BANKING
Chinese lending data mixed
China’s bank lending nearly doubled last month from July, data from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) showed yesterday. Chinese banks granted 702.5 billion yuan (US$114.5 billion) in new loans last month, PBOC said in a statement, nearly twice July’s 385.2 billion yuan. However, it was still lower than June’s 1.08 trillion yuan and 10.3 billion yuan less than the amount recorded a year ago, the data showed.
SOUTH KOREA
Jobless numbers increase
The unemployment rate inched up to 3.5 percent last month from the previous month’s 3.4 percent, as agriculture and banking sectors continued shedding jobs, Statistics Korea said yesterday. However, the number of newly created jobs from a year ago stood at 594,000, up from 505,000 in July, thanks to employment growth in manufacturing, wholesale and retail businesses, hotels and restaurants, as well as health and welfare.
ECONOMY
French inflation slowing
France’s annual inflation rate slowed last month, official statistics showed on Thursday, adding to concerns about the outlook for the eurozone’s second-largest economy. Annual inflation stood at 0.4 percent in last month, down from 0.5 percent in July, dragged down by lower energy and food prices, the national statistics agency INSEE said. However, on a monthly basis it rose 0.4 percent after falling 0.3 percent in July.
CANADA
Small businesses taxes cut
The government on Thursday started doling out hotly anticipated tax cuts, thanks to its first budgetary surplus since the global economic slump. The small business tax cuts are worth C$550 million (US$497 million) — out of a C$276.3 billion budget — Minister of Finance Joe Oliver said. The government announced in February that it expects to return to budgetary surplus next year.
ECONOMY
Ebola hurting West Africa
Economic growth in Liberia and Sierra Leone could decline by almost 3.5 percentage points as the Ebola outbreak has crippled mining, agriculture and services sectors in the two West African states, the IMF said on Thursday. The fund said economic growth in Sierra Leona was likely to fall to 8 percent from 11.3 percent this year and Liberia’s growth might decline to 2.5 percent from 5.9 percent.
INTERNET
HP buying Eucalyptus
Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) on Thursday announced a deal to buy business cloud-computing specialty firm Eucalyptus. It did not disclose terms of the acquisition, which is aimed at ramping the California company’s ability to help firms build computing homes in the Internet cloud. Eucalyptus chief executive Marten Mickos will manage the HP Cloud business and report directly to HP boss Meg Whitman.
ACQUISITIONS
San Miguel eyes biscuits
San Miguel Corp, the most diversified conglomerate in the Philippines, said it was planning a solo bid for British snacks maker United Biscuits, owner of brands such as Jaffa Cakes and Twiglets. “No need for partner,” San Miguel president Ramon Ang said in a text message to reporters yesterday when asked if the group was considering a joint bid with other firms. The auction for United Biscuits is reported to be worth £2 billion (US$3.25 billion).
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