CHINA
Credit growth too fast: IMF
The nation has made progress on reforms, but still should allow market forces to play a more decisive role and accelerate its opening up to the rest of the world, the IMF said yesterday. While credit growth has slowed, it remains too fast, and policymakers should de-emphasize growth targets and focus on higher-quality growth, the fund said in a statement. The economic expansion would likely slow to 6.6 percent this year and to about 5.5 percent by 2023, the IMF said.
GERMANY
Retail sales beat forecasts
Retail sales last month rose more than expected after four consecutive monthly drops, data showed yesterday. The private consumption data showed retail sales rose by 2.3 percent on the month in real terms, the Federal Statistics Office said. It was the strongest monthly increase since October 2016 and beat the Reuters consensus forecast of a 0.7 percent rise. On the year, retail rose by 1.2 percent, slightly weaker than the Reuters consensus forecast of a 1.3 percent increase.
AVIATION
Longest flight to return
Singapore Airlines Ltd yesterday said that it would relaunch the world’s longest commercial flight in October, a journey of almost 19 hours from the city-state to the New York City area, but it would not be available to economy travelers. The daily, non-stop journey from Singapore Changi Airport to Newark Airport in New Jersey would cover about 16,700km and take about 18 hours and 45 minutes, the airline said in a statement. The current record holder is Qatar Airways Ltd Flight 921 from Auckland to Doha, which takes 17 hours and 40 minutes.
ADVERTISING
Sorrell invests in shell firm
Martin Sorrell, the recently ousted boss of WPP PLC, has taken control of a listed shell company to use it as a vehicle to buy marketing firms, replicating the approach he took in the 1980s to build the world’s biggest advertising group. Sorrell plans to invest ￡40 million (US$53 million) of his own money into Derriston Capital, a little-known two-year-old company, which would be renamed S4 Capital, he said in a statement.
? AUTOMAKERS
Hyundai to invest in Alabama
Hyundai Motor Co is to invest US$388 million to expand and upgrade its engine manufacturing operations in Montgomery, Alabama, and create 50 new jobs. The Seoul-based automaker is to spend about US$40 million to build a new engine-head machining facility that would be completed in November and be operational by the middle of next year, it said in a statement. The rest of the investment is to go toward equipment and updating its engine plant to support production of Sonata and Elantra sedans.
ENERGY
Canada buys pipeline
The Canadian government on Tuesday said it is buying a controversial pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to the Pacific Coast to ensure it gets built. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government plans to spend C$4.5 billion (US$3.46 billion) to purchase Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline. The pipeline expansion would triple the capacity of an existing line to ship oil extracted from the oil sands in Alberta across the snow-capped peaks of the Canadian Rockies.
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
YEAR-END BOOST: The holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, combined with rising demand for AI applications, is expected to drive exports to a new high, the NDC said Taiwan’s business climate monitor improved last month, transitioning from steady growth for the first time in five months, as robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and new iPhone shipments boosted exports and corporate sales, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. “Yellow-red” and “yellow-blue” suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition. The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose to 35 points from a revised 31 in August, ending a four-month
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