Greece, still without a government since no clear winner emerged in general elections, expressed doubts yesterday that the EU and IMF would release crucial rescue funds due later this week.
“There are questions on securing” the latest tranche of rescue loans, said Gikas Hardouvelis, economic advisor to outgoing Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, on Skai Radio.
“Why would they give us money?” if Greece deviated from its commitments, Ghikas added, as has been promised by most of the anti-austerity parties that saw great gains in Sunday’s elections.
According to center-right daily Kathimerini, the EU has confirmed to Athens that the 5.2 billion euro (US$6.74 billion) tranche would be approved, though news Web site To Vima speculated that the EU might decide to hold the payment to put pressure on Greece.
General elections on Sunday did not produce a clear winner, but gave an overwhelming boost to leftist party Syriza, which now has 52 deputies in parliament, making it the second-biggest party.
The main parties that have pledged to continue deficit-cutting reforms, New Democracy and socialist Pasok, now only send a combined 149 MPs to the 300-seat parliament, not enough for a re-run of the outgoing coalition led by technocrat Papademos.
On Monday, the IMF said it was waiting for a new government to be formed in Greece before deciding on how to move forward.
Asian markets and the euro fell yesterday on fears that Greece could leave the eurozone after Syriza said it would rip up a bailout deal following the weekend elections.
Tokyo fell 1.49 percent, or 136.59 points, to 9,045.06 and Seoul dropped 0.85 percent, or 16.72 points, to 1,950.29.
Sydney fell 0.91 percent, or 39.2 points, to 4,275.1 after the government unveiled a budget on Tuesday aiming to reverse its deficit and put the economy in surplus by next year.
Hong Kong shed 0.75 percent, or 154.11 points, to 20,330.64 and Shanghai closed down 1.65 percent, or 40.29 points, at 2,408.59.
“The failure of the Greek election to produce a new government provides some support to our view that Greece could leave the eurozone as soon as the end of this year,” London-based Capital Economics said in a note.
The concerns pressured the euro, which fell to US$1.2990 and ¥103.70 in late afternoon Asian trade, compared with US$1.3005 and ¥103.84 in New York late on Tuesday. The US dollar was at ¥79.79, compared with ¥79.84.
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
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],”
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day