ECONOMY
Thailand’s spending fails
Thailand’s economic growth slowed in the second quarter, as improving government spending and tourism failed to counter weak local demand and exports. GDP gained 2.8 percent in the three months through June from a year earlier, the National Economic and Social Development Board said in Bangkok yesterday. That matched the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 22 analysts and compares with 3 percent in the previous period. GDP grew 0.4 percent from the previous quarter. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has said he would reshuffle his Cabinet as pressure increases to bolster an economy struggling with a slump in manufacturing and sliding exports. Last week’s unexpected yuan devaluation is an added wrinkle for the government, which has pledged higher investment spending in its budget for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
EUROZONE
Merkel sees IMF in bailout
German Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to reassure skeptical lawmakers on Sunday that the IMF would take part in a new bailout for Greece, before a parliamentary vote in which many of her conservatives may break ranks and reject the rescue. In her first public comments since her summer break, Merkel told broadcaster ZDF that she was sure IMF head Christine Lagarde would ensure the participation of the fund if conditions on Greek pension reform and debt relief were met. Uncertainty over the IMF role in the 86 billion euro (US$95.3 billion) bailout has become a headache for Merkel before tomorrow’s vote in the Bundestag. Lawmakers from her Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, want the IMF involved because of its reputation for rigor.
AVIATION
IndiGo confirms Airbus order
Indian airline IndiGo has confirmed an order for 250 A320neo planes, Airbus announced yesterday, the aviation giant’s largest-ever contract by number. The order is worth US$26.5 billion at catalog prices and brings to 530 the number of A320 and A320neo medium-haul planes owned by the low-cost operator. The purchase of the single-aisle A320neo planes confirms a draft deal signed in October last year. IndiGo, India’s largest passenger carrier, is the sole airline operating in the country to report profits consistently thanks to zealous cost controls — even with India’s high fuel taxes, ramshackle airport infrastructure and vicious fare fights. It marks IndiGo’s bet that air travel is only just taking off in the country of 1.25 billion people, analysts say.
MINING
Iron ore expected to drop
Iron ore may tumble about 30 percent over the next 18 months as supply expands while steel demand falters in China, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc, which said the impact on the market from China’s devaluation was a sideshow. “Supply is likely to diverge further from demand,” analysts Christian Lelong and Amber Cai wrote in a report. “Contrary to market consensus, we believe that peak-steel production will be followed by a contraction” in China, they wrote, sticking with price forecasts for the next four quarters. Iron ore rebounded over the past five weeks from the lowest level since at least 2009 as steel prices advanced in China and shipments from the top exporters missed expectations. Iron ore was seen by Goldman averaging US$49 a tonne this quarter, US$48 in the final three months of this year, US$46 in the first quarter of next year and US$44 the following quarter, according to Friday’s report.
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