-year term ends on March 19. The government may nominate Muto to parliament as the next bank governor as soon as next week, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, without citing sources. He would need the approval of the opposition-controlled upper house of parliament to become head of the central bank.
■ TRAVEL
Snow hits businesses
China's travel agencies may lose 70 percent of their forecast sales during the Lunar New Year holidays because of snowstorms that disrupted people's travel plans, Xinhua news agency said. The biggest snowfalls since 1954 caused direct economic losses of about 80 billion yuan (US$11 billion), toppled 300,000 homes and damaged 90 million hectares of crops in 19 provinces and regions. More than 10,000 group tours were canceled nationwide, Xinhua said, citing Wang Zhifa, vice director of China's National Tourism Bureau. About 50 percent of trips from Beijing to southern China were also canceled, Xinhua said.
■ LCD GLASS
Corning upbeat on demand
Corning Inc, the biggest maker of glass for flat-panel display screens, yesterday reiterated its first-quarter forecast, saying a slowing US economy would not hamper demand for high-definition televisions. Profit, leaving out costs such as a legal settlement, will climb to US$0.41 to US$0.43 a share, the Corning, New York-based company said in a statement released before the company's investor meeting. Revenue will reach US$1.59 billion to US$1.62 billion, it said. The firm also forecast a 25 percent to 30 percent increase in total LCD glass demand this year. "Although we are not recession-proof, we have not seen any signs of a slowdown in our businesses," chief financial officer James Flaws said.
■ INDONESIA
Growth forecast trimmed
The economy faces greater "downside" risks stemming from record oil prices and a global economic slowdown, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said yesterday. The economy will grow between 6.4 percent and 6.5 percent this year, lower than the 6.8 percent expansion target predicted earlier this year, she said. "We are working on a new forecast taking into account the prospect of global recession and the effect of higher commodity prices," Sri Mulyani said in an interview in Tokyo. "Higher growth is becoming even more difficult.
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