CHINA
Central bank cuts ratio
The People’s Bank of China yesterday said that it was cutting the amount of cash that all banks must hold as reserves, releasing about 800 billion yuan (US$114.91 billion) in liquidity to shore up the slowing economy. The bank said on its Web site that it would cut banks’ reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, effective on Monday next week. Many analysts had expected such a move was imminent. The bank has cut the ratio eight times since early 2018 to spur more bank lending as economic growth slows to the weakest pace in nearly 30 years.
TURKEY
FX requirement scrapped
The government has scrapped a requirement that exporters convert foreign exchange revenue into lira, according to an amended decree published on Official Gazette. The decree, requiring exporters to convert at least 80 percent of their overseas revenue into lira was published on Sept. 4, 2018, during the height of a currency crisis, which wiped out about 30 percent off the value of the currency. Local companies are still required to bring revenue from export transactions into the country within 180 days of actual date of export, according to the amended decree, which was published late on Tuesday.
UNITED STATES
Exxon defeats Russia fine
Exxon Mobil Corp has won a lawsuit challenging a US$2 million fine levied against it by Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin after it allegedly violated Ukraine-related sanctions with a series oil and gas deals in Russia. Exxon was not given sufficient notice that the contracts with a powerful ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin would violate sanctions put in place after Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine, District Judge Jane Boyle said in a ruling in Dallas, Texas. The dispute over the 2017 fine stemmed from Exxon’s deals with Moscow-based Rosneft PJSC while its chief executive officer Igor Sechin was on the Department of the Treasury’s list of sanctioned Russians.
AVIATION
Turkish, Boeing reach deal
Turkish Airlines AO on Tuesday said that it has reached a partial agreement with Boeing Co over compensation for damages caused by the grounding of the airline’s 737 MAX jets. The airline did not disclose financial terms of the agreement. Between 2013 and 2015, Turkish Airlines ordered 75 MAX jets. It received only 12 before Boeing halted deliveries in March last year after regulators around the world grounded the airplane following two crashes that killed 346 people. In a regulatory filing, the airline said that the agreement covered “certain portion of the losses” related to the MAX. It was not clear what was covered and whether the airline is seeking additional compensation.
UNITED STATES
Firms prepare debt sales
Companies are lining up debt sales to the tune of US$120 billion this month, a 9 percent increase from last year, according to an informal survey of dealers. Several leftovers from last month — such as JD.com Inc (京東) and Reinsurance Group of America Inc — could sell debt soon after markets reopen today following investor meetings early last month. Last year, just more than US$1.1 trillion of investment-grade corporate debt was sold in the country. Wall Street research groups think that the total this year would fall by as much as 5 to 8 percent.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day