ITALY
IMF readies rescue plan
The IMF has prepared a rescue plan worth up to 600 billion euros (US$794 billion) if the debt crisis in Italy deteriorates, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported yesterday, citing IMF officials. The loan of between 400 billion euros and 600 billion euros would give Italy a window of 12 to 18 months to implement budget cuts and growth-boosting reforms “by removing the necessity of having to refinance the debt,” La Stampa said. The IMF would guarantee rates of 4 percent or 5 percent on the loan — far better than the borrowing costs on commercial debt markets, where the rate on two-year and five-year bonds has risen above 7 percent. The size of the loan would make it difficult for the IMF to use its current resources so different possibilities are being explored including possible action with European Central Bank in which the IMF would be the guarantor.
OIL
Libya production increases
Libya’s crude output exceeded 750,000 barrels a day and the country’s second-biggest refinery began operating at full capacity, the state-run National Oil Corp said on its Web site. The holder of the Africa’s biggest crude reserves is restoring oil production after a revolt this year against the regime of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi dropped output to 45,000 barrels a day. Libya pumped 1.6 million a day before February protests escalated into the rebellion that disrupted crude production and shut down most exports. The Zawiyah refinery, which can process up to 120,000 barrels a day of oil, reached 100 percent of its capacity, National Oil said yesterday. The plant near the capital Tripoli resumed operation on Oct. 2, National Oil chairman Nuri Berruien said last month.
CURRENCY
Euro endgame nears: expert
Europe’s monetary union may unravel sooner than the region’s leaders can mobilize to ensure the sovereign-debt crisis doesn’t overwhelm the currency, a UBS AG foreign exchange strategist wrote. “Financial markets continue to move faster than politicians,” Mansoor Mohi-uddin, head of foreign exchange strategy for UBS, wrote in yesterday’s note. Markets are starting to “price in the endgame” for the currency, he said. European bonds slumped after Germany failed to draw bids for 35 percent of the offered amount at an auction of 10-year bonds last week, stoking concern the region’s debt crisis is infecting even the safest sovereign securities. The dissolution of the currency would force Germany and other countries’ banks to take losses on their sovereign bond holdings and burden them with the need to raise even more capital, the Singapore-based analyst wrote.
PROPERTY
Huang angered by failed bid
The Chinese tycoon behind a failed plan to buy a huge tract of land in Iceland has blamed prejudice against China for the rejection of the bid, according to an interview published yesterday. Iceland on Friday denied a request by property tycoon Huang Nubo (黃怒波) to purchase a 300km2 swathe of land in the northern part of the island for a tourist resort. “The denial reflects the unjust and parochial investment environment facing private Chinese enterprises abroad,” Huang, founder of property company Zhongkun Group (中坤集團), said in an interview with the China Daily newspaper. Huang had asked the Iceland government in late August for permission to buy the land for US$10 million, with plans to invest about US$200 million to build a resort in the Icelandic wilderness.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last