VENEZUELA
Government restructures debt
The government signed a debt restructuring deal with major creditor Russia on Wednesday, as ratings agencies declared Caracas in partial default. The country is seeking to restructure its foreign debts, estimated at around US$150 billion, after it was hit hard by tumbling oil prices and US sanctions. A delegation signed the deal restructuring US$3.15 billion of debt taken out in 2011 to finance the purchase of Russian arms. Under the agreement, Caracas is to pay back its debts over 10 years, with “minimal” reimbursements for the first six years.
‘GREEN’ ENERGY
Longi considers US sites
Longi Green Energy Technology Co (隆基綠能科技), a Chinese solar manufacturer, is considering opening a US factory, a decision that might hinge upon the looming threat of import tariffs. Longi began evaluating the move before a US trade case was filed in April seeking tariffs to protect domestic manufacturers, Archie Flores, general manager of the Xian-based company’s US unit, said on Wednesday, adding that the company is evaluating multiple sites for a cell and module plant.
ECONOMY
Philippine growth ‘on track’
Philippine Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia yesterday said the government is optimistic that it will meet its economic growth target of 6.5 to 7.5 percent for this year. The GDP increased 6.9 percent from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority said, after expanding a revised 6.7 percent in the previous three months. Compared with the previous quarter, GDP rose a seasonally adjusted 1.3 percent. “We are on track to meeting the full-year target range,” Pernia told a media briefing.
AUSTRALIA
Jobless rate declines
The nation’s unemployment rate unexpectedly fell last month as fewer people sought work, while full-time jobs continued to surge. The latest data showed that employment rose 3,700 from September, which was compared with economists’ forecast of an 18,800 gain. The jobless rate fell to 5.4 percent last month, the lowest since February 2013, data showed. The government said full-time jobs increased by 24,300 last month, while part-time employment fell 20,700, with a labor participation rate that fell to 65.1 percent.
TECHNOLOGY
Cisco revenue still declining
Cisco Systems Inc on Wednesday reported better-than-expected earnings and forecast revenue growth after two years of decline. The San Jose, California-based company reported fiscal first-quarter profit of US$2.39 billion, up from US$2.32 billion a year ago. The seller of routers, switches, software and services posted revenue of US$12.14 billion in the period, matching Wall Street forecasts. That was down from US$12.35 billion a year ago, the company’s eighth-consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue decline.
INTERNET
Israel to tax tech giants
Israel plans to tax Internet giants such as Google and Facebook Inc within a year, the head of the tax authority said in remarks published on Wednesday. Israel Tax Authority boss Moshe Asher told Haaretz newspaper that taxing tech giants would make Israel among the “first” in the world, as the EU still grapples with the thorny process. “Our goal is to obtain as much data as we can, even if many of these figures are held outside of Israel,” Asher said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by