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World Business Quick Take

■ Banking
S Korean bad loans rising
South Korean banks' bad loans increased 19 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months as an economic slowdown caused more individuals to fall behind on their debts, Yonhap News said. The lenders' bad loans rose to 3.2 percent of all credits, or 22.4 trillion won (US$19 billion), at the end of June, compared with 18.7 trillion won reported at the end of March and 15.1 trillion won at the end of last year, the report said, citing unidentified officials in the banking industry. Among the lenders, Woori Bank reduced its bad loans by 3.1 percent at the end of June from March, while Koram Bank and Shinhan Bank each posted increases of more than 50 percent, the report said. The number of South Koreans behind on debt payments rose to 3.35 million in July, 3.8 percent more than in June.

■ Automobiles
Mitsubishi reduces delays
Mitsubishi Motors Corp plans to reduce the time it takes to deliver a new car to a customer by about a third by October to boost domestic sales, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. The company will reduce the delivery time to within 20 days from the current average of 29 days, the paper said, without saying where it obtained the information. Mitsubishi Motors, which earlier eliminated inventories at factories to reduce costs, now plans to have an inventory of between 3,000 and 4,000 cars, enough supply for five days to one week, the paper said. Mitsubishi Motors said delivery time is an important factor in customers' decisions when they compare minivans and small cars offered by different automakers, the paper reported. The 20-day delivery time would probably be the shortest in the industry, the report said.

■ Telecom
NEC boosts production
NEC Corp and Fujitsu Ltd, Japan's largest telecommunications equipment makers, plan to raise output of devices used for Internet phones to meet demand from companies switching to the technology, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. NEC, the nation's biggest telecom equipment maker, aims to expand sales of equipment such as Internet-compatible switches and gateway devices by a fifth to ¥30 billion (US$255 million) in its current business year ending March 31. Rivals Fujitsu, Oki Electric Industry Co, and Hitachi Ltd will also boost production of such devices by as much as 60 percent this business year, the newspaper said. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp, Japan's biggest phone company, earlier this month said it plans to begin offering Internet phone services to companies as early as October. The NTT group is NEC's biggest customer.

■ Macroeconomics
China raises deposit ratio
The Chinese government raised the minimum ratio of deposits commercial banks must place with the central bank by one percentage point to 7 percent effective Sept. 21, the South China Morning Post reported. The increase, aimed at preventing the money supply from rising too fast, would take about 150 billion yuan (US$18 billion) out of circulation, the newspaper said, citing the People's Bank of China. The change is the strongest signal of China's determination to slow the economy which has shown signs of growing too fast, it said. The change is the second time the Chinese government has acted to slow an increase in the money supply, the Post said.

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