OIL
Kuwait posts budget deficit
Kuwait posted a budget deficit of US$18.2 billion in the fiscal year that ended on March 31, as lower crude prices slash into government revenue, Kuwaiti acting oil minister Anas al-Saleh said. The state-run Kuwait News Agency on Sunday quoted al-Saleh as saying the deficit was nearly US$9 billion less than budgeted for. The budget deficit reflects the impact lower oil prices have had on crude exporters, particularly Gulf Arab monarchies that rely on oil revenues to support generous subsidies, welfare benefits and public sector wages.
MACROECONOMY
UK to cut corporate tax
British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne plans to slash corporation tax to less than 15 percent to tempt businesses to stay following the nation’s shock vote to leave the EU, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. Osborne plans to create a what he called a super-competitive economy, cutting corporation tax by more than 5 percentage points from 20 percent to the lowest for any major economy, it said. The move, which would bring the tax close to Ireland’s 12.5 percent rate, follows concern companies could flee the uncertainty after Brexit.
OIL
Venezuela revenues fall
Venezuela’s oil revenues plummeted 40.7 percent last year due to sinking global oil prices, the nation’s state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) said in its annual report released on Sunday. PDVSA — the world’s fifth-largest oil company — earned US$72.2 billion in revenues last year, a sharp drop from 2014’s US$121.9 billion. Its net profit fell 19 percent to US$7.3 billion. The first half of this year saw the value of Venezuela’s crude oil tumble to an average of US$31.15 per barrel, the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining said on Friday last week. The sector’s nose-dive has exacerbated the nation’s already dire economic situation in which 80 percent of basic consumer products, including food and medicine, are in short supply. Soaring prices and shortages have, in turn, led to riots, looting and vigilante justice.
MACROECONOMY
Japanese firms cut forecasts
Japanese companies cut their forecasts for inflation for five years’ time, dimming the prospects for Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda meeting the 2 percent inflation target set for the next fiscal year. Companies expect 1.1 percent of inflation in five years, the lowest estimate since the survey began in 2014, according to a report by the BOJ yesterday. In three years, companies also expect 1.1 percent price growth and 0.7 percent in one year. The price outlook among companies illustrates a stark contrast with the BOJ’s projection of reaching the 2 percent inflation target by March 2018.
CONSTRUCTION
Kier plays down Brexit
Kier Group PLC, a construction and support services firm, said the UK’s decision to exit the EU had not impacted its business to date due to the resilience afforded by its strong order books and wide range of activities. The company, whose activities range from building power stations to outsourcing work for local councils, said that although the EU referendum results had created some uncertainty, its underlying trading had been in line with its own expectations. The property unit had a pipeline in excess of ￡1 billion, consisting of projects that were being built non-speculatively, and the residential unit’s mixed tenure business had a ￡600 million-plus (US$796.1 million) pipeline, Kier said.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips, but the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It is a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems. Global chip sales surged more than 19 percent to about US$628 billion last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which forecasts double-digit growth again this year. That is adding urgency to reducing the effects of “forever chemicals” — which are also used to make firefighting foam, nonstick pans, raincoats and other everyday items — as are regulators in the US and Europe who are beginning to
RSS