MACROECONOMICS
S Korea cuts GDP forecasts
The South Korean government yesterday slashed the nation’s growth outlook for this year and next year, citing the eurozone debt crisis and US fiscal woes that continue to dampen global demand. In a biannual economic outlook, the finance ministry revised its earlier estimate of 4 percent growth next year to 3 percent, and this year’s estimate from 3.3 percent to 2.1 percent. The ministry predicted exports of cars, mobile gadgets and other products and services would increase 4.3 percent next year after shrinking 1.3 percent this year. Consumer prices are expected to rise 2.7 percent next year, faster than this year’s 2.2 percent, it said.
MACROECONOMICS
Aso blames BOJ for deflation
Japan’s new finance chief hit out at the country’s under-pressure central bank, reports said yesterday, saying it was “slow” in tackling deflation that has plagued the economy for years. The remarks by Minister of Finance Taro Aso, a former prime minister, were the latest sharp comments that the Liberal Democratic Party, which won national elections this month, has thrown at the Bank of Japan (BOJ) over its handling of policy matters. Aso also echoed his new boss, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in calling for aggressive measures to boost the limp economy.
BANKING
Bankia deep in red ink
Spain revealed on Wednesday an ocean of red ink in its bailed-out Bankia group at the heart of the nation’s banking crisis. Bankia had a negative value of 4.148 billion euros (US$5.5 billion) and its parent group, BFA, 10.444 billion euros, the state-backed Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring said in a statement. The fund said it had reached a final agreement on the recapitalization of four banks that were rescued and nationalized: BFA-Bankia, NCG Banco, Catalunya Banc and Banco de Valencia. The banks will receive 36.968 billion euros “in the next days,” the fund said.
MACROECONOMICS
PM down on growth target
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday played down hopes for the once-booming economy’s performance, saying achieving annual 8 percent growth to 2017 would be an “ambitious” achievement. Singh’s muted expectations come after the government earlier this month cut its growth forecast to just under 6 percent for this fiscal year — putting Asia’s third-largest economy on track for its worst annual showing in a decade. “The country faces many challenges to achieve sustainable growth,” Singh told state chief ministers meeting in New Delhi to review the government’s 2012 to 2017 economic plan.
TECHNOLOGY
Marvell infringed patents
A jury on Wednesday hit Marvell Technology Group with a billion-dollar verdict, ruling that the US chipmaker “willfully” infringed on patents held by Carnegie Mellon University. Northern California-based Marvell violated the university’s patents on technology that increase the accuracy of reading data from high-speed magnetic disks, according to a verdict delivered in federal court in the state of Pennsylvania, where the university is based. Jurors rejected the argument by Marvell that the university’s patents were not valid and ordered Marvel to pay US$1.1 billion in damages, according to the K&L Gates legal team that represented the university at trial. The award could be tripled based on a finding by jurors that the patent infringement by Marvell and subsidiary Marvell Semiconductor was “willful.”
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