GREECE
Leaders optimistic on deal
The government is optimistic about reaching a deal on economic reforms with its eurozone peers early next week, unblocking urgently needed funding, its economy minister said yesterday. After talks with EU leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the past week, Athens said it would present a package of reforms to its eurozone partners by Monday in the hope of unlocking aid and avoiding bankruptcy. “I believe that at the beginning of next week, we will have an agreement on the package of reforms the Greek government is proposing, and on the funding of the country,” Minister of the Economy, Infrastructure, Shipping and Tourism Giorgos Stathakis told Antenna TV. He did not specify when the list would be sent.
GERMANY
Consumer confidence soars
Consumer confidence is at its highest since late 2001, as the weaker euro and falling energy prices fuel optimism regarding the outlook for Europe’s biggest economy, a poll found yesterday. “The tug of war in Europe over the future of Greece has left no impression whatsoever on German consumers,” market research company GfK said in a statement. Looking ahead to next month, GfK’s headline household confidence index was forecast to rise to 10.0 points next month from 9.7 points this month. “That is the highest level since October 2001,” the statement said.
FRANCE
Unemployment edges higher
Unemployment registered a slight rise last month, official statistics showed on Wednesday, with the total number of jobseekers rising to 3.49 million people last month, from 3.48 million the previous month. That represented an increase of 12,000, compared with the 19,100 who exited the dole the previous month. Taking into part-time workers and overseas populations, unemployment affected 5.6 million people at the end of last month, statistics showed.
CANADA
Deflation possible: official
The damage to the economy from a drop in global crude oil prices means there is a chance the inflation rate will turn negative, a central bank official said. “Inflation will drop to a very low level, it may even go negative for a brief period, but that’s only a one-off effect,” Deputy Governor Timothy Lane said on Wednesday in response to a question after his speech in Kelowna, British Columbia. The consumer price index advanced 1 percent last month from a year ago, Statistics Canada said on March 20. The central bank sets interest rates to keep inflation in the middle of a 1 percent to 3 percent target band.
PETROLEUM
Schlumberger fined US$232m
The world’s largest oil services company, Schlumberger Ltd, has agreed to a penalty of more than US$232 million and one of its subsidiaries will plead guilty to trade sanctions violations, the US Department of Justice announced on Wednesday. The criminal case against Schlumberger Oilfield Holdings Ltd resolves a years-long investigation into allegations that the wholly owned subsidiary had illegally conducted business from Texas with Sudan and Iran in violation of US economic sanctions. The subsidiary will plead guilty in federal court in Washington to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
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