SINGAPORE
GDP growth forecast raised
The city-state raised its growth forecast for this year after the economy unexpectedly expanded last quarter, supporting the central bank’s decision to forgo stimulus. The economy will grow between 3.5 percent and 4 percent this year and as much as 4 percent next year, the trade ministry said in a statement yesterday. It had previously forecast growth of up to 3.5 percent for this year. GDP expanded an annualized 1.3 percent last quarter from the previous three months, compared with a 1 percent decline estimated earlier. Externally oriented sectors, such as manufacturing, wholesale trade and transportation and storage are likely to support growth, in line with a slight pickup in the global economy,” the trade ministry said yesterday.
BANKING
Allied Irish issues bond
Allied Irish Banks on Wednesday issued its first unsecured bond since the financial crisis forced Ireland to take an international bailout, following the lead of rival Bank of Ireland. Allied Irish Banks’ 500 million euros (US$671.4 million) senior unsecured bond issue was oversubscribed, attracting 3.2 billion euros of orders. The bond was priced at mid-swaps plus 235 basis points, compared with a price of plus 220 basis points achieved by Bank of Ireland in May. Earlier on Wednesday, Permanent TSB became the first Irish lender since the crisis to issue mortgage-backed securities with a 500 million euro issue. Irish Minister of Finance Michael Noonan said the two issues, which came as the country prepares to exit its EU-IMF bailout next month, were further evidence of improved international investor sentiment toward both institutions and Ireland.
UNITED KINGDOM
Budget deficit narrows
The budget deficit narrowed last month from a year earlier as accelerating economic growth boosted sales taxes and stamp duty on property purchases. Net borrowing excluding temporary support for banks was £8.1 billion (US$13 billion) compared with £8.2 billion a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London. Tax receipts increased 3.2 percent, with value-added tax rising 6.4 percent and stamp duty soaring 46 percent. Spending increased 1.2 percent. The figures pave the way for Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to cut his borrowing projections next month, with a resurgent economy putting Britain on course for its smallest budget deficit in five years.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota, Chinese in deal
Toyota yesterday said it plans to develop components for hybrid vehicles with two Chinese automakers, in an unprecedented technology-sharing deal aimed at boosting green car sales in the world’s largest vehicle market. The Japanese giant is already assembling hybrids in China with First Automobile Works and Guangzhou Automobile Group, the third and sixth-ranked Chinese car manufacturers respectively. However, the plan to share key hybrid technology with an overseas partner marks a first for Toyota and a shift away from Japanese carmakers’ traditional reluctance over such deals for fear of losing their competitive edge. Previously, Toyota would make key components, such as batteries and motors, in high-cost Japan and then ship them to joint ventures overseas. However, that drove up the price of models such as its Prius hybrid, which has seen sluggish sales in China. The new arrangement is expected to cut costs and lead to hybrid cars tailored to Chinese consumers, a Toyota spokeswoman said.
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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