INDONESIA
Interest rates increased
The central bank yesterday unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate for a sixth time this year to help rein in a widening trade deficit and bolster the nation’s currency. The seven-day reverse repurchase rate was raised by 25 basis points to 6 percent, surprising most economists who had predicted no change. That took the cumulative rate hikes since May to 175 basis points, making Bank Indonesia one of the most aggressive central banks in Asia this year.
AUSTRALIA
Employment figures improve
Employment surged last month as the Reserve Bank of Australia’s record-low interest rates spurred hiring, while the jobless rate remained at a six-year low, despite an expanding workforce. The report suggests that the reserve bank’s patience — after keeping the cash rate at 1.5 percent for more than two years — is now being rewarded with stronger employment and faster economic growth. Bank Governor Philip Lowe is betting on a tightening labor market to fuel wage growth and inflation.
SINGAPORE
Home sales decline
Private home sales last month slumped 48 percent from a month earlier as developers marketed fewer projects. Developers in the city-state sold 487 units last month versus 932 apartments in September, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said yesterday. That was the lowest monthly tally since February. An index tracking private residential prices increased 0.5 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30 versus a 3.4 percent advance in the June quarter, agency data showed.
UNITED STATES
Politician pans Facebook
US Representative David Cicilline, who is expected to become the next chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, on Wednesday said that Facebook Inc cannot be trusted to regulate itself and Congress should take action. Cicilline, citing a report in the New York Times on Facebook’s efforts to deal with a series of crises, said on Twitter: “This staggering report makes clear that @Facebook executives will always put their massive profits ahead of the interests of their customers.” He added: “It is long past time for us to take action.”
AUTOMAKERS
European registrations fall
European automakers had another difficult month last month with car registrations slumping once more, putting to the test a fourth-quarter bounce-back projected by Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG. Deliveries of new passenger cars slid 7.4 percent in the EU and European Free Trade Association from a year earlier, compounding a 23 percent drop in September, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. The situation should get back to normal later in the year, said EY consultancy, which expects sales this month and next month at about the same level as last year.
OFFICE SPACE
WeWork announces funding
US office space-sharing company WeWork Cos yesterday said it has gotten US$3 billion in funding from Japan’s Softbank Group Corp. WeWork spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka said the new funding comes in addition to the US$1 billion raised from Softbank last quarter.
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