GERMANY
Massive debt transfer eyed
Berlin would transfer about 500 billion euros (US$670 billion) of its debt into a redemption fund amid a proposal by Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, Passauer Neue Presse reported, citing an interview with him. Schaeuble last week proposed that each eurozone country set up a national fund to pay down its debt to boost market confidence in the joint currency. The plan would allow member countries of the eurozone to reduce their debt to 60 percent of GDP over 20 years, he said. In Berlin’s case, to reduce the country’s current debt level of 80 percent of GDP to 60 percent, the fund would amount to about 500 billion euros, including federal, state and municipal debts, Schaeuble was quoted as saying.
INDIA
RBI to prop up rupee
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Saturday it would act to prevent a “downward spiral of the rupee” which has been hit by fears about the global economy. The rupee has fallen heavily against the US dollar as foreign investors abandon the country and other emerging market currencies in search of safe havens. It plunged to a record low of 52.73 against the US dollar last month on fears about the eurozone debt crisis and the world economy as well as falling local shares, which are faring the worst among their regional peers. “In volatile market conditions that we see today, RBI intervention to keep markets orderly and prevent a downward spiral of rupee is justified,” bank Deputy Governor Subir Gokarn said.
ENERGY
China, US in solar spat
China said it was “deeply concerned” about a preliminary ruling by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) that trade practices by Chinese solar makers are hurting US producers and said the decision underscored a US “inclination to trade protectionism.” Such protectionism measures would hurt bilateral trade and jeopardize mutual cooperation on new energy issues, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its Web site. The statement came after the ITC approved an investigation into charges of unfair Chinese trade practices in the solar energy sector, setting the stage for possible steep US duties and ratcheting up tensions with Beijing on the green trade front. The commission voted 6 to 0 that there was a reasonable indication that SolarWorld Industries America and other US producers had been harmed by the imports or could have been.
IRELAND
New austerity budget ready
Dublin unveils a fresh austerity budget this week as the indebted nation looks to claw back 3.8 billion euros via spending cuts and tax hikes, with its recovery threatened by the eurozone crisis. The government will today announce cuts to welfare and education spending worth 2.2 billion euros, a day before Minister for Finance Michael Noonan gives details of tax hikes aimed at raising an extra 1.6 billion euros next year. Under the fiscal-raising plans, Dublin is expected to unveil a 2 percentage point hike in the highest rate of valued added tax on goods and services, to 23 percent. Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s government has pledged to slash the country’s public deficit to 8.6 percent next year and to less than 3 percent, the EU ceiling, by 2015, after the country was last year saved by an international bailout. The nation received an 85 billion euro EU-IMF rescue package in November last year as massive debt and deficit problems left the it on the verge of collapse.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is