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World Business Quick Take

PHOTO: EPA

■ Thailand cuts store hours
The Thai government has announced drastic steps to reduce energy consumption in the face of rising oil prices, including early closures of department stores and hypermarts nationwide, officials con-firmed yesterday. As of next week department stores will be required to close at 8pm, instead of 10pm, while hypermarkets such as Carrefour, Tesco-Lotus and Makro will close at 10pm instead of 12am or 2am at present. The shorter hours sparked immediate oppo-sition from operators, who claim the policy runs counter to the government's aim of turning Bangkok into a shoppers' paradise for the region. Thailand is also mulling imposing tolls on inner-city traffic and imposing car pooling, to reduce oil consumption.

■ Forex
Offshore debt markets OK
China will allow domestic insurers to invest forex in offshore debt markets, a step that could pave the way for loosening of the coun-try's tightly controlled capital account, state press reported yesterday. The provisional rules will allow Chinese insurance com-panies to invest up to 80 percent of their total foreign currency holdings in off-shore markets, the Xinhua news agency reported. "It will help insurance com-panies broaden their invest-ment scope, improve invest-ment returns and better diversify investments," Xinhua cited the China Insurance Regulatory Commission as saying. The policy change grants com-panies the right to invest in overseas government and corporate debt, certificates of deposit and other fixed income products, the report said.

■ Steel
Posco, Billiton look at India
South Korean steel maker Posco and Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton have plans to jointly build a steel plant in eastern India, a state official said yester-day. The two companies want to set up the 10 million tonne steel facility in the coastal state of Orissa, investing up to 390 billion rupees (US$8.5 billion), an officer at the state's invest-ment agency said. The project would be India's biggest steel plant. Posco and Billiton officials met Orissa's Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday, said the officer who did not want to be named. Patnaik has asked his aides to evaluate the proposal.

■ Bond Markets
Citigroup trades scrutinized
Britain's Financial Services Authority said on Wednes-day it had launched a formal investigation into unusual trading activity initiated by Citigroup in European government bond and bond derivative markets. The agency said that the probe into the Aug. 2 trades might lead to formal disciplinary proceedings though no decision could be taken until the facts were clear. Last week the Financial Times reported that trading in eurozone government bonds had been restricted after an "unprecedented wave" of selling orders by Citigroup caused panic on markets. Italy-based elec-tronic trading platform MTS took the decision to limit liquidity after Citigroup sold 11 billion euros (US$13.5 billion) in eurozone bonds, buying back 4 billion euros' worth an hour and a half later at cheaper prices.

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