Fri, May 29, 2015 page15

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  AUSTRALIA

  Business investment falls

  Business investment fell twice as fast as economists predicted last quarter, signaling the central bank’s targeted transition to growth outside mining is yet to gain traction. Capital spending fell 4.4 percent from the final three months of last year, compared with a median forecast for a 2.2 percent drop, data showed yesterday. Companies predicted they would invest A$104 billion (US$80 billion) in the year ending June 30 next year, a 25 percent fall from the estimate a year earlier.

  INVESTMENT

  FDI falls in Latin America

  Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America and the Caribbean fell 16 percent last year, reversing a decade-long growth trend as the region’s economies slowed, a UN panel said on Wednesday. Investment in the region fell to US$158.8 billion last year from a record US$190 billion in 2013, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said. It was the first drop since 2009 and a sharp reversal in a trend that saw investment expand rapidly over the course of a decade, from US$46.9 billion in 2003.

  ECONOMY

  EU plans spending increase

  The EU is planning a 1.6 percent increase in spending next year as the bloc gears up for contributions to an investment fund meant to kick-start economic growth. The European Commission proposed an EU budget of 143.5 billion euros (US$156.1 billion) for next year, compared with 141.2 billion euros earmarked for this year. The new spending program includes 500 million euros in guarantees for the planned European Fund for Strategic Investments.

  AUTOMAKERS

  Renault says strike over

  French car giant Renault on Wednesday said a 13-day strike over wages that crippled operations at its factory in western Turkey had ended following an agreement with the strikers. The company said operations at Turkey’s biggest car plant, located in Bursa near Istanbul, had resumed on Wednesday morning. Under the agreement, the company plans to pay workers a lump sum of 1,000 Turkish lira (US$380) within one week and complete a study into improving pay conditions within one month. Management also agreed to grant workers a performance-based annual cash bonus.

  REAL ESTATE

  Irish property prices rise

  Irish residential property prices rose by 0.6 percent last month to push prices 15.8 percent higher year-on-year following falls earlier this year that briefly slowed a recovery from a 2008 real-estate crash. Property prices in Dublin, which led the recovery, climbed 1 percent on the month to stand 20.2 percent higher than a year ago. While prices across Ireland are 38 percent below their 2007 peak, the central bank introduced restrictions on mortgage lending in January to try to ensure price rises do not return to unsustainable levels.

  CHINA

  Coal production decreases

  Coal production in the world’s biggest coal-consuming nation fell by 6 percent in the first four months of this year as the economy slows and the government makes a concerted push to reduce carbon emissions. The National Development and Reform Commission on Tuesday said that imports of coal also fell, plummeting 38 percent. The nation uses roughly half of all of the world’s coal production for power generation, heating and industry.
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