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.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”