The US Senate’s approval of a revised US$700 billion bailout bill helped boost European stocks and lift the dollar yesterday, but economic worries weighed on Asia and concern over final passage of the proposal lingered.
The fate of the rescue plan, passed by the Senate 74 to 25 on Wednesday night, now lies with the House of Representatives, which rocked global markets this week by rejecting an earlier version.
“With the improvements the Senate has made, I believe members of both parties in the House can support this legislation,” US President George W. Bush said in a written statement.
PHOTO: AFP
The House is expected to vote on the package later today.
But the crisis has spread well beyond US shores and beyond the financial sector. Top automakers including General Motors Corp and Ford warned of tough times amid fears slowing demand could force production cuts and job losses.
“The problems of subprime and credit crunch are now all over the world,” Ford Motor Co chief executive Alan Mulally said. “The downturn is longer and deeper than we foresaw a year ago.”
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso welcomed the Senate’s approval as heading in the right direction.
“We need global effort to inject confidence in the financial markets and the United States, of course, have a major responsibility,” he said.
Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said the president would host the leaders of Britain, Italy, Germany and the European Central Bank tomorrow to discuss a response.
Sarkozy, however, denied reports a 300 billion euro (US$414.4 billion) plan akin to the US bailout was under consideration.
Market participants warned, however, that the rescue package is not a cure-all, with a worsening economic outlook spurring calls for central banks to cut interest rates.
“Even if the bill is passed, worries remain over the global economic outlook so financial markets are unlikely to stabilize,” said Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JPMorgan in Tokyo. “It’s a completely different world now. All the things US authorities are doing now are simply aimed at preventing a global meltdown.”
Under the deal, the Treasury would take on illiquid assets held by banks, in the hope of restoring confidence and unfreezing credit markets.
The bailout package was never in danger in the Senate. Senators instead played catalysts for the House, adding billions of dollars in tax provisions popular with the left and right in a bid that House leaders hope — but cannot guarantee — will persuade enough of the House rank-and-file to switch from “nay” to “aye” on a highly contentious bill a month before Election Day.
They were especially targeting the 133 House Republicans who voted against the package.
Also See: Democratic skepticism trumps Republican economic dogma、SEC extends US short-selling ban、TAIEX drops in spite of bailout clearing Senate
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique