■RUSSIA
Medvedev upbeat on economy
Russia has managed to avert a “dramatic scenario” in the economic crisis, President Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper published yesterday. “For all the depth and difficulty of the crisis, it is not proceeding according to the most dramatic scenario,” Medvedev said in the interview, published on the day he was due to give a keynote speech to the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum. “The task of the authorities — of the government and of course the president — it to make sure that at the very least this situation is preserved,” he said.
■SOFTWARE
Intel to buy Wind River
Intel said on Thursday that it has agreed to buy software maker Wind River Systems for US$884 million in a bid by the US semiconductor giant to get its chips into more devices. Intel said Wind River’s board of directors had unanimously approved an agreement under which it will acquire all outstanding Wind River common stock for US$11.50 per share. Intel, in a statement, said its takeover of Wind River is part of its strategy to grow beyond its traditional personal computer and server markets and into mobile handheld devices and other systems.
■SOFTWARE
IBM unit files libel suit
The local unit of US computer giant IBM has filed a libel suit against a Philippine government agency after being accused of selling it faulty software, court records showed yesterday. IBM Philippines filed against the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) after an advertising campaign in which it claimed the US giant had sold it faulty software. IBM Philippines said the GSIS ads in local newspapers “were not only false and misleading, but were motivated by ill will and malice.” The computer firm is demanding 205 million pesos (US$4.33 million) in damages and legal expenses.
■CHINA
Beijing eyes IMF bonds
China is “actively” considering buying as much as US$50 billion in IMF bonds, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a faxed statement. “If the terms of the bond issue meet China’s requirements in investing its foreign currency reserves in terms of security and a reasonable return, we are willing to actively consider investing up to US$50 billion,” the agency, which oversees the country’s record US$1.95 trillion foreign-exchange reserves, said. “China has always been committed to supporting the IMF’s fund-raising efforts through market-based channels,” the statement said. The agency issued its statement after the IMF’s first deputy managing director John Lipsky told a conference in Russia that China planned to buy the organization’s bonds.
■RETAIL
MasterCard upbeat
Consumers may be starting to spend enough to stop the backward slide that’s been typical so far this year, a MasterCard Inc executive told analysts Thursday. Chris McWilton, the company’s president of US markets, said data to be released in the next week shows the decline in spending that has hit the retail and credit industries hard may be abating. “It’s not positive yet but certainly the trajectory, the freefall that we saw in January and February of this year has abated,” McWilton said in a conference call with analysts. Also on Thursday, Fitch Ratings analysts reported that the rate of delinquent credit-card payments slowed last month, ending a four-month trend of setting new records.
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