■DEBT
Geithner defends US rating
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the US was not at risk of losing its Aaa debt rating even though the administration had predicted a US$1.6 trillion budget deficit this year. “Absolutely not,” Geithner said, when asked in an ABC News interview broadcast on Sunday whether a downgrade is a concern. “That will never happen to this country.” Moody’s Investors Service Inc said last week the US government’s bond rating would come under pressure in the future unless additional measures were taken to reduce budget deficits projected for the next decade.
■SOFTWARE
SAP sacks chief executive
The chief executive of German software company SAP AG, Leo Apotheker, has resigned after his contract was not renewed and will be succeeded by two co-CEOs, the company said on Sunday. Apotheker, who has been with the company since 1988, became co-CEO in April 2008 and took the helm alone less than a year ago. In a brief statement, SAP, based in Walldorf, said its “supervisory board has reached a mutual agreement” not to extend the contract. The supervisory board has appointed two — Bill McDermott, head of field organization; and Jim Hagemann Snabe, head of product development — to replace him.
■BONDS
Temasek to raise US$700m
State-linked Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings said yesterday it was planning a S$1 billion (US$702 million) bond as part of its capital-raising program. The bonds are due in 2020 and will be issued by its wholly owned subsidiary Temasek Financial, it said in a statement. Temasek said proceeds from the bond sale would help pay for the “ordinary course of business” for itself and its holding companies.
■BANKING
Japan bank loans fell 1.7%
Japanese bank lending last month fell by the most in more than four years as some companies deferred capital investments and others turned to bond markets to raise funds. Lending, excluding loans by credit associations, dropped 1.7 percent last month from a year earlier, the largest decline since September 2005, the Bank of Japan said yesterday. The drop, amid a five-year low in demand for loans, compares with a 1.2 percent contraction in December.
■FRANCE
Business confidence rises
Business confidence climbed last month to an almost two-year high and the economy would probably expand by 0.5 percent in the first quarter, the central bank said. The Bank of France’s Business Sentiment Indicator for manufacturing rose to 104 from a revised 102 in December, an e-mailed statement from the bank said yesterday. The sentiment indicator for services increased to 89 from 88 the previous month.
■COMMODITIES
Sugar prices may recover
Sugar prices may rebound from a six-week low as a global supply shortage will persist for at least nine months, broker Jonathan Kingsman said. “Sugar is being caught in the commodity liquidation,” said Kingsman, managing director of the Switzerland-based company Kingsman SA, in an interview before a conference in Dubai on Sunday. “The fundamentals still look positive. Import demand will be greater than exports.” He didn’t predict prices.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
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
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source