■ Economy
IMF to raise global outlook
The International Monetary Fund will make a modest upward revision to its global economic growth outlook, managing director Rodrigo Rato said in Santiago, Chile, on Tuesday. Rato, who was attending the APEC meeting of finance ministers, said the IMF global outlook for 2004 set to be released in October would be "slightly above" the April forecast of 4.6 percent. Rato noted however that "some downside risks have increased" including the recent spike in crude oil prices. But he said that even though some recent economic data have been below expectations, "the recover should continue in 2004 and through 2005." Rato repeated IMF concerns about the US and Europe. He said US officials should take steps to address the "twin deficits," referring to the budget gap and massive trade imbalance.
■ Telecoms
France Telecom shares sold
The French state sold 10.85 percent of the capital of telecommunications operator France Telecom for 5.1 billion euros (US$6.2 billion), the finance ministry said late Thursday. In a statement issued after completion of the offer Thursday, the finance ministry said the state now holds 42.25 percent of the group's capital. With the reduction of the state's stake to below 50 percent, the group has been privatized. The ministry said it had partially exercised the extension clause of the offer after noting the strong performance of the share in the wake of the initial sale on Wednesday. The ministry said late Wednesday after placing an initial 9.6 percent stake, or 236 million shares, in France Telecom that it had raised about 4.5 billion euros.
■ Banking
Shinsei ready to buy Aplus
Tokyo-based Shinsei Bank is wrapping up an agreement to buy a consumer credit company from UFJ Holdings, a Japanese banking group that is set to merge with another "Big Four" Japanese financial group. Shinsei, owned by US investment fund Ripplewood Holdings, declined to elaborate yesterday on the planned purchase of Aplus Co, which would remove the struggling borrower from UFJ's books. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a Japanese business daily, reported yesterday that Shinsei is expected to buy Aplus for about ?100 billion (US$913 million), enabling Shinsei to expand its non-banking operations along with retail and investment banking. An Aplus spokesman declined comment. The UFJ group has a combined 40 percent stake in Aplus, one of UFJ's biggest borrowers.
■ Loans
China issues new rules
China has formally issued new regulations on housing loans that tighten avenues for credit as part of an ongoing package of measures to cool the sector and the economy as a whole, regulators said yesterday. The China Banking Regulatory Commission, which first published a draft of the pending rules in February, stipulated that developers would now have to put down 35 percent rather than 30 percent of a real estate project's total value. Retail investors must place a 20 percent downpayment on a property's ticket price, while individual loan applicants must ensure that monthly expenses do not exceed 55 percent of their total income instead of 70 percent. The rules apply to state-owned commercial banks, joint stock banks, city commercial banks, rural credit cooperatives, policy banks, as well as foreign banks, the commission said.
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