World Business Quick Take

■ 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 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.