■ Trade
Poultry imports banned
The nation has temporarily banned imports of poultry from South Africa to prevent bird flu and other epidemics, the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture said. The council made the announcement in a statement issued over the weekend, citing the fact that a large number of ostriches in various areas of South Africa's eastern Cape Province, such as Bedford, Cradock and Somerset, have died from bird flu. The country's poultry raisers should heighten their alert against a spread of bird flu-related epidemics, as other countries in Asia, including Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and mainland China have also been affected by avian flu, officials with the council's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection said.
■ Energy
Thai firms to gear down
Siam Cement Pcl, Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl and other large Thai companies agreed with a government request to reduce their consumption of electricity, fuel and other energy by as much as 20 percent to trim surging imports. Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak today called a special meeting with executives from Siam Cement, the country's biggest cement maker, Charoen Pokphand and other companies after crude oil prices rose to a record on last Friday. The Thai government has spent 22 billion baht (US$531 million) to subsidize retail gasoline prices since January to prevent rising fuel costs from hurting economic growth and stoking inflation. Thailand, Southeast Asia's second-largest crude oil buyer, had a current account deficit of 19 million baht in April, its first monthly shortfall in two years, on rising oil imports.
■ Fiscal Policy
Bank to act on inflation
India's central bank governor said the monetary authority will seek to ensure price stability amid the fastest inflation in 3 and half years. He didn't give details. India's inflation, as measured by the rise in wholesale prices from a year earlier, unexpectedly accelerated to 7.51 percent in the week ended last month 24 from 6.52 percent in the prior week, the government said in a report last Friday. Inflation was higher than the bank had expected in its May monetary policy, Reserve Bank of India Governor Y.V. Reddy told reporters in the western city of Pune. He said basically, it appears that global factors played a critical part in this increase though the domestic factors such as liquidity overhang and monsoon conditions also played a role.
■ Investing
Buffet's bet cuts profits
Billionaire Warren Buffett's bet against the US dollar and his preference for cash over other investments caused Berkshire Hathaway Inc to post its smallest quarterly earnings since 2002. Net income at Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire, run by Buffett since 1965, fell 42 percent in the second quarter to US$1.28 billion, or US$834 a share, from US$2.23 billion, or US$1,452, a year earlier, the company said yesterday. The drop was caused by US$172 million of realized investment and currency losses, compared with a US$905 million gain a year earlier, when Berkshire sold most of its US Treasuries. Buffett, 73, is accumulating cash to make acquisitions, a strategy that also cut interest and dividend income 16 percent in the quarter. "You've got an avalanche of cash," Donald Yacktman, who manages US$1 billion at Yacktman Asset Management, said in an interview last week.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source