MACROECONOMICS
Bank of Japan holds steady
The Bank of Japan yesterday held fire on expanding its unprecedented monetary easing scheme, but warned a slowdown in emerging markets was weighing on growth, prompting speculation it will unveil fresh measures soon. The bank said in a statement after its two-day policy meeting that while that the economy “has continued to recover moderately ... exports and production are affected by the slowdown in emerging economies.” Bank Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has pushed back a timeline for hitting 2 percent inflation, although he has signaled he would consider expanding stimulus if weak oil prices keep price rises close to zero.
BRAZIL
Austerity plan announced
The government on Monday announced a massive US$17 billion austerity package in a bid to boost its ailing economy amid a deepening crisis that has already caused a shock downgrade of its credit rating. The package — announced at a news conference by Planning Minister Nelson Barbosa — includes freezing public sector salary raises and hiring, entirely eliminating 10 of 39 ministries, cutting 1,000 jobs and slashing housing and health-related social spending. The economic outlook is grim, with GDP forecast to shrink 1.49 percent this year, the government said previously.
MACROECONOMICS
Sierra Leone’s output falls
Sierra Leone’s economic output is predicted to contract 22 percent this year as the nation’s mining and agricultural industries face the dual pressures of recovering from an Ebola outbreak and a commodity-price slump. The economy grew 4.6 percent last year. The deadliest-ever Ebola outbreak has killed more than 11,000 people, mostly in the hardest hit countries of Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, since December 2013. The three West African governments estimate US$8 billion is needed to rebuild their economies.
INTERNET
Russia to penalize Google
The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia (FAS) on Monday said that Google Inc was abusing its market position in the country and would face penalties, in a case launched by local competitor Yandex. the FAS said Google had violated the law by pre-installing certain applications on mobile devices and could face penalties totaling up to 15 percent of its revenue last year in that part of the Russian market. The FAS declined to specify the revenue in question, saying it was a trade secret, but said it would decide on the exact value of the fine after Sept. 28. It added Google must then pay and change its ways, or risk more fines if violations continue. Yandex, which filed a complaint against Google with the FAS in February, welcomed the decision.
RETAIL
Poor sales blamed on heat
Hennes & Mauritz AB (H&M), Europe’s second-largest clothing retailer, reported its slowest monthly sales growth in more than two years as soaring temperatures last month in countries such as Germany weighed on demand. Revenue last month rose 1 percent expressed in local currencies, Stockholm-based H&M said in a statement yesterday, the weakest performance since a 4 percent decline in March 2013. That missed the average analyst estimate for growth of 5.4 percent, according to an SME Direkt survey. H&M blamed “unseasonably warm weather” in many of its large European markets for the slowdown.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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