■TRADE
Russia may halt WTO deals
Russia will suspend some of its agreements made during its bid to become a member of the WTO, Interfax quoted Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as saying on Sunday. Putin said the deals covering elements in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors are unfair, but vowed to return to the agreements once Russia becomes a member of the Geneva-based body, the news agency said. “Not being a member of this organization, we do not receive anything positive in return. This situation goes against our interests in certain sectors of the Russian economy, particularly agriculture,” he said. “We will suspend a number of programs, but we will return to them as soon as we become a full-fledged member of the WTO,” he said. Putin said the suspension concerned red meat, poultry and manufacturing.
■RETAIL
German sales drop 1.5%
German retail sales fell by 1.5 percent in July from June, much more than expected for the biggest European economy, figures released yesterday by the national statistics service showed. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a drop of just 0.4 percent. In June, sales had fallen by 1.4 percent, according to seasonally corrected data provided by the Destatis service. The volatile index is calculated from information provided by seven German states. German consumers are traditionally thrifty, and consumption is one of the economy’s weak links despite falling unemployment and significant increases in wages.
■BANKING
HSBC’s Swiss inflows slow
HSBC Holdings PLC’s Swiss private bank said inflows of new client assets in the six months through June slowed to half the volume of a year earlier as market turmoil eroded the value of funds. Net new money increased by 6.9 billion Swiss francs (US$6.3 billion) compared with an increase of SF12.7 billion last year, the Geneva-based bank said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Client assets under management fell 13 percent to SF162.6 billion from SF186.5 billion at the end of December. Net income increased 1 percent to SF350 million compared with the first half of last year, the bank said.
■REAL ESTATE
Colonial posts hefty loss
Spanish property group Colonial, struggling under huge debts, announced losses of 2.38 billion euros (US$3.5 billion) for the first half of this year which it blamed on asset depreciation. Colonial said late on Sunday that it had reached an agreement in principle to reschedule its debt of nearly 9 billion euros this month. The firm did not say whether the agreement included the planned sale of its shares in France’s Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise, estimated to be worth more than 4 billion euros, or Spanish construction group FCC.
■CREDIT
Consumer loans up in UAE
Personal consumer loans in the United Arab Emirates, the second-biggest Arab economy, were 48 percent higher in the second quarter than in the year-earlier period, helped by robust economic growth. Consumer loans advanced to 54 billion dirhams (US$14.7 billion) in the quarter, from 36.8 billion dirhams a year earlier, data posted on the UAE central bank Web site showed yesterday. In the first quarter, personal loans grew by 47 percent, to 48.4 billion dirhams, from 32.9 billion in the first quarter of last year. Overall, second-quarter bank loans increased by 69 percent from a year earlier, to 893.9 billion dirhams; the first quarter saw a 58 percent rise.
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
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
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